Utility to change default icon in Vista. Like old File Types in previous
OS's. Freeware or can you do it with OS?

TIA

Hi John,

Yep, that function is gone in Vista. You can change the default program, but
not the default icon. I haven't found a satisfactory third-party product
yet.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"John Stubbings" <anna.riceDELETE-THIS@virgin.net> wrote in message
news:eEAJ$PN2HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Utility to change default icon in Vista. Like old File Types in previous
> OS's. Freeware or can you do it with OS?
>
> TIA

Not all of them. I'm trying to change the Adobe Acrobat file icon so it
doesn't look just like an ugly white rectangle with a microscopic Adobe
symbol to the old one with the red square and the symbol full size. Vista
Manager wont work.

It really burns me that Micro$oft seems to think we can't be trusted to
manipulate our own computers. I'm beginning to wish I still had Windows 3.1
with DOS 6.22!

"brink" wrote:

> This program called "Vista Manager" will let you change Vista's icons
> to whatever you like them to be. It gives you a fully functional 15 day
> trial period to try it out. If you like, it's not expensive at all.

"FloridaMan339" <FloridaMan339@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3F428784-85DB-4141-B6AC-922D114DB6E3@microsoft.com...
> Not all of them. I'm trying to change the Adobe Acrobat file icon so it
> doesn't look just like an ugly white rectangle with a microscopic Adobe
> symbol to the old one with the red square and the symbol full size. Vista
> Manager wont work.
>
> It really burns me that Micro$oft seems to think we can't be trusted to
> manipulate our own computers. I'm beginning to wish I still had Windows
> 3.1
> with DOS 6.22!
>
> "brink" wrote:
>
>> This program called "Vista Manager" will let you change Vista's icons
>> to whatever you like them to be. It gives you a fully functional 15 day
>> trial period to try it out. If you like, it's not expensive at all.
>
>
If you are always keen to change the architecture I do not think Vista is
the best for you. Don't blame MS for your lost needs, others demand ease of
use and maximum features.

--
Ian

With patience there is always a way.

Please Reply to Newsgroup so all can read.
Requests for assistance by email can not and will be deleted.

That's just it. There seems to be no way to change it. Vista Manager won't
do it. Tweak VI won't (at least the freeware one - I haven't looked at the
paid version).
Windows Vista has no feature to do it as far as I know. If there IS a way, I
would appreciate it if someone would let me in on the secret.

> Hi FloridaMan,
>
> You cannot change the Adobe main .exe icon, but you can change it's
> shortcuts and also should be able to change the icon for the .pdf file
> type.
>
> Shawn
>
>
> --
> brink
>
> *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
> _http://www.vistax64.com/ (\"http://www.vistax64.com/\")_
> *Please post feedback to help others.*
>

Well, I'm beginning to feel that way too, but don't want to change things as
long as my new latop is under warranty.

Isn't it sad, though, to have to keep "dumbing down" the OS so people who
can't be bothered to learn their backside from a hole in the ground can point
and click on pretty little pictures and have no clue on how they got from the
desktop icon to the opened program?

These computer illiterates wouldn't know what to do with a DOS box if it bit
them! At least in the old days, you had to know how to load a program, how to
set switches, and all that. Possibly even write a "down and dirty" batch
file. Isn't there some way that M$ can set a switch or something to change
the OS from idiot mode to superuser mode or something?

I know that M$ just wants to sell more software, and since people are too
lazy to protect their systems with firewalls and antivirus software, that
M$feels it's their responsibility to babysit these computer lamers, but at
least give the rest of us who took the time to learn our systems since the
8088 days, a OS that we can tweak and manipulate to our comfort.

Feature rich and ease of use are not synonyms. Didn't M$ already try a "OS
for Dummies" once? I think it was called "Bob" -- and it was a failure!

"Ian Betts" wrote:
> If you are always keen to change the architecture I do not think Vista is
> the best for you. Don't blame MS for your lost needs, others demand ease of
> use and maximum features.
>
> --
> Ian
>
> With patience there is always a way.
>
> Please Reply to Newsgroup so all can read.
> Requests for assistance by email can not and will be deleted.
>
>

That's just it -- every OS that M$ puts out is more expensive, and requires
you to spend even more buying third party software to do what used to be part
of the OS to start with. It's like, M$ gives you less so they can force you
to spend even more on other programs that M$ licenses companies (and gets
their cut) to make up for their inability to put in the OS in the first place.

Here's another annoyance that any M$ employee reading this can add to the SP1:
Make a way in UAC to allow a person to "once-and-for-all" approve of a
software program to run at start up. M$ UAC keeps protecting me from running
my anti-virus program! Now THAT really protects my computer! <sarcastic
exclamation>


"brink" wrote:

> FloridaMan,
>
> I hear you. Ian is right. You can customize XP a whole lot more than
> Vista right now. I wish it was as easy to change things as back in the
> old DOS days. The GUI looks better now, but it is way more complicated
> to modify. Hopefully the customization programs will catch up with
> Vista soon.
>
> Shawn.
>
>
> --
> brink
>
> *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
> _http://www.Vistax64.com (\"http://www.Vistax64.com\")_
> *Please post feedback to help others.*
>

The desktop icon for Adobe Reader 8.1 is a richly colored icon. The icons
for individual PDF files unfortunately is still the white box with the red
logo in it.

"FloridaMan339" wrote:

> That's just it -- every OS that M$ puts out is more expensive, and requires
> you to spend even more buying third party software to do what used to be part
> of the OS to start with. It's like, M$ gives you less so they can force you
> to spend even more on other programs that M$ licenses companies (and gets
> their cut) to make up for their inability to put in the OS in the first place.
>
> Here's another annoyance that any M$ employee reading this can add to the SP1:
> Make a way in UAC to allow a person to "once-and-for-all" approve of a
> software program to run at start up. M$ UAC keeps protecting me from running
> my anti-virus program! Now THAT really protects my computer! <sarcastic
> exclamation>
>
>
> "brink" wrote:
>
> > FloridaMan,
> >
> > I hear you. Ian is right. You can customize XP a whole lot more than
> > Vista right now. I wish it was as easy to change things as back in the
> > old DOS days. The GUI looks better now, but it is way more complicated
> > to modify. Hopefully the customization programs will catch up with
> > Vista soon.
> >
> > Shawn.
> >
> >
> > --
> > brink
> >
> > *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
> > _http://www.Vistax64.com (\"http://www.Vistax64.com\")_
> > *Please post feedback to help others.*
> >