Tutorials

Welcome to the tutorial section of our site, where you can pick up the sexiest tips and tools for designing desktops and icons! If you would like to be updated when we publish new tutorials, please join our mailing list.

Please Support Our Site

If you've been enjoying the site,
please consider donating to help out.
We need your love!

Tutorials Home | How To Change Your Icons In Windows XP

How To Change Your Icons in Windows XP

2.07.04
By THE WACKYPIXEL CO.
WACKYPIXEL.COM

People are always emailing us asking how to change their PC icons and well, we've got a mac so we have NO idea! Luckily The Wackypixel Co. saves the day with their step by step guide!

Customizing icons under Windows XP is a simple process and changes can be done individually or systemwide in just a few steps. Most of the process can be done with a few clicks of the mouse but it's important to note the location of the custom icons you want to apply to your documents. It's good practice to store all custom icons in a single location, ordered by category if you wish, that way, you'll always have quick and easy access to any icon in seconds. Here's how to replace an generic icon with a custom one under Windows XP:

To customize the default desktop icons:
-Click Start
-Click Control Panel ,
-Click Appearance and Themes ,
-Under Pick a task , click Change the desktop background.

On the Desktop tab of the Display Properties dialog box, click Customize Desktop. In the Desktop Items dialog box, select the icon you want to change and click Change Icon . The Change Icon dialog box opens, which shows all icons in the currently selected file. In it, you can specify which icons are shown on the desktop by default.

I selected the My Computer, My Documents, and Recycle Bin icons. To select from icons not currently displayed, click Browse, and in the Change Icon dialog box, navigate to the icons you downloaded, select the icon you want to use, click Open , and then click OK.

In the Desktop Items dialog box, select the next icon you want to change and repeat steps 3–4. When you're finished changing the icons listed here, click OK , and in the Desktop Properties dialog box, click OK to apply the changes

To customize a folder icon:
Right-click the folder, and then click Properties .
On the Customize tab, click Change icon .
In the Change Icon dialog box, click Browse , navigate to the new icon you want to use, select it, and then click Open .
Click OK , and then click OK again to apply the change.

To customize a shortcut icon:
Right-click the shortcut you want to customize, and then click Properties .
On the Shortcut tab, click Change Icon .
In the Change Icon dialog box, click Browse , navigate to the new icon you want to use, select it, and then click Open .
Click OK , and then OK again to apply the change.

::Want to support us by linking to our site?

Here is a banner to use:

90x36 pixels

When pointing to our site we ask that you link to our main home page:
http://www.pixelgirlpresents.com