Desktop Icon "reset"...What is happening behind the scenes?

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As the Win 7 system comes up, upon install of a package, or at some point, all the icons basically turn into just a simple box and then over a few seconds get restored with the proper image. This is not causing any problems but it is a little startling and scary at times.

I've always wondered about action as it is not new to simply Win 7, but happens in Win XP as well.

What exactly is happening here under the hood? Why is it necessary to basically reset the icons and then rebuild them over a few seconds?

mdpc

Posted 2013-02-24T22:35:52.097

Reputation: 4 176

Question was closed 2013-02-26T01:50:15.380

I've seen this on all the Windows systems I've ever used and never really thought about it (it's not always that noticeable). It looks exactly the same as when Windows Explorer closes than restarts- so I always assumed that's what was happening. I'm not sure why it would need to do that though. – Austin ''Danger'' Powers – 2013-02-24T22:45:29.267

Answers

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I guess it's the same effect as [windowsflagkey] + F5 has on your desktop?

If so, that's completely normal. As windows is starting up, it's loading all kinds of processes and services. Some of which have to do with file associations, thumbnails, and the desktop. Explorer.exe, the process that controls the desktop and the file browser, is loaded first. This will initially display the icons on your desktop.

My best guess is that some service or process loads up next and says something like: This file should have this icon instead of the one you already use, or they just refresh the desktop as [windowsflagkey] + F5 would for whatever reason.

If this happens very slow for you, that is because your computer is running and loading all kinds of things while logging in to Windows. A very similar question to this has a few solutions to speed this up:

In windows 7, during startup, why do my icons go blank and then reappear

A quick google on the topic gave me this information, so I'm sure you should be able to find it yourself too. Often, Google can find you the answer to simple questions much faster than asking a new question here. If you can't find it, feel free to ask of course.

Jochem Kuijpers

Posted 2013-02-24T22:35:52.097

Reputation: 383

I looked at that question, but it was not answered definitively. As for google, apparently I did not use the right search terms and thus I did not find what I really wanted to see. – mdpc – 2013-02-25T01:28:11.533

Asked: 2013-02-24T22:35:52.097

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Active: 2013-02-24T23:29:43.580