icons missing in Windows explorer 1

[mikefawson]

I've got a strange (ish) problem - in Windows XP Explorer on the left hand side I have the folders view and there are no icons being displayed for the various drives and folders. I've checked everything I can think of with no joy, anyone got any ideas how to get the icons back?

 

[Marcs41]

One (maybe) solution to try,.
Reboot in safe mode, look for a file iconcache and delete it, it will be rebuild on reboot.
It may be possible to set your view to see hidden files. The solution is out there.

 

[linney]

Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with windows.

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?).

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.



If they don't work you could try repairing windows itself by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

 

[mikefawson]

Thanks for the ideas, have tried all bu the "In-place upgrade" of Windows - as this at present I feel maybe a bit of an overkill to the problem. As yet no success in resolving the problem, if anyone else has any ideas I'd appreciate them.

 

[mearmortal]

I've got the same problem, is their a way of recovering this now.

 

[mikefawson]

After a long delv thru the TechNet I found a cause and solution:

It is caused by not having a "C:" drive designator.

My solution was to create a drive with a "C:" designator, either re-assign a drive letter of a CD/DVD drive - beware this may cause you a few headaches unless it's a new drive you're installing. Or use the subst command to create the "C:" designator.

 

[CluelessJon]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307028

Regards

Jonno BrainDump Specialist
MCSE(NT) MCSA(2k) CCNA

 

[CluelessJon]

The Folders Bar in Windows Explorer Does Not Contain Any Icons
Applies To
This article was previously published under Q307028
SYMPTOMS
When you view files in Windows Explorer, the Folders bar may not contain any icons.
CAUSE
This problem may occur if there is no drive C on your computer.
RESOLUTION
To work around this problem, use the subst command to point to the drive that Windows XP is installed on. For example, if Windows XP is installed on drive H:
Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK to start a command prompt session.
At the command prompt, type subst c: h:\, and then press ENTER.
Type exit, and then press ENTER.
Note You can add this subst command to a startup script or to a logon script so that you do not have to repeat this procedure every that time you start your computer.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.


Regards

Jonno BrainDump Specialist
MCSE(NT) MCSA(2k) CCNA

 

[bcastner]

If the left panel is grey in color and empty, open a notepdad session called fix_explorer.reg and copy and paste the below into the notepad session. Save the file, and double click to merge the registry contents. Reboot and test.

**** start copy/paste below this line
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{EFA24E64-B078-11d0-89E4-00C04FC9E26E}]
@="Explorer Band"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{EFA24E64-B078-11d0-89E4-00C04FC9E26E}\Implemented Categories]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{EFA24E64-B078-11d0-89E4-00C04FC9E26E}\Implemented Categories\{00021493-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{EFA24E64-B078-11d0-89E4-00C04FC9E26E}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25, 00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00, 64,00,6f,00,63,00,76,00,77,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
****** end copy/paste above this line

Reference:

http://forums.techguy.org/t113867/s.htmldoc/docinfo.asp