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How to change the look of the .htm file icon?
My htm/html files saved on the desktop in Windows 8 looked like this:
Now when I upgraded to Windows 8.1 they look like this:
How can I return their previous look?
PS. I went as far as tried to see if there's anything mixed up in the registry and here's what I got:
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Administrator
Administrator
mvp
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
Hmm. Thanks. I just downloaded and ran both .html and .htm reg files, then rebooted but the icon still looks blank.
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Administrator
Administrator
mvp
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
@Brink: Thanks. The funny thing is that if I don't set IE as a default program, it works. For instance, if I make Chrome open html files, the icon starts looking like Chrome:
It is only if I right-click it, then choose "Open with", then "Choose default program" and pick IE from the list, as such:
It reverts the icon back to this blank look.
I also tried clearing the icon cache:
and then rebooting but that doesn't do anything.
It drives me nuts...
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Administrator
Administrator
mvp
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
No, I don't think restoring will help. I installed Windows like 2 days ago.
Something tells me that this is probably how IE wants html documents to look like. (It may be with their new "flat" look.)
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Administrator
Administrator
mvp
Was it like that after installing Windows?
This is the way an .html file should look with IE as it's default program.
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
It looked like that in Windows 8. I now run 8.1. Do you also have 8.1 installed on your end? If so, does yours look like that blue "e"?
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Administrator
Administrator
mvp
Yep, it's that way in all editions of Windows by default.
Other than a system restore, you could see if running a
sfc /scannow command may help if it's a corrupted or modified system file at fault.
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 guess I'll just have to live with it
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Administrator
Administrator
mvp
What does it show for the default icon for htmlfile now from your screenshot in your first post?
It should be: %ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe,-17
When you merged the .reg files from post #2, did they successfully merge after approving all prompts?
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
What does it show for the default icon for htmlfile now from your screenshot in your first post?
It should be: %ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe,-17
I'm thinking, maybe I need double-quotes on it since there's a space there?
When you merged the .reg files from post #2, did they successfully merge after approving all prompts?
No, it didn't give me any errors.
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Follow-up
1. Just tried to re-merge two of your .reg files for .htm and .html
from here , did both with administrative privileges.
2. Then deleted this file (using standard user account that the icon is displayed for):
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\IconCache.db
3. Rebooted computer.
4. The .htm icon is still blank.
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Follow-up 2
Just tried to delete this file:
Code:
C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\IconCache.db
then logged out from my standard user account (DC) and then logged back in. Now the icon looked different:
but when I double-clicked it, this menu popped up:
so when I picked IE, the desktop refreshed and the icon was reverted back to an empty look.
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Eclectician
VIP Member
Pro User
The "blank paper icon" bug seems to be the one constant across all flavors of Windows. When using jump lists and the like if I can't get rid of the blank I give up and set a custom icon.
OS
Windows 8.0 x64
Computer type
Laptop
System Manufacturer/Model
Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
CPU
AMD EI 1200
Memory
4 gb DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
Monitor(s) Displays
Built in
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768
Hard Drives
640 GB (spinner) Sata II
Keyboard
Built in
Mouse
Touch pad
The "blank paper icon" bug seems to be the one constant across all flavors of Windows. When using jump lists and the like if I can't get rid of the blank I give up and set a custom icon.
It seems like it. Just curious, how do you set a custom icon? I'd be fine with it.
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Computer type
PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model
Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Intel Z87
Memory
32 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
Sound Card
Haswell on-board
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer / DVI
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
PSU
Dell standard
Case
Dell standard
Cooling
Dell standard
Keyboard
Logitech K120
Mouse
Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
Internet Speed
Comcast DSL
Browser
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
Antivirus
Windows 8 built-in
Eclectician
VIP Member
Pro User
If you right click then click Properties, then Customize there should be a button to change the icon. I believe it only changes that particular shortcut though.
OS
Windows 8.0 x64
Computer type
Laptop
System Manufacturer/Model
Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
CPU
AMD EI 1200
Memory
4 gb DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
Monitor(s) Displays
Built in
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768
Hard Drives
640 GB (spinner) Sata II
Keyboard
Built in
Mouse
Touch pad
Administrator
Administrator
mvp
What does it show for the default icon for htmlfile now from your screenshot in your first post?
It should be: %ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe,-17
View attachment 41453
I'm thinking, maybe I need double-quotes on it since there's a space there?
No quotes needed.
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