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First things first!
We are about to change system files, because the hard drive icon is stored in a system file called imageres.dll. So, always make your backups. Also, get familiar with the command prompt. I can’t stress enough how important it is. If you don’t know the basic command prompt commands, first go do some research on this. Search for examples of cd, dir, runas, copy, rename and other basic commands.
- Download Resource Editor for Windows 7 by following link:
The current version of ResEdit is 1.5.4. You can dow
In order to install Windows 7 shell themes manually, you will have to replace the shell32.dll. You basically can follow our guide that explains how to replace the explorer.exe file, but I wanted to give some very precise instructions for replacing this particular file.
The easiest and shortest way to replace the explorer.exe and any other system files is to download a registry hack that will add the option Take Ownership to your right-click context menu.
Download this script: Download TakeOwnership.zip Or Mirror link1, Mirror link2 and double-click on the .reg (registry) file to add an option “Take Ownership” to your contextual menu (the right-click menu).
Sometimes, you might want to clear the icon cache in Windows 7. You could probably just restart, but if you want to do it like pros, then here’s a quick tutorial how to clear the icon cache without restarting.
Trivia: The icon cache is a database file that is usually very small, about 5MB.
C:\Users\[insertyourusername]\AppData\Local
So, basically just open the folder above, make a copy of the file IconCache.db and delete the original one. Now restart your PC or end the process explorer.exe and restart it again.
Open up the task manager via CTRL + ALT + DEL and go to the tab processes:
Trivia: The icon cache is a database file that is usually very small, about 5MB.
Icon Cache DB Location
Windows has a file where it stores your icon cache. The file name is “IconCache.db” and can be found at the following location:C:\Users\[insertyourusername]\AppData\Local
So, basically just open the folder above, make a copy of the file IconCache.db and delete the original one. Now restart your PC or end the process explorer.exe and restart it again.
Open up the task manager via CTRL + ALT + DEL and go to the tab processes:
Restart Explorer (Run…)
Your taskbar will disappear. Now simply, click on “New Task” and enter explorer.exe to start the explorer again:If you are creating Windows 7 themes on your own and you want to change the system icons of Windows 7, it’s handy to have a list of icons stored in imageres.dll. Here’s one.
1. Download IcoFX
2. Start IcoFX and click on Open ..
3. From the dropdown select Windows Binary and then open imageres.dll in Windows\system32:
1. Download IcoFX
2. Start IcoFX and click on Open ..
3. From the dropdown select Windows Binary and then open imageres.dll in Windows\system32: