Where are the folder icons on the computer? Where are the folder icons on the computer? What dll are the icons stored in?

Many people want to have a beautiful looking computer desktop. To do this, it is advisable to know where the icons are in Windows 7, XP, Vista and Windows 8, but not necessary. You can create them yourself and apply your design on your computer.

The icons themselves in Windows operating systems are located in the “SHELL32.dll” folder. To see it, follow the following route: drive c—->, windows folder—> system32 folder—> “SHELL32.dll”

To change the folder icon (), right-click on it (a window will open), then click on “properties” and using the “settings” option, click change icon. There are about a hundred of them there.

The choice is large. Only Windows icons are standard, but you have the opportunity to make custom ones.

For this you will need two free programs: paint and FormatFactory. They are both in Russian, although for professional work It's better to use photoshop.

How to sketch shortcuts on your computer yourself

Find an image file you like on the Internet. Take a screenshot and open it in Paint. Then you can edit (add an inscription, etc.).

Then change the size to: 50 x 50 px. Save. Place it in some folder, for example “images”.

Now convert your file to "ico" format. After that, do everything as in the first option (described above how to change the icon), just click “browse” at the very top and indicate the place where your icon is located. That's all. There is nothing complicated.

If you have already had to replace folder icons, then you are aware that the system suggests looking for an alternative icon in the SHELL32.dll file, located in the system32 folder. The question is, why does Windows store icons in DLL files, and not in separate folders, and what are DLL files in general?

DLL or Dynamic Link Library files, also known as dynamic link libraries, are containers, something like archives, in which various components used by EXE executable files can be stored, for example, code fragments or graphic elements, in our case, icons. The use of DLLs in Windows is based on the principle of modularity, and each individual compatible library can be connected to a particular application, thereby expanding its functionality.

Today we will learn how to create such libraries ourselves. Since their content will be limited to icons only, we will not need either the Microsoft Visual Studio development kit or knowledge of the C++ or VB.NET programming languages. All we need is a small Anolis Resourcer utility and a set of icons in ICO format no larger than 256x256 pixels. The icons need to be renamed in order to make them easier to work with.

Download the Anolis Resourcer utility from the developer’s website anolis.codeplex.com/releases/view/32286 and run it. In the main menu, select File → New and save the still empty DLL file in a location convenient for you, giving it a name in Latin, for example, ico.dll.

In this case, the future dynamic library will be displayed in the left column of the utility working window. After that, click the Import button on the toolbar and in the window that opens, specify the path to the icon file by clicking the “Browse” button. You don't need to change anything else in the settings.

Click “OK” and in the left column of the utility you will have two folders Icon Image and Icon Directory, in which your icons will be stored.

If you want, you can try playing with the settings of the built-in icon editor, changing the interpolation method or adding a background.

In exactly the same way, other icons are added to the library one after another. To save the results of your work, click the Save button - the library will be saved to the directory from which you took the icons.

Done, now you can use your library for its intended purpose by entering the path to it in the icon change window.

Have a great day!

I continue the theme of decorations for those who sometimes get bored with the standard Windows decoration. Although now there are many ready-made assemblies being produced, which not only come with pre-installed (or optional) necessary programs, but also with a built-in theme. But still there are also “clean” ones, for fans of minimalism or if there is a licensed version. It is for these people that I wrote this article. In it you will learn how using standard methods change the icon (icon) of a file or folder without using programs. And for something sweet, I’ll answer the question - ?

In general, I think that if you want to change the Windows interface, then it will be much easier to download some theme with all the bells and whistles (wallpaper, folders, start, icons, shortcuts, cursor, etc. - everything will be changed), but my site is not is dedicated to this, so I will show you how you can change the icons on your own.

How to change a folder icon

1) Right-click (right mouse button) on the folder we need

2) In the menu, select the last one - Property

3) In this window, select the tab Settings

4) Click on the button Change icon

5) This window will open, in which you simply select the icon you like for the folder from the list (note that you can “twist” it left and right using the slider. Don’t think that there are few icons there

Well, for those for whom this is not enough, I’ll answer the “sweet” question right away - Where are icons stored in Windows??
Here is the answer:

C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll

C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll

C:\Windows\System32\ddores.dll

For general information, I inform you - dll This is a library format. Exactly in these three Windows files stores its library of icons.

And that’s why I’ve now opened up this question about storage - if what’s in the set isn’t enough for you, just replace SHELL32.dll in the “Look for icons in the next file” field with imageres.dll and if that’s not enough, then with ddores. dll and click Enter. This is important, you don’t need to go anywhere else!
These files are also needed for all sorts of perverts who want to see what’s inside and “pull” these icons out of there (I don’t know why). For them, I hid a small guide under the spoiler.

