Icon Libraries 

Icon Libraries with Win98

Whenever you change a shortcut icon, Win98 offers you the default source of icons, a file called SHELL32.DLL in the C:\Windows\System. 

But there are other "secret Icon libraries" on your harddrive. One of them (also located in the System folder) is named PIFMGR.DLL and it contains a different group of icons. This is the file that Windows will access anytime you create a shortcut to a DOS game or program, but you can use them anywhere you want.  

Still another "secret Icon stash" is named MORICONS.DLL  found (guess where?) C:\Windows\System.

 

Icon Libraries with WinXP

If you have ever tried to change the Windows XP Explorer Icon back to the way it used to be with Win98, then you will see how it fails to change !!  The same is true for the dialup shortcut.  The icons show up in the library when you select "Change Icon" - but they do not stay that way.  Here is the fix:

Initial Install - my setup for you includes Six Icons - Desktop Shortcuts  -  the default initial Install will have absolutely no shortcuts on the desktop.  In this step you will add six “base” icons to the desktop and will customize their image, since the default image that WinXP assigns to these icons is terrible. 

NOTE: no matter what you do, the default WinXP icons will always be shown for running applications on the taskbar – but the Quick-Launch bar will show customized icons.  You must customize both the desktop and the quick-launch icons, since they are not “connected” logically to one another

First, add the three base icons:  Click Start/Run . . . Control to open Control Panel, goto Display/Desktop/Customize Desktop, and select the three base icons, "My Computer", "My Network Places" (same as Win98 "Network Neighborhood"), and "Internet Explorer".  They will show up as shown below:

               

NOTE:  The icons that come with XP in the file shell32.dll are much worse than Win98's shell32.dll, and the alternate ones in the list for standard items such as Explorer and Control Panel will not stay in place - WinXP "forces" the default icons back to those shortcuts.  As a workaround, you can use the old Win98 shell32.dll library and the icons will take.   I have saved these libraries and renamed them to Icons98 and IconsXP - copy both to the windows\system32 folder and follow the next several steps  .  .  .

Download:   Icons98     IconsXP

Now add the next three base icons, "Control Panel", "Explorer", and "Connect to etc" (your dial-up Internet connection) as follows: 

Right-click on the desktop, select "New Shortcut", and type in "explorer" - then repeat this but type in "Control" and then the name "Control Panel"

 

·        use the Icons98.dll library to change icon for Control Panel, and the Dial-up shortcut :

        

 

 

·        Setup your dial-up Internet connection.  Goto “Control Panel/Network Connections/New Connection Wizard” and follow the prompts, then on the final step - check the box to add a shortcut to your desktop.  Then use the Icons98.dll library to change the icon

 

 

You will now have the six base shortcut icons on your Desktop, and unlike the WinXP default blurry, weird icons – they will be sharp and clear.