How To: Install Icons in Windows XP, Vista, and 7
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June 23rd, 2010 written by Nuno Ledo in Styling
I love customizing my Windows PC. I like changing the look of it to match my mood, increase my productivity or make it look nice. But, one of the things I dislike is icon customization. It’s always very difficult to change my icons (I’ve experienced problems when it comes to the Windows drive icon!) or even find good ones. In this post, I will show you how to change your Windows icons quickly and easily.
This is the easiest and safest way to change your icons—even if you’re new to computers, you will be able to do this without any problems.
You will need:
- Windows XP, Vista, or 7 machine
- TuneUp Utilities
First, you will need to download and install TuneUp Utilities (you can get a 15-day, free trial here). The software works on Windows XP, Vista, and 7 systems. After you’ve installed it, run the TuneUp Utilities shortcut on your desktop. If you can’t find it, just go to your Start Menu, and check for the TuneUp Utilities file (if you have Windows Vista or7, or search for it in the box in your Start Menu).
Once you open up the software, go to “All functions” in the “Customize Windows” section. Next, click on “Change Windows appearance”.
TuneUp Styler will now appear. Go to the left, where you will have four boxes:
- General
- System Start
- Icons
- Interface
What we want is to click “System Elements” inside the Icons box. You should now get a window like the one below.
Don’t worry! This may look a bit intimidating, but it’s really not. Now, if you just want to replace a couple of icons with other ones manually, select the icon you want and then choose “Replace Icon” which is on the right. By default, you can select Windows’ default icons one by one. Or, you can select an icon in the format “.ico”, “.icl”, “.exe”, or “.dll”. Browse to the directory where the icon is, select it, and you’re done! You can find tons of icons over at DeviantArt.
It takes a lot of time to replace each and every icon at once. Instead, there are many “Icon packages” out there. A couple of them can also be found on DeviantArt, if you do a search for “TuneUp” in the Icon category we mentioned above. Here’s an example of a fine icon pack.
If you want to install a downloaded icon pack, you can do this by clicking the “Icon Packages” button at the bottom and next to the “Apply” button. After you’ve clicked it, go to “Add”, and select “Load Icon package from a file”. Again, browse the directory to where your pack is, and select it. You’re set!
Note: The icon pack file must be on either .tip (TuneUp IconPackages file extension), or .ip, .iptheme and .zip. In some cases, you will need to extract the icon pack first!
Here’s the best part. TuneUp also has a ton of icon packages available online. And, there are really nice ones, so if you’re searching for a good pack, there will most likely be one there that you like.
Or, do you have a very nice icon pack that you want to show off? Make sure to mention/show them in the comments box below.
July 5, 2010 at 2:14 am
Can TuneUp change the icons for other file formats (such as PDF?) It isn’t in the file types tab. It would be nice if TuneUp had an “add filetype” option, just like Stardock’s IconPacager.
July 5, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Another question – can TuneUp make XP display higher resolution icons in the taskbar and explorer windows? I’ve created a beautiful set of icons in all formats, but only the lower resolution versions are being used (16px for taskbar, 48px for Explorer windows).
My display res. is 1440 x 900, so the icons become very tiny; if I try to resize them they get pixelated. I’ve tried editing the index file associated with my icon library (the lines that say, “sizes=16,32,48,64″) to no avail.
Thanks in advance.
July 8, 2010 at 10:56 am
Hi Deskmodder,
TuneUp Styler offers a list of file types which are fundamentally implemented in Windows. In some cases changing the icon of other file types caused problems or was not permanent. So we decided to offer only file types, where the icon can be changed without a risk.
If you want to change the icons by yourself by editing the registry.
Right click a file with the extension to change
Open the properties dialog
Copy the string displayed for „Type of file“
Search for the string in the registry – we would recommend TuneUp Registry Editor, because you’ll see all results in a list.
Check each result found in „HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT“ for a subkey called „DefaultIcon“ there you’ll find the reference to the icon. You’ll have to change the reference in all results containing the subkey „DefaultIcon“.
It is easy to change the size of of tray and taskbar icons, but if you change their size you will change the caption button size, too. This might look a little strange. To change the caption button size please follow these instructions:
Open the control panel
Choose „Appearance and Themes“
Pick the control panel icon „Display“
Switch tot he tab „Appearance“
Click the button „Advanced“
In the items dropdown list select „Caption Buttons“
Now you can increase the size of caption buttons which will increase the size of taskbar icons and tray icons.
Does this help you?
Best, Sandro
July 11, 2010 at 3:05 am
Thanks for your response.
As for my question about the taskbar icons, I’m afraid you misunderstood it. I’m not seeking to just increase the size of the icons; rather, their resolution. Enlarging a 16 x 16px graphic makes it very pixelated.
July 17, 2010 at 8:02 am
Unfortunately TuneUp Utilities as software can not solve you issue. Sorry about that.But I will be happy to ask around, if there is another solution or have you been able to solve it, since posting your comment?
July 11, 2010 at 11:04 am
I am wondering what kind of dock that is?
July 16, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Hey Devanche – that’s RK Dock: http://home.cogeco.ca/~rklauncher/. The style can be found here: http://toisan.deviantart.com/art/New-Apple-Icon-Pack-for-tuneup-151821822
Enjoy!
November 11, 2010 at 2:46 pm
link for apple icon pack not available
November 16, 2010 at 7:09 pm
nice tutorial, the Icons nice too.
best, Michael
January 29, 2011 at 8:08 am
very little in the icon department and the tuneup can’t open any ip files.
February 4, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Hey killerkenny, there are some great Icon Packs that work fine with TuneUp: http://www.tune-up.com/services/iconpacks/?page=3
July 21, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Hello
Somebody help me to how to apply or install apple icon pack
for tuneup in windows 7 please ?
In this case i extremely amplog to have apple icon pack in my windows! ah
July 23, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Hi Ahmadreza, I just tried it out: http://browse.deviantart.com/customization/icons/os/win/?qh=§ion=&q=Apple+icon+TUneUp#/d2ie2gu Download this, extract it and double-click on “Apple Icons Reloaded” – TuneUp Styler should automatically come up and let you apply the icon pack. Do you get any error messages while doing so?
Best, Sandro
March 12, 2012 at 2:43 pm
من این کارا رو انجام دادم نشد
April 21, 2012 at 4:47 pm
tykty
June 11, 2012 at 3:14 pm
how to move the icons from left to right of the screen