Sean Wallbridge
Ok, it’s a web world now, but this old tip still crops up enough to warrant sharing.
If you want to change an icon on your desktop to something sexier, you have a number of choices. You can of course download a new one (thanks Steve, for pointing out www.iconfinder.net, which has some really beauties and a search engine to find them) and attach it to your program or shortcut.
But if you need one in a pinch, or want to move your shortcut around and not have to carry an icon file with it to reference, you can also use shell32.dll (%SystemRoot%system32SHELL32.dll) which contains all the built in Windows icons – ready for use. I use this all the time, especially for a shortcut where I might want some pizzazz or simply need to point out that the icon being pressed is important (you know, like one that says OPEN THIS TO DO YOUR JOB – THIS ONE, NOT THE LINK TO FACEBOOK, THIS ONE).
To reference a new icon
TaDa!
