Desktop Icons without Text

By Herby
in Essential Guides

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Apprentice

sergiomiranda

Posted
Posted

I would suggest changing the first lines in the My Computer.reg from:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{00000000-5000-0000-0000-000000000002}\DefaultIcon]

@="C:\\Windows\\Explorer.exe,0"

to:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{00000000-5000-0000-0000-000000000002}\DefaultIcon]

@="%WINDIR%\\Explorer.exe,0"

As it is right now, it screws up the icon if are on a dual boot machine with Windows not on C:\ or if you changed your WINDOWS folder name.

I have a Windows XP install in D:\WINXP and this fixed the icon.

Thank you for this great mod, i have been using it for a very long time and it only keeps getting better and better!! :)

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Collaborator

alsiladka

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hey herby , Can you make shortcuts for

  1. Yahoo! Messenger
  2. Nokia PC Suite
  3. Flashget
  4. Windows Live Mail desktop beta
  5. Windows Live Messenger
  6. Windows Media Player 11

Thanx :)

Edited by alsiladka
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Herby

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Posted

The links work again!

Virtual Plastic has moved to a new server (Plastic forgot to add my domain :pinch: ).

+ Some of the files where blocked due to the large download traffic from the PowerDVD 7 skins.

Thanks for all the "thank yous"! :D

I?m glad to see that they are useful to so many people!:):)

Redllar has created a greafreeu> gui based reg file editor and viewerRegpadb>.

With Regpad, you can view and edit the expandable string values (see the Tutorial for more info):):)

Heres a little program i wrote to make changing the icon easier.

Can be used as a stand-alone program , or via a "Change Icon" entry to the icon's context menu.

It uses the CLSID ( with the brackets ) as a command line and writes the chosen icon selection back to the correct CLSID in the registry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy.

Thanks for this great little app!:):)

I do not like winxp,I am using win2000 server . Can I utilize this software?

the settings are too hard.

Yep, should be no problem.

So what exactly is the easiest way to install this mod?

I really would just like the start menu mod that is shown.

I described the easiest way @ post #1.:ermm:m:

I would suggest changing the first lines in the My Computer.reg from:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{00000000-5000-0000-0000-000000000002}\DefaultIcon]

@="C:\\Windows\\Explorer.exe,0"

to:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{00000000-5000-0000-0000-000000000002}\DefaultIcon]

@="%WINDIR%\\Explorer.exe,0"

As it is right now, it screws up the icon if are on a dual boot machine with Windows not on C:\ or if you changed your WINDOWS folder name.

I have a Windows XP install in D:\WINXP and this fixed the icon.

Thank you for this great mod, i have been using it for a very long time and it only keeps getting better and better!!:):)

Missed that one...:pinch:h:

Most of the regs already contain variable paths.:):)

Hey herby , Can you make shortcuts for

  1. Yahoo! Messenger
  2. Nokia PC Suite
  3. Flashget
  4. Windows Live Mail desktop beta
  5. Windows Live Messenger
  6. Windows Media Player 11

Than:):)

I'm very busy atm (I just moved to my new house).

I'll get on it (+ the other requests) asap, meanwhile you can try to create them with SCCU (see post #1).

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Neowinian

danny_8

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Posted

Hello and thank you for the excellent desktop mods!

I am running Windows XP Pro. I installed several icons to my desktop: Foobar2000, Firefox, MS Office. I modified shell32.dll as outlined on the first page. After rebooting, the ?create shortcut? menu item was removed. By coincidence, I happened to run Windows Update later that night. I noticed this morning ?create shortcut? was back in the menu. I am guessing this resulted from updating my system. Has anyone else noticed this? I will be look through the pages of this thread to see if this has already been discussed.

In the final steps of modding shell32.dll, these instructions have me slightly confused:

6) Download and extract Create_Shortcut.zip.
7) Copy CreateShortcut.exe to the Windows or System32 directory and
   merge "Create Shortcut - install.reg" into the registry.

I think the purpose here is to allow restoring/removing ?create shortcut? to the context menu without further mods to shell32.dll. Is this true?

Thank you again for the registry mods and especially for the excellent information. It inspired me to clean up my desktop and simplify my start menu.