1) Open one of the proposed files using the program (Following the link you can download the free 30-day version).
2) In the panel Resource tree open the folder Icon
3) Select any of the icons you like.
4) In the panel Resource tree right-click on this resource and select Extract... → Extract as "resource_name.ico"
5) Select the folder to extract and click Save

You can also extract all the icons at once, to do this:
6) In the panel Resource tree right click on the folder Icon and select Extract... → Extract all as "Icon" type
7) Select the folder to extract and click OK

6) After you have selected the icon you need, click OK and enjoy the result of your work.

How to change a file icon
The principle is the same as for folders, only the difference is in the window Properties- there we need to click on Change icon

A window like this will appear in which you need to select an icon

If there are no or few icons there, then you can put there the paths that are written in the above method for folders (for example C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll)

Icons are needed either in the library ( dll) or exe file or ico or png. Basically, they only change the icon on the folders.

And then my surprise appears. I have prepared for you a small collection of icons in the format ico. All you need is to download, save, unpack and specify the path to the icon using the button Review.. in the shortcut or folder settings.

This is more for information purposes than to use them specifically. Still, the article is more about standard methods. If there is anything more, write, I’m always happy to help.

In an attempt to eliminate the confusion of how users organize their data, Windows 7 introduced new system libraries, allowing you to include various folders in them, and access them from one unified place.

This methodology replaces outdated and intractable folder structures that, for example, make it difficult to index files scattered throughout a drive. On the one hand, the new Libraries are quite convenient.

But on the other hand, you won't be able to find an easy built-in way to change their icons. Yes, this doesn't particularly bother some people who are quite happy with the four default Libraries (Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos).

However, when adding a new Library, users are left with an ordinary Windows 7 document-style icon, which, of course, cannot satisfy perfectionists.

However, no need to worry. With five minutes of free time and a little patience, you can change this icon to some other one that is more pleasant for you. There are two ways to change the icon. The first method is more difficult and will force you to get your hands dirty. And the second method will save a couple of minutes by using a special utility.

Method number 1 - more complex

Open a text editor. Notepad will also work.
Go to Windows folder: %appdata%\microsoft\windows\libraries
Drag the icon of the Library you want to change into Notepad.

Among the several lines of text you see on the screen, there should be one that looks like:

imageres.dll,-1001

All you now need to do is change imageres.dll,-1001 to the folder or file where your icon is located, indicating its location in the file. So, the icon in our example is located in imageres.dll,124 and, as it seems to us, it is well suited for the work library.

In reality, you may not know the location of the icon you need in the file, but using free application IconViewer allows you to view the contents of a DLL file, and even see the icon number in the file. Once you find the icon you want, simply save your changes in Notepad and you will see it in the Library.

Method number 2 - simpler

This method automates the above process with a simple user interface and the ability to view icons. All you have to do is download and run this utility (277KB), select the DLL file with icons (or stay with the default imageres.dll), select an icon, select a library for your icon and click the Select icon from dll button .

It's worth noting that when viewing the icons, some of them look terrible, but in reality they are attractive, high-resolution images. Therefore, it is worth giving them a chance. And even if you don’t like them, you can always roll back (using the Restore default icon button).

Where can I find icons in Windows?

You're probably wondering where you can find icons in Windows? For example, in the file ddores.dll (mostly hardware icons), in shell32.dll (hundreds of different icons), in wmp.dll (media icons), moricons.dll (various old school Windows icons).

Want even more icons? Then also look at compstui.dll, mmcndmgr.dll, netshell.dll, pnidui.dll and wmploc.dll. And don't forget to visit our website! And we will tell and show you something else!

On any computer there is a library of icons that can be installed on folders instead of the standard ones. If you have Windows 7, the replacement procedure is very simple.

Icons are special icons that appear on top of folders on your computer.

In Windows 7, icons are located in the following files:

C:WindowsSystem32shell32.dll;
C:WindowsSystem32imageres.dll;
C:WindowsSystem32ddores.dll

If you're tired of the standard windows icons 7, they can be completely replaced. Many users are not even aware of this possibility, and admire the standard icons, which become visually boring over time.

To change icons in Windows 7, follow these steps:

Right-click on the folder on which you want to change the icon;
In the menu that opens, select “Property”;
Click on the “Settings” tab;
Click on the “Change icon” item;
In the window that opens, you can select an icon. The list is quite large - turn the slider to the right.

You can also download icons for Windows 7 from the Internet and install them on folders. First you need to find an archive of such icons. If you have Windows 7, they are easy to download on the Internet. To install new icons, follow these steps:

After downloading the archive, unpack it;
Click on the "Start" key;
Go to the “Computer” menu;
Open the system disk link;
Go to the System32 folder;
Next, go to the downloaded icons, select them and right-click;
Copy them and paste them into System32;
Open the “Personalization” menu (right mouse button on the desktop);
Click “Change desktop icons”, then click on the icon you want to change;
Then - “Change icon” - and specify the path.

As you can see, replacing icons in Windows 7 is not difficult. And by downloading new icons, you can make any folder visually unique, even if you have many of them on your computer.