WinXP: Desktop icon phenomenon (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

Maybe I'm the only one that this happens to, but I get this a lot on 3 of my PC's, so maybe it's not just me...

It doesn't happen all the time, so I can't say exactly what I'm doing when it happens, but it seems like when I open a window or an application the desktop icons will all turn into generic icons and then slowly the icons will reappear. Sometimes the wrong icons will show up in certain instances, but not all the time.

When it does happen (again, not all the time) it seems like it's when I'm leaving the desktop. Has anyone else run into this issue?

 

[DaveF]

This has been going on since Win95 I believe. It occaisionally does a file status and listing refresh, to my way of thinking. It (quickly) renews all icons on the desktop. I think it's the same process as when you first open a folder and all the files are listed and then the associated icons appear to replace the generic icon.

On slower computers it can go more slowly; but even on newer PCs it can take a second.

I've never looked into the trigger for the behavior.

 

[MarkHastings]

Oh, ok...it's funny, I've never really noticed it as much until I got my new laptop. It seems to do it a lot.

 

[Ken Chan]

It's not just you Try increasing the size of the icon cache.

 

[MarkHastings]

Icon cache?? WTF? That's insane!

 

[DaveF]

Neat! Didn't know about that.

 

[Paul_Sjordal]

You never notice it much because usually it's too fast to see and/or happens while some window is in the foreground blocking the view.

 

[Buzz Foster]

Icon cache...this might make sense as I have had problems with having an explorer crash from, apparently, opening a window with too many thimbnails. Does this work for thumbnails, too?

 

[Ken Chan]

I doubt it. But there is a separate "thumbnail cache" in each directory. Funny that when you Google that, most of the top hits are how to turn it off (and erase it). That might do it, if the problem is with the cache. But it could also be an issue of how many graphic resources are created, or something else.