Eileen's Lounge Icon

[hlewton]

On one computer when I created a shortcut to Eileen's Lounge an Icon appeared that I think is supposed to be a head with a pointy hat on it. Not sure where it came from but I am assuming it was from this lounge somehow. I like it because it is easily identifiable among all the other shortcuts I have on my desktops. On the other computers it did not show up and I have let it use the default IE icon. Is there a way to get that icon I described above on the other computers? When I check the properties of the shortcut and click "change icon" it doesn't show me where it came from.

Thanks

[HansV]

Here it is (zipped):

favicon.zip

(The mascot of Eileen's Lounge is a witch with a pointy hat; it was the user picture of Eileen Wharmby after whom this board is named)

[hlewton]

Thank you. I have to get it when I'm on those other machines too.

[Argus]

I do not use IE on regular basis, but try this:
At the page you want, for example the Eileen's Lounge Portal click on the icon in the address bar:

20101114_A.png

and hold the mouse button; drag it to the Task bar, when IE is minimised release the icon on the Desktop.

But you could of course use a downloaded icon, as mentioned by Hans.

[hlewton]

Thanks I did use the one from Hans and it worked great. Funny thing is I wanted to describe the icon I wanted as a witch but thought better of it just in case it wasn't one. LOL

[hlewton]

Argus I just tried your suggestion at Gmail site. I tried both a left click and a right click and neither made IE minimized. I clicked and tried dragging it and only got a small circle with a line through it I assume indicating it was not a supported task. Right clocking did nothing it was the left click and hold that showed that circle with a line through it.

Thanks.

[Argus]

Thanks I did use the one from Hans and it worked great.

Yep, but my method works without downloading, and with every site that has a favicon (in our case the witch); not all sites have kind administrators such as Hans...

[Argus]

Argus I just tried your suggestion at Gmail site. [...] Right clocking did nothing it was the left click and hold that showed that circle with a line through it.

I assumed XP and IE; and yes, I meant left-click (if I do not mention right-click explicitly).
Just tried, I got an icon the Desktop.

2010-11-14_B.png

Do not release the mouse button until you see the Desktop, you shouldn't drop it on the Task bar (and yes, you will see a "circle with a line" when above the Task bar). When I drag a favicon and hover above the Task bar all maximised programs are minimised, I can then drop it on the Desktop.

[hlewton]

Sorry I will try it again. I was using the icon on the tab and not the address bar as you said to do. Once I did as you said it worked fine.

Thanks again.

[hlewton]

OK a little update. I did manage to get the Gmail icon by doing the suggested dragging and dropping on the desktop then I put it on the quick launch toolbar. It only lasted a day and then reverted back to the default IE icon. Any ideas why and how to prevent this from happening?

Thanks.

[Argus]

Any ideas why and how to prevent this from happening?

Nope, at least I don't have any. But perhaps there are some things you could try. I've seen so many different oddities over time, and even if there is an explanation for some, many of them seem to be just some random registry quirks, but could be related to how one uses the PC, cache size etc. Here are some random thoughts.

I usually don't use shortcuts to the web on the Desktop, though it can happen from time to time that I temporarily save a shortcut on the Desktop.

I can replicate what you see if I create an Internet shortcut (to Google etc.) and then later change the address to a local folder; then the icon is changed to the IE default one. Expected, but a bit unorthodox, since that is not how we usually create a shortcut to a folder (typing it in the URL box, on the Web document tab in the properties for the shortcut).

But if I then change a Google shortcut address (with a Google icon) to the Lounge address (i.e. type another address in the URL box) , I get the witch. No surprise since I've tested with that one earlier, but if I take another address, say a newspaper, that I have not used or dragged to the Desktop, then I get the default Firefox (Fx) icon.

If I change the address back to google.com, the icon doesn't change, still the default Fx icon, though it should work. But the Lounge icon seems to stick even after several changes, same with other examples, BBC etc.

I have battled icons before, pesky little . Once I had different icons (IE and Fx) when I used different views (Tile, Icon, Details etc.).

With your (and my) short tests it can't be related to the Max Cached Icons value in the registry (if there, and not set too low), since it changes after a short time, at least that is what I think. But as mentioned above, we have seen cases with different icons if they are in different sizes. And the QLB uses smaller icons; on the other hand, it seemed to work for a day or two.

If you use Windows XP you could try rebuilding the icon cache with Tweak UI for Windows XP.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/down ... rtoys.mspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Run Tweak UI; Select Repair - Rebuild Icons - Repair Now. Custom positions on the Desktop will be lost, so you may have to move them back afterwards. And you could try a restart as well after the rebuild.

The icon cache file is located here; you should see a change after the rebuild:
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\IconCache.db

[hlewton]

Thank you for the suggestions.

[Argus]

Thank you for the suggestions.

I should have figured this out when we discussed it.

You get the favicon as icon on the Desktop when you drag-and-drop a URL from Firefox if you have visited the same site previously with IE and IE still has a copy of the favicon. The shortcut's address is then recognised.

Same with IE, as discussed earlier, obviously.

However, if you empty IE's cache, and thus remove favicons, new shortcuts (from Fx) will not get a custom icon if you drag and drop with Fx. They are not recognised. If done with IE, of course, they will get an icon again, since IE will download a favicon.

Old shortcuts, if the cache is cleaned, will still have them; for how long, I don't know, if one refresh the Desktop, or do it a few times, they return to the default icon.

At least I think it works like that.