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  1. #1
    The Lightbringer
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    All my desktop icons are the same

    So today i tried to open up something and right clicked that icon and went to open with and hit Internet Explorer and now every icon on my desktop trys to open up as explorer. Anyone know how to restore all my icons to how they usually open? I also tried to make explorer open as explorer and that didn't work.

  2. #2
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    Send us a screenshot of your desktop please.
    And for God's sake thumbnail it.

  3. #3
    The Lightbringer eternalwhitemoon's Avatar
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    Well that depends. What was the file type of the file you were trying to use?

    You probably messed up your file associations. If you set .lnk file extensions to always open with IE, that would do it. :P

  4. #4
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by eternalwhitemoon View Post
    Well that depends. What was the file type of the file you were trying to use?

    You probably messed up your file associations. If you set .lnk file extensions to always open with IE, that would do it. :P
    Ah. Hurr. Durr.
    Control Panel -> Programs ->Set Default Programs/Make a file type always open in a specific program.
    (I believe it's the second one...)

  5. #5
    The Lightbringer
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    I really can't open paint to upload a screen shot sorry =/

    Eternalwhitemoon I think that's what I did, I think it was .jpg or something and I wan'ted to open up on Explorer.

    ---------- Post added 2011-05-30 at 07:11 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzykins View Post
    Ah. Hurr. Durr.
    Control Panel -> Programs ->Set Default Programs/Make a file type always open in a specific program.
    (I believe it's the second one...)
    I am getting a list of every .something with 3 letters what do here?

  6. #6
    The Lightbringer eternalwhitemoon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ave07 View Post
    I really can't open paint to upload a screen shot sorry =/

    Eternalwhitemoon I think that's what I did, I think it was .jpg or something and I wan'ted to open up on Explorer.
    For Win XP, go to Start>Control Panel>Folder Options and click on the File Types tab. Scroll to the file type, highlight it and click Change. Select the program you actually want to use for that extension. Click OK and you're done.

    Method might be different for Vista/7, same concept though.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ave07 View Post
    I am getting a list of every .something with 3 letters what do here?
    See how there's an icon next to each of them? That tells you what the default program is. When you find something out of place, highlight it and click Change (in this case, probably the .JPG or maybe .LNK extensions will show an IE icon) and fix it to your preferred image program.

    By the way, the extension list is in alphabetical order. Hopefully that will help you find it faster.
    Last edited by eternalwhitemoon; 2011-05-30 at 11:23 PM.

  7. #7
    The Lightbringer
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    Managed to open paint and take a screen shot. Note that none of these icons work since they are trying to open up with explorer and im really confused



    Uploaded with ImageShack.us

  8. #8
    The Lightbringer eternalwhitemoon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ave07 View Post
    Managed to open paint and take a screen shot. Note that none of these icons work since they are trying to open up with explorer and im really confused

    [snip]
    Definitely looks like you changed the default program for the .EXE extension. Follow the above steps, but check the .EXE file extension.

  9. #9
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    Your .exe files are associated with Internet Explorer... Try going to Programs -> Set Default Programs, and unassociate .exe with IE through there.

  10. #10
    Mechagnome Kardezar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzykins View Post
    Send us a screenshot of your desktop please.
    And for God's sake thumbnail it.
    do this, you may have been pranked.

  11. #11
    The Lightbringer
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    Uploaded with ImageShack.us

    Which option is it since im getting two different answers from you guys lol

  12. #12
    The Lightbringer eternalwhitemoon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ave07 View Post
    [snip]

    Which option is it since im getting two different answers from you guys lol
    I have XP so I fail at remembering where everything is in Vista. Fuzzykins has it right, I think. Click that 'Set your default programs' button.

  13. #13
    The Lightbringer
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    Uploaded with ImageShack.us

    This is what I get next.

  14. #14
    Highlight Internet Explorer and see what defaults it has listed, in that same window you have open in the last screenshot.

  15. #15
    Mechagnome
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    Click Internet Explorer in the list to the left in the first image there instead of Firefox. If .exe or .lnk are there and are ticked, untick them and save. Should fix it, I believe.

    Edit: i r slowpoke
    Well excuuuse me, Princess.

    You are now breathing manually.

  16. #16
    The Lightbringer
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    Uploaded with ImageShack.us

  17. #17
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    Hm... I'm beat. I have no clue. :<

  18. #18
    The Lightbringer eternalwhitemoon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzykins View Post
    Hm... I'm beat. I have no clue. :<
    Intriguing.

    System restore gogo? lol

    Edit: What happens if you go back to the 'Associate a file type or protocol with a program' part? Are you able to find .exe and break the association?
    Last edited by eternalwhitemoon; 2011-05-31 at 12:00 AM.

  19. #19
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by eternalwhitemoon View Post
    Intriguing.

    System restore gogo? lol

    Edit: What happens if you go back to the 'Associate a file type or protocol with a program' part? Are you able to find .exe and break the association?
    Try right click one of those and running it as... uh.. something.

  20. #20
    Don't have much time, a few quick simple things you might check:

    1) Right-click one of the desktop icons that's malfunctioning, go to properties, and check the target field.. make sure it says something appropriate. For instance, my Dragon Age shortcut says ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Dragon Age\DAOriginsLauncher.exe", make sure there's no reference to IE anywhere in there. (I don't know what would change all of these, but it's worth checking)
    2) Can you open these programs directly through windows explorer or from your start menu? In other words, is it *just* the desktop shortcuts that are broken?
    3) If you create a new shortcut, does it suffer from the same problem?

    Everyone else already suggested my first thoughts, these are just simple things to make sure the problem is only with desktop icons, and that it's not your specific icons you already have that got screwed up. I won't be able to check this thread for at least an hour, though... I apologize for that, but it's unavoidable. I hope you get it fixed (and if all else fails, as Eternalwhitemoon already said system restore might be the way to go).

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