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External HDD Icons change.

S

sandy58

Flightless Bird
Running Windows XP Pro. I have two external hard drives, both
partitioned. They have now changed
the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
internal hard drive & opened
in the same way (double-click) Now I have to open them like folders
ie: with Windows Explorer.
All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
TIA.
 
R

Rey Santos

Flightless Bird
You can create custom icons for your external hard drives as I do, so that
when youy plugged in the drive its icon will different from the rest (easy
identification). To do this:
-Create your own icon, http://www.rw-designer.com/online_icon_maker.php or
free icons http://www.iconspedia.com/
-save it to the drive.
-Open Note Pad.Type:
[Autorun]
Icon=filename.ico
-Save the Note Pad file on the drive as All Files and name it "Autorun.inf"
(without the quotes)
-Eject the drive and plug it again for things to take effect

In one of my drives the icon changed to generic, when I opened the
Autorun.inf file it changed to something hard to understand, so its better to
set the properties of both the icon and Autorun.inf file to Read only and
Hidden.
--
Rey


"sandy58" wrote:

> Running Windows XP Pro. I have two external hard drives, both
> partitioned. They have now changed
> the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
> internal hard drive & opened
> in the same way (double-click) Now I have to open them like folders
> ie: with Windows Explorer.
> All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
> TIA.
> .
>
 
S

sandy58

Flightless Bird
On Apr 26, 5:07 pm, Rey Santos <ReySan...@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
> You can create custom icons for your external hard drives as I do, so that
> when youy plugged in the drive its icon will different from the rest (easy
> identification). To do this:
> -Create your own icon,http://www.rw-designer.com/online_icon_maker.phpor
> free iconshttp://www.iconspedia.com/
> -save it to the drive.
> -Open Note Pad.Type:
> [Autorun]
> Icon=filename.ico
> -Save the Note Pad file on the drive as All Files and name it "Autorun.inf"
> (without the quotes)
> -Eject the drive and plug it again for things to take effect
>
> In one of my drives the icon changed to generic, when I opened the
> Autorun.inf file it changed to something hard to understand, so its better to
> set the properties of both the icon and Autorun.inf file to Read only and
> Hidden.
> --
> Rey
>
> "sandy58" wrote:
> > Running Windows XP Pro. I have two external hard drives, both
> > partitioned. They have now changed
> > the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
> > internal hard drive & opened
> > in the same way (double-click) Now I have to open them like folders
> > ie: with Windows Explorer.
> > All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
> > TIA.
> > .

Rey Santos, it's not really the icon that is the problem. It is the
fact that the drive will not open when double-clicked (as it did
before) I have to open it through the address bar...just like any
folder. Thanks for you help.
 
E

Elmo

Flightless Bird
sandy58 wrote:
> Running Windows XP Pro. I have two external hard drives, both
> partitioned. They have now changed
> the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
> internal hard drive & opened
> in the same way (double-click). Now I have to open them like folders
> ie: with Windows Explorer.
> All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
> TIA.

Here's a couple of things to try:

- Right-click one of the drives, click Properties. Is there an AutoPlay
tab? If so, select "Mixed Content" and "Open folder to view files" for
the "Select action to perform" choice.

- Try the fixes for Drive, Directory, Folder Associations:
Fix File Associations.
http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

--
Joe =o)
 
S

sandy58

Flightless Bird
On Apr 27, 10:42 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
> sandy58 wrote:
> > Running Windows XP Pro.  I have two external hard drives, both
> > partitioned.  They have now changed
> > the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
> > internal hard drive & opened
> > in the same way (double-click).  Now I have to open them like folders
> > ie: with Windows Explorer.
> > All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
> > TIA.
>
> Here's a couple of things to try:
>
> - Right-click one of the drives, click Properties.  Is there an AutoPlay
> tab?  If so, select "Mixed Content" and "Open folder to view files" for
> the "Select action to perform" choice.
>
> - Try the fixes for Drive, Directory, Folder Associations:
>   Fix File Associations.http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
>
> --
> Joe   =o)

Elmo, that works but looks like I'll have to open the drive that way
all the time? The icons were Hard Drive icons before they changed to
folder icons. I have never had that before. :)
Thanks for your help.
 
E

Elmo

Flightless Bird
sandy58 wrote:
> On Apr 27, 10:42 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
>> sandy58 wrote:
>>> Running Windows XP Pro. I have two external hard drives, both
>>> partitioned. They have now changed
>>> the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
>>> internal hard drive & opened
>>> in the same way (double-click). Now I have to open them like folders
>>> ie: with Windows Explorer.
>>> All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
>>> TIA.
>> Here's a couple of things to try:
>>
>> - Right-click one of the drives, click Properties. Is there an AutoPlay
>> tab? If so, select "Mixed Content" and "Open folder to view files" for
>> the "Select action to perform" choice.
>>
>> - Try the fixes for Drive, Directory, Folder Associations:
>> Fix File Associations.http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
>>
>> --
>> Joe =o)
>
> Elmo, that works but looks like I'll have to open the drive that way
> all the time? The icons were Hard Drive icons before they changed to
> folder icons. I have never had that before. :)
> Thanks for your help.

You probably need to fix the associations for drives then. If what you
tried was my first rambling, please try the second, Doug Knox site. Once
it's right, you should see the proper icons again.

