How to Fix Corrupt Drive Icons Problem in My Computer Window?

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.

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

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.

DriveIcons_Registry_Key.png

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

NOTE: You can also try the solution given in point 3 and point 19 in following tutorial:

[Help & Support] Frequently Asked Problems with Solutions

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Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

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  1. Sir .i have a folder which has three sub folder …sir due to virus main folder got dislocate n its sub folder show a shortcut . when i wanna a open it..it said that file is modified or dislocated..
    plz sir tell me how i can open this folder or how i can locate the file

  2. hey plzzzz can u help me out in this one, the thing is that my Local Disk D appears as folder and the files in it appear as shortcut. when I search them by dot search the files exist but when I cut them out to the front they two automatically appear as shortcut too

  3. buddy,programs on my external HDD icons are changing to driverpack and win rar icon. what can i do to solve that

  4. i open all that HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer
    then i search for drive icons it is not present there in windows xp please help!

  5. It didnt work. still there is a horizontal green bar – like a health status – on my drive’s icons. and i couldnt find that registry key.i tried other ways also . im not sure if its made by Eset security or SuperAntiSpyWare which i installed lately.

  6. i have few pictures and videos which showing green color .. all of these are not openg.. when i had sav these pics and videos,,. i had done somthing with encryption attributes and privacy and all.. after that these all are not opening… plz anyone help

  7. i have problem in my app icon in my lap it shows in a white ponda and it makes poor performance to lap and produce more heat so how can i remove this icon or app plz help me any one

  8. My PC had 5 partitions: c drive (win 10pro), e drive, f drive, g drive and h drive.
    and d drive for DVD writer.
    h drive had the path for desktop items (my Documents, desktop, videos, etc)
    ( means anything saved on the desktop will automatically be saved in h drive.
    I disconnected DVD writer from PC and then changed drive letters of partitions like
    e drive- changed to d drive. f drive changed to e drive. g drive changed to e drive. h drive changed to g drive.
    after restarting the PC installed programs on desktop vanished. On clicking the my computer message flashed:- H drive is not available.
    how can I fix this problem?

  9. hi. i have plug in my external drive to my laptop. external hard drive have 3 partitions. 2 are working fine but the third one is showing RAW but there was the data in that RAW partition.
    help me for that how can i view the data from that partition.
    Regards.

  10. I have a problem in my My computer window. My “Local Disk(C:)”s name has been changed to Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and the icon has changed too. Is this a virus problem?

  11. Hi Guys;
    I have a problem that my computer device manager shows many many DVD/CD Rom drives !!
    each time i delete them they come back after switching on my laptop (Toshiba satellite U300).
    any idea please !

  12. yeah, i followed all the steps but its still showing the drive icon as a folder and its really annoying, do you have any other suggestion or a step by step video i should checkout? let me know as soon as possible please.

  13. Hi
    I lost all my data in drives, folders and files too while running an application YTD. A scanning was running just along with an additional virus scan appeared with YTD. All my file’s and folder’s icon turned to White/unknown, while opening receives a message : File corrupted and could not be opened.. but the extension and size of the data are there. not working on open with too..
    I applied all the suggestions above in #1 and reached until –
    (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer) but in /explorer I have no “DriveIcons”. to delete!! In D-series it has Desktop, DesktopInipropertyMap and DeviceUpdatedLocations then F-series starts..

    Kindly advice
    Edin

  14. ^^ It seems the software or some virus removed file extensions. Try to rename a known file with its actual file extension and then it should open.

  15. I download a lot of files into my computer. Recently, while downloading some files, as I was moving them into my computer, I noticed that all my icons started changing shape everytime i downloaded a some files, its as if someone was playing with the icons. First, there was a padlock shape at the bottom of the icons, followed by an arrow, followed to two people standing together, then a cross. Please help me. I have a lot of valuable data on my computer.

  16. hi i run windows 10 and the drive D,E and F turn to a folder icon
    i tried all i can but to no avial

  17. hi sir my computer all data like(video,audio,photo,software)are same icon withe file
    all file name ke end me (.lalo) yee aa rha
    ples help me

    and i am install new windows 7

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