Some Registry keys and programs can modify the looks of desktop icons further, like Iconoid or Windows System Settings to make desktop icons transparent.

D-Color is an old software for Windows that provides a similar functionality like Deskview, a program that we reviewed here on Ghacks in 2008. The developer has discontinued development of D-Color but at least part of the software’s functionality is still working on the latest versions of the Windows operating system.

You can use D-Color to change the position of the desktop icon text. Usually text is always displayed underneath each icon. With D-Color that position can be changed to the right side of the icon instead, so that all icon descriptions are displayed on the right. Take a look at the screenshot below to find out how this looks like.

D-Color needs to be installed before it can be used. The application minimizes automatically to the Windows System Tray on startup. A right-click on the system tray icon displays a context menu with options to modify the appearance of desktop icons.

The selection of Small Icons or Tile Icons moves the text position to right side of the icons. You can then close the application again; The changes will remain visible on the desktop.

You can furthermore use Windows’s own menu to change the icon size back to medium or large if that is preferred.

D-Color is no longer available at the developer website. I have uploaded the latest version to the Ghacks servers. You can download it from the following link: D-Color (374)

Windows offers the capabilities of changing program and file icons. Many users do that to make them fit into a custom theme, while others like to use custom icons for personalization or better identification.

It is however usually not possible to simply pick an image format like png, bmp or jpg and use that as the new icon for the application, file or service. These image formats need to be converted first, before they can be used as the new icon.

Convert Images Into Windows Icons

Imagicon is a free program to convert image formats into Windows icons. The freeware supports bmp, jpg, png and ico (with ico being the icon format), and supports conversion into all supported formats.

The default conversion mode is set to convert any image format that is dragged and dropped into the application window into Windows icon format. The process requires no further user interaction besides the dropping of images into the program window. Multiple images will be converted one after another.

The newly created icons are saved in the same folder that the original images are stored in. The options can be used to change the icon size from the default 32×32 to 16×16, 48×48, 128×128 or 64×64. It is furthermore possible to enable transparency.

Additional preferences are available in the Options. It is for instance possible to change the output directory for the newly created icon files, change the save mode from Windows Icon (ico) to png, bmp or jpg, alter the quality of the output files, or change the output images’ size and orientation.

Imagicon is a handy software program to convert images into an ICO image.

Imagicon Download And Compatibility

Imagicon is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The program is offered as a free download at the developer website.

The icon size can be changed in Windows Explorer as well. The View menu contains opens to change the icon size of the selected folder.

Most users do not know that there is an easier option to change the icon size, at least in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Pressing the Ctrl key and scrolling up or down with the mouse wheel changes the icon size of the active folder on the desktop or in Windows Explorer instantly.

This only works if the desktop or Windows Explorer are selected. The easiest option is to left-click on a blank spot on the desktop or in Windows Explorer before pressing Ctrl and using the mouse wheel.

The changes are saved by Windows and independent from each other. It is for instance possible to increase the icon size on the computer desktop while leaving all other icon sizes at their default value.

Have additional handy tips to share? Post yours in the comments.

DeskSave is a lightweight program that can save icon layouts so that the layouts will be restored whenever the resolution has been changed. The application is offered as a portable version and installer.

It will automatically save the user’s desktop setup on first startup and is pre-configured to automatically restore the layout on Windows start, resume from standbys and resolution changes.

A confirmation window will be displayed to the user which can be turned off in the program’s options.

restore desktop icons

The program offers a set of additional options. It is for instance possible to configure it to start with Windows or change the icon after in Windows Vista and Windows 7 after restoration.

Desktop layouts can be exported and imported as well which is handy if multiple layouts are used. The program itself will only remember one desktop layout but supports multi-monitor systems.

Desktop layouts can also be restored manually by right-clicking the system tray icon and selecting restore primary layout from the context menu.

You might want to check other guides on the subject including restore desktop icons or manage your desktop icons which both review free software alternatives.

DeskSave is a free program for Windows that can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It is compatible with the majority of Microsoft operating systems.

Windows ships with a limited amount of desktop icons and some users might prefer to create their own icons for a more personal experience. Simply Icon is a lightweight software program to create desktop icons. All the user needs to do is to drag and drop an image into the applications interface. The application will automatically created four different icons in the sizes 128×128, 64×64, 32×32 and 16×16.

The newly created icons will be stored in one file in the same directory as the original file that was dropped into the application. Best suitable images for a conversion into icons are images that have the same height and width.

Simply Icon can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It does require the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 which needs to be installed before the application can be executed.

Fortunately Linux has grown up quite a bit so it’s not that difficult to start an application. In fact, I would argue that starting an application in Linux is easier than it is in Windows. How can I say that? Well, why don’t we examine the various ways you can start an application within Linux and you can make the judgment yourself.

