Re: Challenging Problem: XP Gurus Needed: Desktop Icons Revert To Defaults
From: dOinK (tvanvik_at_on_DELETE_line.no)
Date: 03/31/04
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Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 22:36:38 GMT
>From previous threads related to this issue, we know that winlogon.exe is
capable of causing this effect. This might be triggered by running backup as
a scheduled task (where you need to provide a user name and password in the
task setup).
I just think that ought to be added to your excellent collection of
information.
It is also likely that this is a bug in Windows, caused by recent updates (I
assume that you have installed some of those lately, too).
dOinK
"Roger" <Kael_Sidhe@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a82ccb5c.0403311414.1ce92ec1@posting.google.com...
> THERE ARE MANY POSTS ON THIS SUBJECT BUT EVERY ONE I'VE READ MAKES
> INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS AND HEADS DOWN THE WRONG PATH OR ELSE JUST
> ADDRESSES THE SYMPTOMS WITHOUT ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM. THIS IS GOING
> TO BE LONG AND DETAILED BUT I'M GOING TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW
> ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND HOPEFULLY SOME GURU CAN HELP US!
>
> PROBLEM: After changing/renaming the XP Desktop System icons (My
> Computer, Network Neighborhood, Recycle Bin, Outlook, Internet
> Explorer) they revert back to their respective default icons/default
> names. It does not matter how you make the modifications. (right
> click, Theme, Display Properties, etc) The end result is the same.
>
> WHAT IT IS NOT:
> It is NOT an NVIDIA driver/service problem. I have an ATI Radeon
> card.
> It is NOT an icon cache issue. I've tried it and it doesn't work.
> It is NOT a problem with any other icons. ONLY effects system desktop
> icons.
> It is NOT a NoSaveSettings issue. I've verified my settings here.
> It is NOT a Windows Classic settings issue. I'm not using classic.
> It is NOT a login script or boot problem. The change can happen at
> any time.
> It is NOT a problem right out of the box. It always works fine at
> first.
> It is NOT the windows default icon that displays when something is not
> associated with anything.
>
> OBSERVATIONS/ASSUMPTIONS:
> Your icons actually revert back to the defaults behind the scenes
> and you don't see it until the desktop has been refreshed. Your
> desktop gets refreshed by various events so that is why we're seeing
> it happen seemingly at random. If the icons have reverted then
> anything that refreshes your desktop will cause the default icons to
> reappear. If nothing refreshes your desktop then you would never
> notice that they have already reverted.
> Here is what is actually happening. XP stores it's true default
> icons under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT in a CLSID key. I've observed that
> these do not seem to change. When you customize one of these system
> icons XP will create a new key under
>
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\.
> As long as these keys are present then your icon customizations are
> in effect. What is happening is that these override keys are being
> deleted somehow!
> I have spot checked regedit and seemingly at random I would find
> these override keys missing. Sure enough, as soon as the keys turned
> up missing, if I hit F5 to refresh my desktop *poof* my default icons
> were back.
>
> WHEN IT HAPPENED/WHAT I'VE TRIED:
> I'd been running XP just fine for about 6 months and then it began
> happening. Just a week ago I formatted and reinstalled XP and the
> problem was gone. I spent the next several days installing
> applications back on my PC and I noticed yesterday that the problem
> was back! The only thing I installed that day was MS Encarta 2003 and
> Unreal Tournament 2004. UT2004 was not out last year so I've
> eliminated it from the running. I uninstalled MS Encarta 2003 but the
> problem remained. My guess is that these applications have nothing to
> do with the problem.
> I've jacked up my icon cache and I've verified my NoSaveSettings
> registry key but neither helped. I used regmon to watch all the
> registry modifications but that didn't help because whatever made the
> modifications DID NOT SHOW UP IN REGMON! I triple checked this and
> used various methods of filtering to make certain that I hadn't missed
> it in all the log clutter. I even tried deleting the keys myself just
> to see if it would catch it and it did. Whatever is deleting these
> keys is doing so in a way that is not detectable by regmon! I've also
> monitored and verified my background processes and I keep them very
> clean. I've not messed around with the services though because I
> don't know much about them.
>
> VIRUS/SPY SCANNING:
> I've thoroughly scanned with McAfee and I'm running their Shield as
> well. I've scanned everything with Adaware's spyware scanner (both up
> to date) but I'm still having the issue. The only other thing I can
> think of is that I know I DID have some spyware on my machine.
> Adaware did report that it had cleaned up a few things (not just
> cookies) and I do remember getting one message from McAfee telling me
> that it detected something weird but couldn't delete the file. I
> looked for the file in question and it was gone. It was something
> like "[index].htm" or something like that. These could be unrelated
> to the issue but I don't know.
>
> WHAT I'M RUNNING:
> My current Windows XP Home Edition installation has Service Pack 1 and
> all subsequent patches installed using Windows Update. My system sits
> behind a Linksys router and I also run XP's firewall. (enabled) I
> keep McAfee and Adaware up to date. I have an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
> graphics card and an Audigy2 Sound Blaster card.
>
> WHAT I WANT:
> I know I can manually modify the default CLSID's in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
> and thus when the icons "revert" they will be reverting back to my
> overrides but that only addresses the symptoms not the cause. I would
> greatly appreciate discovering the root cause of the issue and a
> method to correct it. At this point I would even be willing to pay
> someone a reasonable fee for technical support that actually led to
> such a solution! Please help if you can!
>
> Thank you,
> Roger Westbrook
- Next message: Shaz: "Re: Start Up"
- Previous message: David Candy: "Re: Open (eject) and close CD/DVD tray"
- In reply to: Roger: "Challenging Problem: XP Gurus Needed: Desktop Icons Revert To Defaults"
- Next in thread: Keith Miller: "Re: Challenging Problem: XP Gurus Needed: Desktop Icons Revert To Defaults"
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