As you can see from the screenshot above, the default icons for Drive C and D are both missing.

This issue usually happens when you install a third-party tweaking program to change the original drive icons or this could also be caused by a virus or other forms of malware. For the regular user, this could be a daunting task but don’t worry because this tutorial will show you how to restore the default drive icons in a few short steps.

DISCLAIMER:
This process involves editing the system registry, so make sure you read and follow instructions. Editing and deleting the wrong registry key could mess up your computer. Proceed at your own risk.

1. Open regedit (click on Windows logo and type “regedit” on the Search bar and hit ENTER)



2. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorer

(Click on the small arrow on the left side to expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and scroll down to SOFTWARE and click on the small arrow to expand it. Repeat same procedure until you get to explorer)


3. In explorer, look for a key named “DriveIcons“, right click on it and click on Delete. (my screenshot doesn’t have that key because my default icons are not missing)
4. Log off or restart your computer.

That should do it! If you followed instructions correctly, the default drive icons should be restored after you log back to your computer.

Anyone else experience this problem on your Windows Vista-powered computer? What did you do to fix it? In case you know of a different way of solving this issue, please share it with us.

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