Command line

We’ll start with the more challenging first. Not that the command line is difficult, but it’s not nearly as easy as finding a menu entry and selecting it.

If you’ve been following me enough you probably have read an instance where I have mentioned global commands. A global command is a command that is located within your users’ $PATH. NOTE: You can learn more about this in my article  “Adding directories to your $PATH“. To find out what directories are in your $PATH issue the command echo $PATH. What you see printed out at your prompt are all of the directories which contain commands you can run from anywhere on your system. There may be times when you do not install an application within your path. For those applications you have to enter the explicit path to the executable command. Let me explain…

Say you install the beta version of Firefox (for testing purposes) in the /opt directory. So now you will have a directory /opt/firefox and within that directory is the executable command firefox. Since /opt isn’t in your $PATH, if you execute only firefox what will start up is the default firefox on your system. In order to start up Firefox installed in /opt you will have to execute the command /opt/firefox/firefox.

Now let’s say you are looking for the apt command to add a gpg key but you’re not sure of the name. You are sure, however, of two things: It is in /usr/bin and it has the string “key” in the command. You could issue this command to find all matching commands:

ls /usr/bin/*key*

which will list all commands in /usr/bin that contain the word “key”. In that listing you will see apt-key. You now know the name of the command.

GUI

There are two main (and universal) ways to start up an application in Linux. The first, and easiest, is to look through your main menu for that command’s entry. Once you find that command you simply select it to open up the application. One of the issues that is not a universal truth in Linux is menu layout. All Linux desktops lay out their menus differently. But for the most part they hold true to some similarities (Primarily the grouping of applications into submenus like “Office”, “Networking”, “Graphics”, “Games”, etc.)

The next universal method of starting up an application is to open up your desktops’ file manager, navigate to the directory that contains the executable, and double click on the executable. This is much like it is in Windows. Most often you will be navigating to /usr/bin to find these executables.

NOTE: If a command requires a terminal to run you can not run it in this method. The only commands you can start up this way are graphical commands.

Run prompt

Figure 1

In some desktops you will have a “Run prompt” within your Start menu. In GNOME and KDE you can open up this dialog by pressing Alt-F2. In my favorite distribution, Elive Compiz, I set this to the Windows Key+F1. Figure 1 shows the Run Dialog in Elive. As you can see I want to start the game Torus Trooper. I start to type “torus” and the first matching entry pops up which I can click on to start up the application.

Final thoughts

Of course this is Linux so there are many more ways you can find to start up an application. You can create keyboard shortcuts for just about anything or, in some desktops, you can create desktop Icons. In some desktops you can create specific shelves for applications or add mini launchers. But, in general, the methods outlined above will get you through the day in Linux.

Iconfinder is easier to use because it let’s you view License details and tags without going to a new page, and lets you download the icon as well without switching pages (this is rare). IconLook also has some good options, for example you can select sizes before performing the search, narrowing your search instantly. Iconfinder has the same functionality, but you can narrow only after your initial search.

Overall I like both sites, perhaps the best practice is to use both. Since neither will provide pages and pages of results, you can easily scan through both sites and find the best icon for you. If you know any other icon finding sites I’d appreciate you sharing, I’m always in need of some good icons!

The system works by assigning thumbnail icons to every image in the active folder which are then available independently of the view mode that the user has selected for the folder. When I read about the thumbnail image generator I had fears that it would slow down the system but this is apparently not the case since the application only becomes active when a user opens a folder that contains images.

Image icons are stored in a thumbnail cache that is set to keep 2000 thumbnail images with a size of 31 Megabytes. The size of the image icons cache can be changed, the maximum is 10000 thumbnails with a size of 156 Megabytes.

The cache can be cleared or disabled in the settings as well. They also contain the option to disable thumbnail generation. The settings can be accessed from the Windows Control Panel which is a bit unusual.

The program can be uninstalled easily which will also clear the icon cache leaving no traces of the application on the system. The application is compatible with Windows 98, ME, 2000 and Windows XP and supports the most popular image formats (JPG, JPE, JPEG, JP2, J2K, GIF, PNG, BMP, WBMP, EMF, WMF, PCX, PBM, PGM, PNM, PPM, RAS, TIF, TIFF, and TGA.)

Icon Tweaker can change all Windows system icons at once. It ships with several icon sets that change most (if not all) of the default Windows system icons from My Computer to Printers and Folders. The default installation of Icon Tweaker comes with 11 icon sets that can be applied instantly to Windows. Changes do take effect immediately after hitting the apply button.

But don’t worry, there is always the chance to revert the changes back to the original settings in case that new icon theme did not fit perfectly after all.

