Problem with Microsoft Word Icons

I know this subject has been talked about before but I have just spent 3 hours trying to find the solution. I have docx files that are showing a white icon with lines in it. I want the normal word doc icon to be shown. I know for a fact that it used to show, but now it doesn't. I have done every single thing that has been suggested so far on this site and others. I have rebuilt the icon cache, I have repaired and reinstalled the programs, etc. Has anyone ever come up with a real solution to this problem?

 

can you post a screenshot of that icon? Do other MS Office icons display correctly?

 

I can tell you what I'd do. First, install IconViewer. It allows you to see icons in .dll and .exe through the context menu. The icons you want are stored in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\winword.exe. After you install IconViewer, right-click winword.exe and select Properties. You should now see a tab for Icons. Open it and find the icon you want, right-click it to save, or use the "save" icon located near the bottom of the dialog. Save it to a folder that's easily accessible.

Now that you have it where you want it, you can associate it with your .docx files. In XP it's fairly simple to do through Folder Options. Go to Control Panel>Folder Options>File Types>Scroll down to .docx and selct it>click Advanced>click Change Icon>click Browse>browse to the folder where you saved the icon and select it>close the dialogs by selecting Apply and OK. Now open a folder where you have .docx documents and they should have your chosen icon.

In Vista or 7, I'd recommend FileTypesMan. You can associate file types with any icon by basically the same process as used above for XP, only with FileTypesMan.

I usually always do this with programs that are giving me problems with icon associations. It's way easier than hacking the registry all the time. There are several locations to download IconViewer but I can't really recommend one. Search for IconViwer 3.02 and and you'll find them.