How to Fix Corrupt Drive Icons in My Computer?

If you like this article, please share it with your friends and contacts on Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter using following buttons so that they can also enjoy the article:

Many times we face a strange problem in Windows. When we open My Computer, one or more drives show some other icons instead of the default drive icons.

It happens when we accidentally change the drive icons using some tweaking software. Sometimes its done by virus.

Don't worry. There is a very simple and small method to fix this problem and you can restore the default drive icons.

1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer

2. Under this key, you'll see a key "DriveIcons". Delete it and log off or restart your Windows.

3. It'll solve the problem and you'll get back default drive icons in My Computer.

Other similar articles that may interest you:

This article was posted by VG in following section: Troubleshooting, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP.

If you enjoyed this article, you can subscribe to our RSS feed or free newsletter to get all new articles directly in your Inbox. Also check out our most popular articles and archive to read other interesting articles. If you have some news or tip to share, please send us.

Have You Checked Out Following Popular Articles?

VG

^^ If you used VistaGlazz then run the software again and restore default files using its options. Otherwise you can run following command in DOS to restore system files:

sfc /scannow
Mark

How do you get to regedit??
Thanks in advance.
Mark

Oh, just worked it out! Sorry
Big J

If some or all of your drive icons are missing from your MyComputer window then check this out!

Always check your motherboard's BIOS 1st !!!
If you can see your CD/DVD drive(s) in the BIOS then you know that it is connected properly and should be seen after booting into Windows etc...

I have built many computers over the years and i have 20yrs+ PC building/repair experience. I have had a lot of people bring their PC's to me and they tell me that when they are booted into Windows their CD/DVD drive icons are missing from MyComputer directory window. If their hardware is hooked up correctly and working properly and still no icons are showing then i just run TweakUi and click on +MyComputer --->Drives and make sure that there is a checkmark next to the drive letters (ex. A, C, D, E, F, G, etc...)

I know that a trojan/malware etc... can intentionally hide the icons for Drive C: and D: etc... because i had to fix my girlfriends PC just recently. She couldn't see any of her drive icons. at all and i found a few trojans lurking on her hard drive. Then after cleaning them out i ran TweakUI and sure enough the drive icons for MyComputer were un-checked (Hidden). After you change these settings you will see your drive icons again immediately! You don't even need to reboot windows for them to show up in MyComputer again like they are supposed to.

Check this out on your PC. Just run TweakUI and see if your drives are unchecked. I hope this will help you and anyone else that has this problem.

P.S. If any of your icons are not showing the correct icon for certain programs etc... then TweakUI can fix this. Just run TweakUI and click "Repair" then make sure "Rebuild Icons" is selected in the drop down box and then click "Repair Now" button.

Good Luck! ;)
Rajiv

Dear vg I didnt find any DriveIcons there regedit(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer) root please help
XP
james

hi..
james

hi...

but i cant find the "DriveIcons" in that key... all of my software program changed, but they run very well.. how can i change it to original icon?
Arun Karthik

Thank you bro
My drive icons were restored back
it is totally u who helped me out,thank u ,thank u.......

I do have another doubt, how to get rid of vista themes, if u have the answer just mail to me at arunkarthiksinboxes@gmail.com
Gulfam

I Have Two Hard Disks
Primary Hard Disk Have Two Partitions C & D
Secondary Hard Disk Have Four Partitions E,F,G,H
C,D Icons Are Fine But E,F,G,H Are Showing Unknown Icons
Me Using Windows 7
Please Help
VG

^^ Did you follow the above mentioned steps? If it doesnt help, enable "Show Hidden Files" option in Folder Options and then open your drives which are showing unknown icons. If you find a file with the name "autorun.inf" or "Desktop.ini", delete it.