Out of the box, Windows will only allow you to change icons for your shortcuts only (outside of being able to change My Computer, etc. via themes), but what if you want to change the icon of individual files (i.e. a TXT, DOC, XLS, etc. file) to, for example, make them stand out? If this sounds like something you would like then give Icon Changer a try. In...

Have you ever had an image in a standard format (PNG, JPG, etc.) which you wanted to convert to an icon? If so, the freeware program, SimplyIcon is for you. Simply create windows icon files (.ICO format) by drag-and-drop images on to this program. [...] This program generates down-sampled 32×32, 24×24 and 16×16 levels automatically. It will also...

I made a decision a while back that the most icons I would have on my desktop is one column worth, meaning if the icons on the left side of the first monitor "skip" to another, there’s too many and it must be cleaned up. The only icon I have on the right is the Recycle Bin. I have entertained the idea of removing that from the desktop, but I find...

If you are developing a web site or a program, adding color and graphics is definitely a way to make your product look much more professional. Of course, not all of us are graphic artists so any free graphics are always welcome. A while ago I posted a link to famfamfam’s fantastic icon set and today I’ll point you to another link which has lots more...

KeePass Password Safe is a free open source password manager for Windows. If you happen to be using something other than Windows there are contributed versions for PocketPC, Smart devices, Linux, Mac OS X, Blackberry and others. One very cool feature of this app is the ability to use custom icons from any image to represent entries. Being that images are stored...

Everyone loves icons. Whether you are a developer looking for ways to ‘beautify’ your user interface or you are putting together a presentation, attractive icons make a good impression. In the past, I have pointed out the excellent collections from FamFamFam which is free for both private and commericial use. So on that note here are a couple of...

Earlier this week I wrote about making use of the Windows Icon Set embedded in system DLL files. While this can be handy, it becomes somewhat of a burden finding the right DLL file with the icons you want to use. To eliminate this problem, simply extract the icon files with NirSoft’s IconsExtract. This nifty utility allows you to select a file and it pulls...

Windows comes with a rather attractive set of standard icons which are scattered throughout the operating system. One thing you may not know is you can make use of this icons on any of your shortcuts by going to the shortcut’s properties window and then clicking the ‘Change Icon’ button. If you do not have a custom icon to use, take a look at...