1

I am on Windows 7 x64 with Irfan Viewer installed. Most of the .cur files in C:\Windows\Cursors have icons of random things (programs, link files, even my .ico/.cur stash). When I go to the Properties of a broken thumbnail file, I see something black. The thing is, i cannot fix it.

(Only C:\Windows\Cursors is broken. My icons/cursors stash is fine.)

Screenshot

I tried deleting thumbnail and icon cache in %localappdata%, cleaning thumbnails with windows disk cleaner tool, with Ccleaner, even external software (Rebuild Shell Icon Cache and Default Programs Editor), killing Explorer and starting it again...

Default Programs Editor tells that an icon for .cur file is set to "%1", so it's not a problem with Irfan Viewer.

Is there anything that can help me? I cannot just disable the previews, i need them.

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
0

Irfan Viewer is not the best tool for viewing icons, but you're right in that these icons are displayed incorrectly.

It seems like someone switched all your icon files. This might either be a prank by someone that has physical access to your computer, or it's infected by a virus.

I suggest copying the entire C:\Windows\Cursors from a good Windows 7 installation. I have uploaded this folder from a Windows 7 VM, which you may download from this link. I won't be keeping this link up for more than a few days.

You should also change your login password and scan your computer for viruses. I suggest using at least the free version of Malwarebytes.

I note that Windows 7 is an old and insecure OS. I won't repeat here the warnings that you can find on our site and elsewhere.

Improve this answer
5
  • My previous answer was erroneous - my apologies. I was thrown off-course by your use of Irfan Viewer. Thanks for your patience and I have written this new answer.
    – harrymc
    Commented Feb 4, 2023 at 20:53
  • Lol. What if I told you that your icons are also "switched"? In fact, they are not. Something just makes Explorer show wrong previews cached from previously loaded files, while the files are untouched. Screenshot of a folder with your cursors.
    – rusnuker
    Commented Feb 5, 2023 at 13:44
  • Are you sure there are no pranksters around there? Boot into Safe mode to check if this is caused by some installed app.
    – harrymc
    Commented Feb 5, 2023 at 13:49
  • I extracted your 7z archive and instantly checked the files. Their previews were already broken. There's no malware on my computer that can do things like that. I think it's a problem with Explorer and that i have too many .cur/.ani/.ico files in my storage.
    – rusnuker
    Commented Feb 5, 2023 at 13:57
  • Very unlikely .
    – harrymc
    Commented Feb 5, 2023 at 14:04
0

The only solution is to use following scripts:

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
del /F /S /Q %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\thumbcache_*.db
start explorer.exe

and optionally:

ie4uinit.exe -ClearIconCache
taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F 
del "%iconcache%" /A
del "%localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\iconcache*" /A
Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .