Microsoft Word files have weird icons suddenly?
Microsoft Word files have weird icons suddenly?
Microsoft Word files have weird icons suddenly?
Re: Microsoft Word files have weird icons suddenly?
You only explicitly mention the desktop. Are files in other folders affected?
Try deleting any `thumbs.db` file that exists. You may have to enable the display of hidden and system files to see it. Those files are safe to delete (thumbnail cache) and will be automatically regenerated by Windows.
This may be caused by a faulty shell extension. Have you installed anything recently?
Take a look at installed shell extensions with [ShellExView](http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html).
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Go to `Options` => `Filter By Extension Type`; hold shift and select `Icon Handler`, `Icon Overlay Handler` and `Thumbnail`. Is there anything there that was recently installed?
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Try sorting by the `File Created Time` and `CLSID Modified Time` columns. Any items modified around the time you first noticed this?
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You can safely disable shell extensions to test, using the right click context menu. You may need to restart `explorer.exe` to force it to reload/unload any changed extensions.
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You could try a repair installation of Microsoft Office. There is a chance that the icon files, etc., got corrupted and a repair installation should fix that. You might need to do so from the installation DVD if you have deleted the cached installation files (which are quite large).
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You may also wish to run `sfc /scannow` to verify and repair any corrupted or missing system files.
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You could also try a System Restore to a point before this first started happening. There is a chance that a Windows update corrupted necessary files, especially if an unclean shutdown occurred.
Try deleting any `thumbs.db` file that exists. You may have to enable the display of hidden and system files to see it. Those files are safe to delete (thumbnail cache) and will be automatically regenerated by Windows.
This may be caused by a faulty shell extension. Have you installed anything recently?
Take a look at installed shell extensions with [ShellExView](http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html).
-
Go to `Options` => `Filter By Extension Type`; hold shift and select `Icon Handler`, `Icon Overlay Handler` and `Thumbnail`. Is there anything there that was recently installed?
-
Try sorting by the `File Created Time` and `CLSID Modified Time` columns. Any items modified around the time you first noticed this?
-
You can safely disable shell extensions to test, using the right click context menu. You may need to restart `explorer.exe` to force it to reload/unload any changed extensions.
-
You could try a repair installation of Microsoft Office. There is a chance that the icon files, etc., got corrupted and a repair installation should fix that. You might need to do so from the installation DVD if you have deleted the cached installation files (which are quite large).
-
You may also wish to run `sfc /scannow` to verify and repair any corrupted or missing system files.
-
You could also try a System Restore to a point before this first started happening. There is a chance that a Windows update corrupted necessary files, especially if an unclean shutdown occurred.