How to reset the icon cache in Windows 7, 8 and Vista

When the desktop icons gets messed up, you probably don't need to reinstall the programs (or Windows!) - you just need to reset the iconcache file. It's a fairly easily process too - easier than reinstalling the applications.

1. Close all Windows explorer windows that are open.
2. Right click on task bar and choose Task Manager
3. Switch to Processes tab and right-click on the Explorer.exe process and select End Process and confirm.


4. On File menu of Task Manager, select New Task (Run…)


5. Type CMD.EXE, click OK
6. In the Command Prompt window, type or copy and paste these commands one by one, pressing Enter after each command:
CD /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local
DEL IconCache.db
EXIT
7. Back in Task Manager, go to File, select New Task (Run…)
8. Type explorer.exe and press Enter.