New icon sets can be loaded into the application, a search on the Internet reveals several locations that contain icon sets that can be downloaded, for example the selection at Skinbase or Crystal XP. I’m not that sure about system compatibility though. Icon Tweaker runs fine on Windows XP Service Pack 3 but it’s difficulty to tell because the author’s homepage is not available currently.

One of the reasons why I never bothered to use Instant Messengers was the “spammy” connotation of them. There have been many services on the Internet that offered add-ons, smileys and other gimmicks for Instant Messengers that turned out to infect the user’s computer with malicious software or use the information entered by the user to spam him into oblivion.

HiYo seems to be different. The add-on for MSN Messenger comes without adware, spyware and other malicious software. It adds a new toolbar to the compose window that provides access to new content that can be added to posts like images and animations.

• HiYo is loaded with tons of free animated Emoticons
• Send the most hilarious Audibles to your friends on MSN Messenger
• Find any Emoticon, Wink, Animation, Sound Effect, Audible or Nudge easily
• Send HiYo’s crazy Winks to move and shake your buddy’s conversation window
• Replace your old Display Pictures with cool animated slideshows

One interesting aspect is that content gets suggested by HiYo which is great for the flow of conversation because it does not usually take ages to find the right image for the current situation.

Shell City mentioned the online script Bradicon today which is a stripped down version of the function in IcoFx. If IcoFx would be a commercial product then Bradicon could be its free version. It basically accepts an image and creates an icon from that image.

The icon will be provided in ico format as a download after the creation has finished. The icons that I tested were provided in 48×48 format only but it should not be a problem to resize them manually. The website contains no information about the supported image formats, I was able to upload png and jpg images without difficulties.

Bradicon is a nice alternative to IcoFx or similar products especially if you have to work in an environment where you are not allowed to download and install any additional software.

Since then all of 9 themes have been given the official signature; Luna, Silver, Olive, Classic XP, Royale, Royale Noir , Zune (modified Royale Noir), Aero and Classic Vista.

It’s not really a great selection and probably more the once you’ve wished you could give your desktop a nice new look. Luckily there is a way to get free 3rd party themes in Vista (and XP), although you’ll need to patch your system using a free tool called Vista Glazz. Once you’ve downloaded it’s as simple starting it up and pushing a button. You’ll need a reboot and then you should be able to install new themes.

For other changes you can use Vista Visual Master which is a great little application and can change icons, the boot screen and a number of other elements.

The best place to find Vista skins is of course on Deviant Art where you’ll find just about everything graphic related, although it may take you some time to sift through it all to find something you like. Icons, themes, Screensavers, wallpapers, screenshots… it’s all here.

For wallpaper images I suggest Social Wallpapering as maybe the best online resource for high resolution desktop images. It also has a voting system which is a good way to keep the standard of images high. Desktopography is a showcase of some of the greatest Photoshop artists and has an annual gallery, some of the images here are amazing, well worth checking out. You can find a few more at  Customize.org which also has some good archives of images.

For icons I would again recommend Deviant Art although you can get plenty more at VistaIcons, Jm Art Studio and this list of 50 places to get free icons.

If you know of any other good resources sound off in the comments below.

By default icons of all supported sizes (12×12 16×16 22×22 32×32 48×48 64×64 128×128) are selected and displayed in the search results. Each size can be unchecked so that only those icons are displayed that have the desired size. Many icons are available in several sizes.

A click on an icon loads a detailed profile page of that icon displaying it in all available sizes. The license and the website of the developer is listed on that page as well.

Iconlook offers two additional search options. The first is the random search which displays random icons on the result page. The second is a tag cloud which is huge and kinda confusing.

Still if you are looking for icons you will definitely find a great selection at Iconlook.

IcoFx could be the icon editor of choice then for you. It can create Icons for Windows 98 to Windows Vista and Macintosh OS X computers and provides functions to convert icons from Mac to Windows (and Windows to Mac) and to extract icons from 32-bit exe and dll files. One great feature is the ability to add, change or delete icons in executables which means that you could permanently change icons of explorer.exe for instance.

The interface looks clean, crisp and is very responsive to user input. The most gorgeous feature in my opinion is the ability to create icons from images. Just select an image on your hard drive and select the color depths and size of the icon that you want to create in the first step and use the advanced import settings to pick a specific part of the image, change the resolution and transparency.

The icon will then be created and can be saved in the usual icon formats. Colors range from 2 colors to True Color + Alpha Channels which equals 1-bit to 32-bit. Supported resolutions are 16×16, 24×24, 32×32, 48×48, 256×256 and custom resolutions.

Different sizes can be created and merged by dragging and dropping them into one icon window which has the effect that several sizes are supported in the icon file that will be created.

