Get Win 7 icons back in Win 10- "how to successfully use Icon Changer"

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

  1. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #1

    Get Win 7 icons back in Win 10- "how to successfully use Icon Changer"


    Get Win 7 icons back in Win 10- "how to successfully use Icon Changer"-snap-2015-11-15-15.08.41.png
    Win 10 with Win 7 icons- note drive, folders, recycle bin, My PC - 77 Win 7 icons altogether.

    Hi, Icon Changer
    Damian's Homepage
    is meant to replace 77 icons in C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll with icons from Win 7 in 1 operation, + a restart. And that would be really convenient after the recent major update, where my pretty Win 7 icons (I used Icon Changer and was lucky) reverted to Win 10's icons.

    However, most of the time Icon Changer fails to update the icons- because it fails to replace imageres.dll with the updated copy it creates.

    Here's how to use it so it does work.

    The trick is to restart to a command prompt to manually copy the updated imageres.dll file it creates to C:\Windows\System32\

    1. Run Icon Changer as directed as admin to create a patched copy of imageres.dll in Icon Changer's installation folder- the icons are replaced from the Resource folder in Icon Changer's installation folder.
    2. Ignore the prompt to restart - the problem seems to be it fails to copy that updated imageres.dll to
    C:\Windows\System32.
    3. For convenience later, copy this imageres.dll to C:\Windows\System32\imageres-new.dll
    4. Do a SHIFT restart (hold SHIFT KEY and click Restart) to get to the troubleshooting options.
    5. Navigate to 'Command Prompt'
    6. Now enter
    REN C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll C:\Windows\System32\imageres-orig.dll
    REN C:\Windows\System32\imageres-new.dll C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll
    to replace imageres.dll with the one containing the new icons.
    7. Restart and hopefully admire your smart Win 7 icons.

    Note: from an offline command prompt, the Windows partition will no longer be C: - so check carefully what its drive letter now is, and use that place of C: in the last two commands.
    Last edited by dalchina; 26 Mar 2019 at 13:42.
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro (b17763 r1809)
       #2

    dalchina said:
    6. Now enter
    REN C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll C:\Windows\System32\imageres-orig.dll
    REN C:\Windows\System32\imageres-new.dll C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll
    to replace imageres.dll with the one containing the new icons.
    7. Restart and hopefully admire your smart Win 7 icons.
    Hey, nice tutorial, but when I try and rename the "imageres-new.dll" it says the system cannot find the file specified.

    This is really annoying, as the file is definitely there (I've logged back on and checked multiple times, and even tried different naming conventions etc.).

    Do you have any idea how I can get around this? I claimed permission of both imageres.dll files and just replaced the original one with the new one, but Windows wouldn't even boot up after that so I'm not doing that again lol.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Hi, no need to mess around with permissions. Simply place the modified imageres.dll somewhere easy to find, then boot to a command prompt e.g. via SHIFT + left click Restart (so Windows is NOT running) and copy the modified file to where you want it. Note that the Windows partition may not be C: now.

    If you are not comfortable with using the command prompt, boot your PC from a live boot disk instead so you have a familiar GUI.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro (b17763 r1809)
       #4

    dalchina said:
    Hi, no need to mess around with permissions. Simply place the modified imageres.dll somewhere easy to find, then boot to a command prompt e.g. via SHIFT + left click Restart (so Windows is NOT running) and copy the modified file to where you want it. Note that the Windows partition may not be C: now.

    If you are not comfortable with using the command prompt, boot your PC from a live boot disk instead so you have a familiar GUI.
    Hi, I’ve managed to get it copied over now, however when I do, Windows just won’t boot. I either get the BSoD or it gets stuck and the login screen and keeps flashing. 😬

    Any ideas what could be going wrong?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Maybe something to do with you changing permissions? Or perhaps you inadvertently changed something you shouldn't have?

    Do you have a recent disk image you can restore?

    As you can't boot, your options are otherwise more limited. It is possible to run
    SFC /SCANNOW
    offline
    https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/r...ndows-7-vista/
    How to Run SFC OFFLINE (System File Checker tool) - wintips.org - Windows Tips How-tos

    if you managed to delete or rename the wrong file, say...
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro (b17763 r1809)
       #6

    I restored from a system restore point, I’m not bothered about that so I’m gonna keep trying regardless of the issues it causes. Very strange. I’ll try again later when I’m home and keep you updated!
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Never had any trouble with doing it- glad SR 'saved your bacon'! Now if only we had one for Brexit...
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro (b17763 r1809)
       #8

    OKAY so I’ve done it!
    Basically I’ve been really dumb.

    In the advanced startup CMD, the default working drive is ‘X:’, which I read online was still the 'C:' drive, and it just displays the letter X: instead of ‘C:’ for whatever reason. This is absolutely false. To my knowledge ‘X:’ is the 100MB recovery partition that houses said CMD.

    Because of this, I kept trying to rename the “imageres.dll” located in the ‘X:’ drive, and replace that with the patched “imageres-new.dll” which was located in the ‘C:’ drive which could not be found, therefore rendering the OS unbootable giving me an instant BSoD or login screen loop.

    A really dumb mistake that would have been avoided had I not read that small bit of false information. Oh well it was a learning experience if nothing else haha.

    Thanks for all your help, just goes to show your method actually does work flawlessly.

    P.S. No system restore point could ever save us from Brexit, we don’t have one set far back enough to avoid all the viruses that lead to this BSoD (British Situation of Dispair).

    EDIT: Just realised the Icon Changer makes some icons replace different ones rather than the one corresponding to it. Gonna try and figure out how the numbering of the icons works and edit the script so it does it correctly. Wish me luck...
    Last edited by Excremation; 26 Mar 2019 at 11:27.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Great- sorry, should have thought to make that point when I wrote that- I've added a note now.

    Which icons do you think are inappropriately replaced?
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro (b17763 r1809)
       #10

    Don't worry, I'm just a noob and was getting frustrated so probably wasn't thinking all that straight aha.

    Well I noticed that the Computer Network icon hadn't changed after inserting the patched .DLL, so I looked inside the DLL via the Desktop Icon Settings > Change Icon dialogue in an effort to find out why.

    It turns out that some icons, including the Computer Network one, have replaced the wrong icons - ones which don't correspond to the their Windows 7 counterparts. In this case, the Computer Network icon has replaced the Control Panel icon instead of it's own Windows 10 correspondent.

    This is just one example, God knows how many falsely replaced icons there will be lol.

    Here's what I mean:
    Get Win 7 icons back in Win 10- "how to successfully use Icon Changer"-untitled.png
    The red box is around the icon it should have replaced.

    P.S. I think you may have put an incorrect note in your thread.
    C: is still the Windows partition within the offline CMD, you just need to use the "cd /d c:\" command to change the working drive from 'X:' to 'C:'', as the conventional "cd c:" command does not work.

    Might also be worth mentioning you have to change the file extension of the .DLL to .MUN
    by renaming "imageres.dll" to 'imageres.dll.mun' before trying to patch the file.
    Last edited by Excremation; 26 Mar 2019 at 12:42.
      My Computer


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:29.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums