Can anyone interpret this for me?(Command Prompt commands)

CPWin8

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I am posting these commands again. It is "buried" in another thread. I'm just looking for an explanation of this and thought viewers may not see it. It is one MVP's "check" before going to another step after I explained my current progress.
-------

Before you do a reset (which will no doubt fix things), try deleting this file and rebooting.

%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\IconCache.db

You need to remove the desktop (explorer.exe) in order to delete the file. You can do it this way at an Administrator Command Prompt (WinidowsKey + X). Be careful to get the spaces correct.

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
cd /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local
attrib -h IconCache.db
del IconCache.db
start explorer
------------------
I think I get the general thought, but can anyone explain its purpose precisely? Safe to do?

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
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    Toshiba Satellite L855
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Hello CP,

That will basically rebuild the icon cache.


Specifically, it does this in this order:

  1. Kills explorer process.
  2. Opens the %userprofile%\AppData\Local directory in the command prompt for step 3 and 4 below.
  3. Sets the attribute for the IconCache.db file to not be a hidden file. (this is not recommended)
  4. Delete the IconCache.db file
  5. Starts explorer process

As in the tutorial above, you will need to restart the PC to rebuild the icon cache. Rebuilding the icon cache is perfectly safe to do, but I would recommend using the method in the tutorial above instead.


Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 

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Thanks. I will refer to your article as I proceed through my current mess, if I even try it before a reset. A few suggestions I've found here and there are now related to "icons" as a "potential" culprit.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite L855
    CPU
    Intel Core i7
    Memory
    6Gb
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Rebuilding the icon cache is not going to help with your Control Panel being empty though. :(
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I've never cared for that solution, in particular the killing Explorer and restarting parts; you lose changes to desktop icon positions when you kill, and when you restart, some of the notification icons may not come back. For a number of reasons, I always create a separate "admin" account when I install Windows. On its desktop, I place a shortcut to my personal account's AppData folder. When Windows screws up the icons, I log out of my account, log into admin, open AppData/Local, then delete iconcache.db. Then I log out of admin and back into my account, and the icons are fixed. No killing Explorer or rebooting necessary, and no bad side effects.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
Rebuilding the icon cache is not going to help with your Control Panel being empty though. :(

Then I'll have to find and demote that MVP on the Toshiba (brand I'm using) forums. :eek: Not to go beyond the topic of this thread, but the only "solved" in multiple forums related to my issue was from a member on Sevenforums claiming the cause was a corrupted icon...:doh:I'm trying to put 2 and 2 together here, but getting 5.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite L855
    CPU
    Intel Core i7
    Memory
    6Gb
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
There's an easier way to rebuild the icon cache:
Code:
ie4uinit.exe -ClearIconCache
Probably, covered somewhere in tutorials here :)

It was a side note, because I don't see the actual problem description, which is always a good start :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion dv7t (17.3'', i7-2630QM, HD 6770M 1Gb, 8Gb RAM, 2 SSD@120Gb + 1 HDD@750Gb)
There's an easier way to rebuild the icon cache:
Code:
ie4uinit.exe -ClearIconCache
Probably, covered somewhere in tutorials here :)

It was a side note, because I don't see the actual problem description, which is always a good start :)

Much easier !

:)
 

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CP - You can do it like that, or you can use the Windows 8 Manager program by Yamicsoft I suggested. In that program, you can increase the size of your Icon Cache, which is what I think you need to do. This is because the problem starts after Win 8 has been running for a little while, so either the icon cache is set too small (below default) or, you have an Icon on your desktop which is corrupt. You can deal with Both issues from the Program.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
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    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
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    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
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    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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