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I installed the Stardock Object Desktop Suite last week. It includes programs like Start8, WindowBlinds, WindowFX, Launch8, Fences, etc.

I never had a problem with it in the past.

But I uninstalled it, because I no longer find it pleasing. I am happier with the standard Windows look and behavior now.

After I uninstalled the Suite, all of my *.exe and shortcut files turned blank (blank/white).

I have tried everything I can think of. I tried uninstalling other random programs and re-installing them. I tried deleting the Icon Cache in the local appdata folder. I tried a bunch of other things that I can't even remember now. I've searched everywhere.

Other people had the same problem after they uninstalled Stardock software. But their solutions have not worked for me.

To repeat: It's not just my shortcut files that are affected. It's my exe files too. Every single shortcut and exe file on this computer is BLANK. Everything is BLANK.

How can I fix this without reinstalling Windows or formatting it? I'm not afraid of the Registry, so don't be afraid to mention it if you think an idea may help. I've done a lot of stuff with the registry in the past (I'm a programmer).

Andrew Morton
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PIJNSO678
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  • Is this on Win8? Do EXEs and LNKs still work though, or are only their icons affected? Try running ie4uinit.exe -ClearIconCache and rebooting. – Karan May 26 '15 at 22:19
  • @Karan Thank you for the suggestion. I will try that now. They all still work. But now they are just blank. Now I can't see what any of the programs are (unless I hover over them on the Taskbar and wait 2 seconds for the tooltip to appear). This originally happened on Windows 8, then my system updated to 8.1. Then I updated to Windows 10 Insider Preview, Build 10122. I will write back with the results shortly. – PIJNSO678 May 26 '15 at 22:23
  • @Karan this didn't work. I ran ie4uinit.exe -ClearIconCache, rebooted Windows and they're still blank. – PIJNSO678 May 26 '15 at 22:29
  • Ok, then see if dism and sfc manage to fix it. – Karan May 27 '15 at 00:49
  • @Karan Thank you, I am going to try that now. – PIJNSO678 May 27 '15 at 20:37
  • @Karan Well, after following all of the steps in the answer you linked to, nothing has changed. I followed the instructions in the link provided by TheAncient too, and now all of the icons are using a red, green, blue and yellow Shield icon instead of being blank/white. – PIJNSO678 May 27 '15 at 22:12
  • If a new user account doesn't exhibit this issue then that's what I recommend you to switch to. Just copy all your files over and delete the old account. – Karan May 27 '15 at 22:16

2 Answers2

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The icon cache got corrupted somehow

  1. Open Control Panel and double click Display-applet

  2. Select Appearance-tab and in Item-dropdown select Icon

  3. Increase Size and press Apply-button

  4. Decrease Size back to old value and press Apply-button

  5. Press Ok button

This will rebuild the icon cache.

Or:

taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F

del %localappdata%\IconCache.db

Gantendo
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I second Karan's suggestion regarding SFC. If this does not work, you may wish to check the following links:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2635447
(This kb article refers to Windows 7 but it may also work on Windows 8)
http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-175531-fix-blank-or-white-shortcut-icons-on-desktop
(This is somewhat ironic: the answer of choice here is, to install a trial of Stardock icon packager)

TheAncient
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  • Love the irony. Thanks for the answer, I am going to try out your suggestions and will report what happens. – PIJNSO678 May 27 '15 at 20:38
  • Well, as stated in my question, I had already done what your first link describes, with no success. The second link (which I have seen elsewhere on blogs) says that using IconPackager trial version will fix it. The only think that has changed is that now, all of those icons that were blank white now use a red, green, blue and yellow Shield as their icon (all of the exe and shortcut files). So it didn't solve anything. Thanks for trying though. Do you have any other suggestions? – PIJNSO678 May 27 '15 at 21:49