windows 8 desktop icons

semajrn

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Can you replace an existing desktop icon's picture with your own chosen picture? ??? Either using the snipping tool, or just a picture that you have copied and saved from the internet???? Or just one of your own photos that is in your picture library??? I like to match the icon picture with the content of the icon.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    0s
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    hp
    Browser
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I do that all the time, or you can make your own using Microangelo.

Actually I have a Trek Theme I created using images from all over, I just resized some images and made iCons. You can use Right-Click/Properties/Change iCon- Then pint it to the iCon you wanna use, sometimes they are in a DLL Library like Shell32.dll or they are mounted into a Program's EXE file. Sometimes there is an ICO file floating about you can use too.

You can save them into a Theme, if you save the Theme for Sharing. Windows 7 Themes open in 8, but no 8 Themes will open in 7. At least with the Themes I tried. In "Personalization" you can tell the Themes to allow changing Icons.

If you wanna explore this more, I can show you some things, maybe some other people can too. Welcome to Windows 8 Forums!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
I do that all the time, or you can make your own using Microangelo.

Actually I have a Trek Theme I created using images from all over, I just resized some images and made iCons. You can use Right-Click/Properties/Change iCon- Then pint it to the iCon you wanna use, sometimes they are in a DLL Library like Shell32.dll or they are mounted into a Program's EXE file. Sometimes there is an ICO file floating about you can use too.

You can save them into a Theme, if you save the Theme for Sharing. Windows 7 Themes open in 8, but no 8 Themes will open in 7. At least with the Themes I tried. In "Personalization" you can tell the Themes to allow changing Icons.

If you wanna explore this more, I can show you some things, maybe some other people can too. Welcome to Windows 8 Forums!

Thank you for your quick reply. However, I am not computer savvy enough to follow your directions for changing icons on my desktop. I did as you suggested: " Right-Click/Properties/Change iCon- Then pint it to the iCon you wanna use, sometimes they are in a DLL Library like Shell32.dll or they are mounted into a Program's EXE file. Sometimes there is an ICO file floating about you can use too. " After right clicking and clicking on properties, there was NO option for changing icons...... And, I have no idea where to find the DLL library, etc... or how to even follow the next steps if I could get that far along in your directions. I would really love it and appreciate more step by step directions. Thank you so much.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    0s
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    hp
    Browser
    IE
A picture:

Untitled.png

It takes a little while to get used to on Display & Irfanview.

IrfanView - Official Homepage - one of the most popular viewers worldwide

Free Icon Editor Downloads
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Ah, it was a Library iCon? Then do as David Suggests. Those are changed by a different method, and usually you cannot change them.

David may be using Windows 8.1, I'm on 8, but there IS a "Change Library icon" selection that you can get to by right clicking and choosing "Properties" in Windows 8.

I've got full Microangelo installed, and I don't have that popup. It's a shell extension you have to activate. Actually I can't see how to get that, but I have all this stuff, Librarian, Studio, Explorer, Animator - Don't know which one will give me that extra shell extension.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
If the OP doesn't want to use IrfanView, here is a website I use to convert my pictures to .ico files to be used as Icons.

Link: ConvertIcon!

Instructions:

1. Simply browse for a image and select it, then click export and select an icon size (I use 128x128)
2. click Save As and save it to a location of your choosing.
3. Then when you go to change the icon of a file, simply find the location of the image you just converted to .ico and apply it for it to be your new icon for the specified File :).

IrfanView works wonder as well, just posting an alternative.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett Packard P7-1017c
    CPU
    Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    Pegatron HP
    Memory
    Crucial 2x4GB DDR3 1333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP 2211x
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi 1TB 7200 RPM
    PSU
    Corsair CX600 80+ Bronze
    Case
    Coolermaster HAF 912
    Cooling
    Stock Intel Fan
    Keyboard
    HP Keyboard
    Mouse
    HP Mouse
    Internet Speed
    30+ Mbps Download; 2Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton 360
    Other Info
    New build with custom parts later in the year
Ah, it was a Library iCon? Then do as David Suggests. Those are changed by a different method, and usually you cannot change them.

David may be using Windows 8.1, I'm on 8, but there IS a "Change Library icon" selection that you can get to by right clicking and choosing "Properties" in Windows 8.

I've got full Microangelo installed, and I don't have that popup. It's a shell extension you have to activate. Actually I can't see how to get that, but I have all this stuff, Librarian, Studio, Explorer, Animator - Don't know which one will give me that extra shell extension.

I just used that icon because "Microangelo on Display" will change Any icon.

I use 8 Pro with Media Center.

You have Microangelo Toolset.

Untitled.png

Untitled2.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
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