Icons change incorrectly in Windows

Note If you would rather fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Some icons in the following locations are randomly changed to other icons on a computer that is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7:

• My Computer
• Windows Explorer
• Desktop
• Quick Launch bar

This issue occurs because the icon cache is not updated correctly.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To fix this problem, follow these steps:

1. Close all open windows if a Close Open Programs Interaction dialog box is displayed.
2. Create the Max Cached Icons registry key and set the value of that key to 2048. To do this, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click Start and type Regedit in the Search box and click Regedit from the list
   2. Locate and click to select the following key in the registry:
      
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
      
   3. On the Edit menu, click New, and then click String Value
   4. Type MaxCachedIcons for the registry key name and press Enter on the keyboard
   5. Double-click on the Max Cached Icons registry key and type 2048 in the Value data: box and then click OK
   6. Close the Registry Editor
   
   
3. Delete IconCache.db thats located in the following path:
   
   

   Windows XP

   %userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data

   Windows Vista or Windows 7

   %userprofile%\AppData\Local

Click here to understand how the MATS package works to fix this problem