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Neowinian

danny_8

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Posted (edited)

post-207128-1172396789.png

In the final steps of modding shell32.dll, these instructions have me slightly confused: Is this true?[/strike]

... I wanted to include \n (newline) characters in my shell icon InfoTips. That is, I wanted to enter them using my custom regedit merge file. (I could manually paste them via regedit, but that's a pain). As far as I can tell, the only way to input x0D values would be using a hex string.

Here is a worksheet (Excel 2000) to generate a list of comma-separated hex values when you enter a text string. The tilde character is used to force line breaks. The following (including continuations) was made using the worksheet:

;  Firefox (default) ~~*  right-click for   *~*  context menu  *
   "InfoTip"=hex(2):20,00,46,00,69,00,72,00,65,00,66,00,6F,00,78,00,20,00,28,00,\
   64,00,65,00,66,00,61,00,75,00,6C,00,74,00,29,00,20,00,0D,00,0D,00,2A,00,\
   20,00,20,00,72,00,69,00,67,00,68,00,74,00,2D,00,63,00,6C,00,69,00,63,00,\
   6B,00,20,00,66,00,6F,00,72,00,20,00,20,00,20,00,2A,00,0D,00,2A,00,20,00,\
   20,00,63,00,6F,00,6E,00,74,00,65,00,78,00,74,00,20,00,6D,00,65,00,6E,00,\
   75,00,20,00,20,00,2A,00

post-207128-1172397098.png

Edited by danny_8
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Herby

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nice work i have to say. but the tuneup is outdated.. if u r free please make one for 2007 version :D that is if u r free!

I'm still pretty busy -> added to the 2do list. :)

In the final steps of modding shell32.dll, these instructions have me slightly confused:
6) Download and extract Create_Shortcut.zip.
7) Copy CreateShortcut.exe to the Windows or System32 directory and
   merge "Create Shortcut - install.reg" into the registry.

I think the purpose here is to allow restoring/removing ?create shortcut? to the context menu without further mods to shell32.dll. Is this true?

It adds "Create Shortcut" to the context menu of all files, you can also skip this part and right click + dragg a file to create a shortcut.

Thank you again for the registry mods and especially for the excellent information. It inspired me to clean up my desktop and simplify my start menu.

That's the goal! :happy:ppy:

I wanted to include \n (newline) characters in my shell icon InfoTips. That is, I wanted to enter them using my cusregedit merge file. (I could manually paste them via regedit, but that's a pain). As far as I can tell, the only way to input x0D values would be using a hex string.

You can view and edit Expandable String Values with Regpad (see first post).

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Neowinian

danny_8

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Posted
It adds "Create Shortcut" to the context menu of all files, you can also skip this part and right click + dragg a file to create a shortcut
Ah ha! I finally see! You added "Create Shortcut" back to the context menu item for all folders and files, but the previous shell32.dll mod removed it from the context menu for shell icons! (Previously I was, like, why?'s he adding the menu itemback> again?) I struggled to realize this. I was distracted by all the other possibilities. Frankly, I'm delighted to have found neowin.net and this thread. I landed here after google-ing to locate the command syntax for sndvol32.exe.

BTW, I'm using the second method you mentioned, simply right-clicking/dragging to make shortcuts. It occurs to me I could enable "create shortcut" menu items only for specific file types as an alternative (I believe this is possible). Although they're sometimes essential, cluttered/complicated menus irritate me!

One thing I notice after reading ≈80% of this thread: you are very patient and helpful. Props! Thanks for the reminder about RegPad. I??'m checking it out now.

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Neowinian

danny_8

Posted
Posted

Here is a worksheet (Excel 2000) to generate a list of comma-separated hex values when you enter a text string. It's all done with formulas?there are no macros. This sheet helps me to create Infotips containing line breaks.

I revised the sheet I mentioned a few posts back.

string_convert.zip

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Proficient

crazlunatic

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Posted

is it just me or is this guide extremely hard to understand? what does he mean by merging? where the hell are the "Add" regs?

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Neowinian

danny_8

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Posted

It is a little bit hard. Myself, I had to re-read the instructions a few times before they sunk in.

Merging means you double-click on registry files to merge them with your system registry. The first order of business is to download the ACM.zip package which contains the registry files. There are 'add' files to add shell icons, and 'remove' files to remove shell icons (in case you don't like them).

