I save a lot of internet shortcuts to my desktop by right clicking on the internet page. I then like to change the icons for it from the big E. The icons I use are stored in the C:\windows\system32\my icons. I have no problem changing them, but when I reboot they go back to the big E. How can I stop this from happening in Vista?? Thanks you

Hi, This seems to work for some users, but not for others... Apply the custom icon then right-click the shortcut> Properties> check "Read only"
Hope this helps, Don [MS MVP- IE]
"Irv"

Hi Irv
The way I get icons from web pages is to add /favicon.ico to the webpage url and if one shows up I drag it into a folder I call Favicons. Sometimes if a favicon doesn't show up inside the window, you can harvest one by holding down the left mouse and pulling it from the IE name bar on the left of the url. You do this "suspender snap" like action, letting it snap back about 3 times and then drag it to the desktop or a folder.
The main things to do to keep this from happening (no diff in Vista than other previous Windows OS's) are to:
1) House the icon you want to save in a folder like you're doing. 2) You must change the name of the icon if you're harvesting it from a url by adding favicon.ico onto it. For example, the ET from Extreme Tech is dragged to the desktop after typing extremetech.com/favicon.ico
you need to change it's name with a right click and then drag it into a folder of your choice to protect it.
There are about 2000 icons native to XP or Vista. You have to check out the
%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll .dll files and click them open to see which ones have icons. They (the .dll files) are not all the same as in XP, but many are and the icons themsevles have changed.
2) As always downloaded program folders are sources of icons, zip files, programs like Office.
3) Adding favicon.ico after a forward slash onto many website urls will yield a favicon.
CH
"Irv"

I appreciate the response. I am using custom icon for these shortcuts to internet sites. Once they are installed on the desktop I rename them and then change the icon to one of my choosing from the before mentioned file. Would that not be correct? I had already tried to mark them as 'read only'. They changed back after I rebooted. Your suggestion of adding favicon.ico does not work on the ones I am having a problem with. Try this: vgs.diabetes.org/recipe/index.jsp. I get a message that says 'Cannot apply changes to this shortcut'. I will await your reply...Thank You,
"Chad Harris" wrote:

Hi, Workaround... You will have to do this for each shortcut and this will open each shortcut in a new IE window.
Find "IExplore.exe" (probably in Program Files\Internet Explorer) Right-click and drag IExplore.exe to the desktop and choose "Create shortcut." Right-click that shortcut> Properties> Target, modify the Target to include the URL. Example: "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" becomes "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" yahoo.com Note a space between EXE" and ww Rename the shortcut if desired. Apply the custom icon. Since it's no longer an Internet Shortcut, it's an .lnk (.LNK) file, IE7 should leave the icon alone.
Don [MS MVP- IE]
"Irv"

I have one question Don. ONce you drag the IExplore.exe file to the desktop and thencreate the links can you then remove the IExplore.exe from the desktop or does it loose the association to the link? Irv
"Don Varnau" wrote:

Hi, You're creating a shortcut to iexplore.exe. It should have the shortcut arrow on it. If you right-click it and choose Properties, one of the tabs should be "Shortcut." So, you will have to leave that icon on the desktop it's your new shortcut to a website.
Don [MS MVP- IE]
"Irv"

Tried this doesn't work
"Don Varnau" wrote:

I apologize for my short response yesterday. I think I was just so frustrated by this problem that I didn't bother to respond properly. When I tried your suggestion, the dialog box won't let me put the web site after the program name. It responds that thename is not valid. I was sure to put the space between the exe and the www
Earl "Don Varnau" wrote: