For some reason, the majority of my desktop icons have black boxes covering
them. The recycle Bin, a folder I created, and a text document seem to be
immune to the black box, but for my other icons, I can't seem to get rid of
them.

Anybody know what I can do to get rid of the black boxes?

See if clearing the thumbnail cache helps.

Click Start, type cleanmgr and press ENTER
Click My files only
Select the system drive letter from the drop-down list
Uncheck all the entries except Thumbnails
Click OK

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
Winhelponline.com blog http://www.winhelponline.com/blog


"kudozus" wrote in message ...
For some reason, the majority of my desktop icons have black boxes covering
them. The recycle Bin, a folder I created, and a text document seem to be
immune to the black box, but for my other icons, I can't seem to get rid of
them.

Anybody know what I can do to get rid of the black boxes?

Well, that didn't work, but I think I may have some new information that
might be helpful. I recently loaded Diablo II onto my computer, and when the
icon first appeared on my desktop, it didn't have a black box. However,
anybody who has tried to play the game on Vista knows that you have to run
the game as the administrator. Once I realized this, I right clicked on the
icon, as instructed and opted to do so. Once I had the game listed as
admistratively run, the black box then appeared on the icon.

Now, I've only had this computer for a short while, so I don't know this for
sure, but my theory is that programs that are admin run have a special icon
on top of the normal desktop icons. If this is the case, then perhaps it is
the admin icon that I am missing.

Can anybody verify or disprove this theory is what I'd like to know, because
this seems to be the most logical explaination to me.

And if this theory is correct, how do I go about changing the admin icon?

"Ramesh, MS-MVP" wrote:

See if clearing the thumbnail cache helps.

Click Start, type cleanmgr and press ENTER
Click My files only
Select the system drive letter from the drop-down list
Uncheck all the entries except Thumbnails
Click OK

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
Winhelponline.com blog http://www.winhelponline.com/blog


"kudozus" wrote in message ...
For some reason, the majority of my desktop icons have black boxes covering
them. The recycle Bin, a folder I created, and a text document seem to be
immune to the black box, but for my other icons, I can't seem to get rid of
them.

Anybody know what I can do to get rid of the black boxes?

There's a very easy way to fix this. I'm sure you're running on 32 bit
color, so change it to 16 bit and apply (the black boxes should be
gone). Restart your computer and then change it back to 32 bit. You
have to restart it, otherwise if you change it back to 32 bit, the boxes
will come back.

The boxes have happened to me randomly at least 5 times, and doing this
seems to fix it every time.


--
megaman224

Awesome, man. That worked perfectly. Thanks for the advice.

"megaman224" wrote:


There's a very easy way to fix this. I'm sure you're running on 32 bit
color, so change it to 16 bit and apply (the black boxes should be
gone). Restart your computer and then change it back to 32 bit. You
have to restart it, otherwise if you change it back to 32 bit, the boxes
will come back.

The boxes have happened to me randomly at least 5 times, and doing this
seems to fix it every time.


--
megaman224

This same issue has just happened to my system running Windows 7 x64.
I've had the same settings for the last 5 months, since getting this new
PC on line. I have a GeForce 285 SSC and was just wondering if it's
caused by a problem with the video card maybe?? Or if the megaman has
Spyware Doctor on his machine? I think Spyware Dr. has been causing a
few different kinds of problems lately...

Thanks very much.


--
TomW

TomW wrote:


This same issue has just happened to my system running Windows 7 x64.
I've had the same settings for the last 5 months, since getting this new
PC on line. I have a GeForce 285 SSC and was just wondering if it's
caused by a problem with the video card maybe?? Or if the megaman has
Spyware Doctor on his machine? I think Spyware Dr. has been causing a
few different kinds of problems lately...

Thanks very much.

The "megaman"? Did you bother to look at the date of the posts in the
thread you replied to?

Addison Steele;1126599 Wrote:
TomW wrote:
The "megaman"? Did you bother to look at the date of the posts in the
thread you replied to?

I found this post after googling the problem. It came up, like,
second or third and I was unaware of where the post was located until
after I clicked on the link and I found myself here in the forum. I
have been a member here since April of this year. The thread helped me
out, although I was able to simplify the problem. Since I'm running a
Core i7 965 and a GeForce 285 SSC, along with Windows 7 x64, I guess
it's still a valid issue and still something that can help others,
right? Regardless of how old the post is?


I didn't notice the age of the post I was responding to until I hit
the 'submit reply' button. Then the auto-date thingy popped up to tell
me it was about 527 days old. But seeing as how the 'megaman244' (or
'Megaman') reference really didn't have much to do with my reply, I
went ahead and posted it anyway. The main issue in my post
has to do with the icons being blackened out. And my asking for help
with the issue....


If this issue is posted anywhere/somewhere else, I'm betting there
are forum admins available to move this if necessary, right? :sarc:
Again, regardless of whether 'megaman' is around or not.

Anyway. Here's what I did to resolve the 'blackened boxes cover
desktop icons' issue.

Right click on the desktop to bring up the 'properties' or in Win 7,
'Screen Resolution'. Reduce the resolution from 32 bit to 16... when
asked if you want to keep the change, answer affirmatively.

Go to Start, and Log Out. Log back in the same as usual and repreat
the abovew steps to gain access to your screen resolution properties.
Change the resolution back to 32 bit and keep the change. Black boxes
are now gone. Well, at least for me...:geek:



Thanks for your reply~ very helpful..


--
TomW