Most of the downloads link to Javier’s page at Deviant Art where they can be downloaded. Wallpapers are usually available in different sizes. The visual styles can be downloaded in MS style or Windowblinds format. You do need a patched uxtheme.dll to use visual styles on your computer. I did explain the procedure in the article linked above. The icons are icon packs that can be simply used. They are available for Windows and Mac.

Javier explains exactly how users can apply the new visual styles, wallpapers and icons to their system. He links to various free programs that make it easier to change the icons or visual themes. Javier is also offering skins on his website for various applications like Winamp to match the visual styles for the system.

It was funny to realize that Javier actually created the Thallos visual style that I’m using on my system currently. It’s an amazing style.

I know that design is not everything that counts and that functionality should be more important – are you listening Microsoft ? – but it really blows every other icon editor away when it comes to looks. Pixelformer can load high resolution images without difficulties, I remember some icon editors that would only accept images of a certain dimension. The memory footprint of Pixelformer is tiny, it uses less than 3 Megabytes after startup.

What I really like is the fact that it is possible to import icons from the computer. If you pick a file that contains more than one icon, explorer.exe, for instance then you get to choose the icon that you want to load. While the icons can be loaded from executables, system files and images they can only be imported as image files with the ico file type as the obvious choice here. Three other file types are available.

Pixelformer is an easy to use stunning looking icon editor that comes with enough functionality to make most professional icon creators happy.

I’m going to show you how you can create such icons and shortcuts by yourself. I’m using an icon as an example that will have options to load all installed browsers on the system. You do need the software SCCU [via Neowin Forum] for that. Four default icons are shown when the tool is started for the first time, they are Computer, Control Panel, My Documents and Network Places. It is possible to edit the options of those items or create a new one.

Select File > New to create a new icon and click on the New button next to Class Name. Make sure you pick something unique, I did pick Browser for this example. Clicking on Accept should display Browser in the left pane, click Finished to finish this process. Now begins the fun part of the process.

It is possible to change the icon for that newly created icon by clicking on the folder symbol next to Class Icon.

A click on the Class Type tab lets you choose the location and type of the icon. Possible locations are Desktop, My Computer, Control Panel, Entire Network, Network Places and No Namespace. There are five types of icon available for you to choose from, they are: Icon, Folder, Shortcut, Shell Object and Existing Folder. My decision was to place a textless icon on the Desktop.

The final tab called Menu Item lets you drag and drop shortcuts and files to it which are then added to the context menu of the Browser icon. The form fields will be filled out automatically when a file or shortcut is dropped in the menu. The first dropped file or shortcut will the default left-click action for that icon.

I have added three browser to the right-click menu of the icon. All that is left to do is to click on the Class > Merge option in the menu which immediately creates the file on the desktop. If you can’t see it refresh your desktop.

That was just a pretty basic example but it used all the important elements to create textless icons with an enhanced context menu. You should save the new icon finally, otherwise it will be saved in untitled.ini. This file is important in case you want to delete the icon again from the location that you placed it in because a normal delete operation is not working.

They only offer 5 full packs, but these are full of great icons, all very well made and beautiful. They also have some specific icons like document icons, audio icons, script icons and so on. Wallpapers also only fill two pages but they capture the Vista-like feel very well.

They also offer a handy png to ico converter which may come in handy for the casual icon designer. All in all this is not a huge site, but what they do have is great, I have added it to my ever-growing collection.

Icons Extract offers a very sophisticated way to extract icons from files. You can either scan files, folders or processes that you want to scan for icons. If you know where the icon that you want is located you simply point Icon Extract to that folder or file and the icon will be displayed.

Once the icons are displayed you can save them to your hard drive in ICO and CUR format so that you can change the application’s icon to the one that you just extracted. Four filter can be used to narrow down results. You can search for icons and cursors or only one of them and can specify a specific image size and color depth.

I performed a test scan of my Program Files folder which revealed roughly 6000 icons after scanning the entire folders for some minutes. To save one or more icons select them and click on the save button on top.

IconLet.com looks like an average search engine too simple to be even interesting in any way but its simple interface only supports the clarity of this service. It lets you search for icons. But that’s not all. You can choose whether you want to search for png or gif image types.

IconLet also provides an Advanced search where you can choose icon resolutions from a long list of standard sizes and the license under which you want the symbol to be found. Only free/GNU/CC licenses are supported (so that you don’t have to worry about the rights so much).

When you finally click that search button you get the results in order ranging from the smallest resolution to the largest instead of some mess. Finally, if you’re not looking for anything specific, it’s also possible to only browse all available icons from the archive in accordance with their size (10×10 – 176×88), file format and license. Though, the archive isn’t that big yet so that you can get “No results found” from time to time, especially when you don’t manage to describe what you’re looking for properly.