A quick Google search on "usb drive shows folder icon" netted this
discussion:

http://www.fixya.com/support/t1715875-usb_flash_drive_icon_changes_into_folder

--
Joe =o)
 
S

sandy58

Flightless Bird
On Apr 28, 2:16 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
> sandy58 wrote:
> > On Apr 27, 10:42 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
> >> sandy58 wrote:
> >>> Running Windows XP Pro.  I have two external hard drives, both
> >>> partitioned.  They have now changed
> >>> the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
> >>> internal hard drive & opened
> >>> in the same way (double-click).  Now I have to open them like folders
> >>> ie: with Windows Explorer.
> >>> All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
> >>> TIA.
> >> Here's a couple of things to try:
>
> >> - Right-click one of the drives, click Properties.  Is there an AutoPlay
> >> tab?  If so, select "Mixed Content" and "Open folder to view files" for
> >> the "Select action to perform" choice.
>
> >> - Try the fixes for Drive, Directory, Folder Associations:
> >>   Fix File Associations.http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
>
> >> --
> >> Joe   =o)
>
> > Elmo, that works but looks like I'll have to open the drive that way
> > all the time? The icons were Hard Drive icons before they changed to
> > folder icons. I have never had that before. :)
> > Thanks for your help.
>
> You probably need to fix the associations for drives then.  If what you
> tried was my first rambling, please try the second, Doug Knox site. Once
> it's right, you should see the proper icons again.
>
> A quick Google search on "usb drive shows folder icon" netted this
> discussion:
>
> http://www.fixya.com/support/t1715875-usb_flash_drive_icon_changes_in...
>
> --
> Joe   =o)

Elmo & Rey Santos, I finally fixed the problem by deleting "autoplay
inf" in each of the offending drives and after a reboot the original
icons reappeared. Many thanks to both for your help.
 
E

Elmo

Flightless Bird
sandy58 wrote:
> On Apr 28, 2:16 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
>> sandy58 wrote:
>>> On Apr 27, 10:42 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
>>>> sandy58 wrote:
>>>>> Running Windows XP Pro. I have two external hard drives, both
>>>>> partitioned. They have now changed
>>>>> the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
>>>>> internal hard drive & opened
>>>>> in the same way (double-click). Now I have to open them like folders
>>>>> ie: with Windows Explorer.
>>>>> All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
>>>>> TIA.
>>>> Here's a couple of things to try:
>>>> - Right-click one of the drives, click Properties. Is there an AutoPlay
>>>> tab? If so, select "Mixed Content" and "Open folder to view files" for
>>>> the "Select action to perform" choice.
>>>> - Try the fixes for Drive, Directory, Folder Associations:
>>>> Fix File Associations.http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
>>>> --
>>>> Joe =o)
>>> Elmo, that works but looks like I'll have to open the drive that way
>>> all the time? The icons were Hard Drive icons before they changed to
>>> folder icons. I have never had that before. :)
>>> Thanks for your help.
>> You probably need to fix the associations for drives then. If what you
>> tried was my first rambling, please try the second, Doug Knox site. Once
>> it's right, you should see the proper icons again.
>>
>> A quick Google search on "usb drive shows folder icon" netted this
>> discussion:
>>
>> http://www.fixya.com/support/t1715875-usb_flash_drive_icon_changes_in...
>>
>> --
>> Joe =o)
>
> Elmo & Rey Santos, I finally fixed the problem by deleting "autoplay
> inf" in each of the offending drives and after a reboot the original
> icons reappeared. Many thanks to both for your help.

You might want to check for malware.. that's one reason autoplay.inf
gets added to external drives.

Malwarebytes© Corporation
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe

--
Joe =o)
 
S

sandy58

Flightless Bird
On Apr 29, 2:12 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
> sandy58 wrote:
> > On Apr 28, 2:16 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
> >> sandy58 wrote:
> >>> On Apr 27, 10:42 pm, Elmo <elmog...@xxx.invalid> wrote:
> >>>> sandy58 wrote:
> >>>>> Running Windows XP Pro.  I have two external hard drives, both
> >>>>> partitioned.  They have now changed
> >>>>> the icon to a "folder" when before they had a similar icon as my
> >>>>> internal hard drive & opened
> >>>>> in the same way (double-click).  Now I have to open them like folders
> >>>>> ie: with Windows Explorer.
> >>>>> All help appreciated re; returning them to original state.
> >>>>> TIA.
> >>>> Here's a couple of things to try:
> >>>> - Right-click one of the drives, click Properties.  Is there an AutoPlay
> >>>> tab?  If so, select "Mixed Content" and "Open folder to view files" for
> >>>> the "Select action to perform" choice.
> >>>> - Try the fixes for Drive, Directory, Folder Associations:
> >>>>   Fix File Associations.http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
> >>>> --
> >>>> Joe   =o)
> >>> Elmo, that works but looks like I'll have to open the drive that way
> >>> all the time? The icons were Hard Drive icons before they changed to
> >>> folder icons. I have never had that before. :)
> >>> Thanks for your help.
> >> You probably need to fix the associations for drives then.  If what you
> >> tried was my first rambling, please try the second, Doug Knox site. Once
> >> it's right, you should see the proper icons again.
>
> >> A quick Google search on "usb drive shows folder icon" netted this
> >> discussion:
>
> >>http://www.fixya.com/support/t1715875-usb_flash_drive_icon_changes_in....
>
> >> --
> >> Joe   =o)
>
> > Elmo & Rey Santos, I finally fixed the problem by deleting "autoplay
> > inf" in each of the offending drives and after a reboot the original
> > icons reappeared. Many thanks to both for your help.
>
> You might want to check for malware.. that's one reason autoplay.inf
> gets added to external drives.
>
> Malwarebytes© Corporationhttp://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe
>
> --
> Joe   =o)

I have done with malwarebytes, Elmo. I had some stuff and got rid of
it before I asked you here. But I will run it again now. Thanks a
bunch for your help.
 
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