If you have any questions or suggestions, please PM me or Post 'em here.

To the ones who rated this topic: Thanks for the 5 stars! :happy:

[/Herby]

? ACM.zip ( 272 KB )

Go to the first page of this thread. Find the end of the first (rather long) posting. It looks something like thequote -> above.

Find the link to ACM.zip and download that file. If Herby updates the zip file, the new download will still be available at that same location.Don't download ACM_dock.zip, by the way.>

Uncompress ACM.zip. Select one of the .reg files (say, control panel) and merge that with your registry. Click on your desktop and press F5. That is your first shell icon. Right-click on the shell icon and you'll see what all the fuss is about.

The following thread may help to explain shell icon usage:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/s...eptember16.mspx

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Neowinian

Danielle de Sanctis

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi, My name is a Danielle de Sanctis and I am just a Physical Ed professor from the U Mass and all this stuff is new to me because I just began to really learn to use the internet and I have been joining all these random sites. I thought this one looked interesting so I joined it and I joined another because a lot of my female students have eating disorders so I thought it would be a good place to go and learn about them so that I know the signs to look out for. Anyway, with all that said, I have the new Vista on my computer so will these instructions for that the same way? Thanks,

Danielle de Sanctis

Edited by Danielle de Sanctis
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Herby

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@ danny_8: Thanks for your help! :D

Hi, My name is a Danielle de Sanctis and I am just a Physical Ed professor from the U Mass and all this stuff is new to me because I just began to really learn to use the internet and I have been joining all these random sites. I thought this one looked interesting so I joined it and I joined another because a lot of my female students have eating disorders so I thought it would be a good place to go and learn about them so that I know the signs to look out for. Anyway, with all that said, I have the new Vista on my computer so will these instructions for that the same way? Thanks,

Danielle de Sanctis

Hi Danielle, welcome to the internet & Neowin! :)

Neowin is a great community, lots of nice folks here.

Some are stuck in an everlasting puberty, but you got that everywhere.

Anyway,.. no eating disorders at my side (I have ADHD). :D

About the Shell Icons: some CLSIDs changed, but most of them should work fine in Vista.

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Grand Master

.Markus

Posted
Posted
Hi Danielle, welcome to the internet & Neowin! :)

Neowin is a great community, lots of nice folks here.

Some are stuck in an everlasting puberty, but you got that everywhere.

hahaha boy, is that true or what... :laugh:

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Neowinian

danny_8

Posted
Posted

In Herby's zip file of shell icon samples (see the first page of this thread), one example creates an icon (with no text label) for a folder "My Dump." The name of the file is Add Folder Example.reg. Merging this file with your system registry creates a new shell icon on your desktop.

The icon behaves like a folder, except it can't be deleted or renamed. It has no name, of course. When you click the icon, it opens the folder "My Dump". When you drop a file (or other object) on the icon, it moves the file to "My Dump". The dropping behavior is special, not found in the other samples in Herby's collection.

Does anybody know how to create an equivalent to this folder icon, except using an application? For example, an icon representing notepad, upon which you drop files whereupon they'll be opened using notepad. I experimented with attributes described at this page from virtualplastic.net, but did not have success. That information may not be up-to-date. Suggestions would be welcomed.

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Neowinian

danny_8

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Posted

Yes, a normal shortcut would work.

The shell icon would have the advantage of custom right-click menus. Also, the new icon would fit 'logically' with the other shell icons.

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Apprentice

wiredbits

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In Herby's zip file of shell icon samples (see the first page of this thread), one example creates an icon (with no text label) for a folder "My Dump." The name of the file is Add Folder Example.reg. Merging this file with your system registry creates a new shell icon on your desktop.

The icon behaves like a folder, except it can't be deleted or renamed. It has no name, of course. When you click the icon, it opens the folder "My Dump". When you drop a file (or other object) on the icon, it moves the file to "My Dump". The dropping behavior is special, not found in the other samples in Herby's collection.

Does anybody know how to create an equivalent to this folder icon, except using an application? For example, an icon representing notepad, upon which you drop files whereupon they'll be opened using notepad. I experimented with attributes described at this page from virtualplastic.net, but did not have success. That information may not be up-to-date. Suggestions would be welcomed.

Virtual Plastic is where I got the info that allows SCCU to create Shell folder and objects, great source.

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