desktop icons have second image on top

The shortcut icons on my desktop and in the start menu have a second image
overlayed.

I am running Windows ME and when the system boots up the desktop icons are
correctly displayed for a few seconds, but then another image is displayed
over the first one (which is still partially visible). The second image is a
hammer and a gear in front of a monitor with a blue screen. This happens even
in safe mode.

The OS and all virus and malware scanners are up to date.

I have tried deleting the shelliconcache file, but that didn't clear the
problem. I had TweakUI installed under Win95, but removed it when upgrading
to ME because it was causing trouble.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Mike

It is quite possible that the icon cache has become corrupted.

The Win Me icon cache is the file ShellIconCache (no extension) in your
windows folder. You can safely delete this file and reboot and it will be
rebuilt. I would also suggest that you increase the number of icons that
can be cached. The easiest way to do this is to download the registry
patch IconCacheFix from http://www.aumha.org/reg1.htm and merge it with
your registry.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



mdf wrote:

The shortcut icons on my desktop and in the start menu have a second
image overlayed.

I am running Windows ME and when the system boots up the desktop
icons are correctly displayed for a few seconds, but then another
image is displayed over the first one (which is still partially
visible). The second image is a hammer and a gear in front of a
monitor with a blue screen. This happens even in safe mode.

The OS and all virus and malware scanners are up to date.

I have tried deleting the shelliconcache file, but that didn't clear
the problem. I had TweakUI installed under Win95, but removed it when
upgrading to ME because it was causing trouble.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Mike

I deleted ShellIconCache and downloaded and merged the patch, but the problem
is still there.

Is this icon (a hammer and gear in front of a monitor with a black screen)
associated with TweakUI or one of the other Power Toys from the Win95 CD? I
still have them installed from before I upgraded to WinME.

Does this problem seem like malware or some corrupted Windows file? The
computer has been scaned many times with different software, but I can still
try other vendors.

Mike

"Mike M" wrote:

It is quite possible that the icon cache has become corrupted.

The Win Me icon cache is the file ShellIconCache (no extension) in your
windows folder. You can safely delete this file and reboot and it will be
rebuilt. I would also suggest that you increase the number of icons that
can be cached. The easiest way to do this is to download the registry
patch IconCacheFix from http://www.aumha.org/reg1.htm and merge it with
your registry.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP

Your description of the icon is just like the one used by TweakUI. The
problem still sounds like a corrupt icon cache but you say you have
deleted this and let the cache rebuild. Another possibility is that the
problem is confined to shortcuts only in which case the small arrow
normally used to overlay an icon to indicate that it is a shortcut could
perhaps have become replaced by the icon you are seeing. If you have
TweakUI installed you can check this on the Explorer tab where at the top
you will find the settings for the shortcut overlay. Has this been set to
custom and is using the TweakUI icon as the overlay?
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



mdf wrote:

I deleted ShellIconCache and downloaded and merged the patch, but the
problem is still there.

Is this icon (a hammer and gear in front of a monitor with a black
screen) associated with TweakUI or one of the other Power Toys from
the Win95 CD? I still have them installed from before I upgraded to
WinME.

Does this problem seem like malware or some corrupted Windows file?
The computer has been scaned many times with different software, but
I can still try other vendors.

It was TweakUI's overlay. I had installed the PowerToys from the Win95 CD
years ago and forgot about them over time. TweakUI got quarantined or
otherwise damaged (I think) during a serious virus infestation I had a year
or so ago. I downloaded the current version through a link that you gave in
another thread.

I followed your directions (and cautions) and the problem was corrected.

Thanks for taking the time to help me,

Mike

"Mike M" wrote:

Your description of the icon is just like the one used by TweakUI. The
problem still sounds like a corrupt icon cache but you say you have
deleted this and let the cache rebuild. Another possibility is that the
problem is confined to shortcuts only in which case the small arrow
normally used to overlay an icon to indicate that it is a shortcut could
perhaps have become replaced by the icon you are seeing. If you have
TweakUI installed you can check this on the Explorer tab where at the top
you will find the settings for the shortcut overlay. Has this been set to
custom and is using the TweakUI icon as the overlay?
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP

Mike,

Thanks for the feedback and I'm pleased to read you've now managed to fix
the problem,

Cheers and best wishes,
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



mdf wrote:

It was TweakUI's overlay. I had installed the PowerToys from the
Win95 CD years ago and forgot about them over time. TweakUI got
quarantined or otherwise damaged (I think) during a serious virus
infestation I had a year or so ago. I downloaded the current version
through a link that you gave in another thread.

I followed your directions (and cautions) and the problem was
corrected.

Thanks for taking the time to help me,