Icons Are Changed Unexpectedly In Windows 11

[Tempeste Villada]

Iuse my 40" TV as my computer monitor. It is 5 feet from my head. I set the computer screen to 1600x900 when used as a monitor and 1920x1080 when watching HD videos. Windows 10. Until a week or so ago, when I switched to 1920x1080 my icons and windows appeared smaller as their size in pixels did not change. Now when I switch to 1920x1080 the icons and windows are enlarged so the screen looks about the same. This means now I am never sure what my screen size is. Does anyone know if this resizing of icons and windows can be disabled?

Now this is where you set the scaling setting. Go to Advanced scaling settings, Custom Scaling and pick one from 100-200%, such as 125 or 150, or 200. Now it is hard locked, the size of the icons in terms of pixels should stay the same.

Hi,

I am facing this issue since I installed ZorinOS 16. It keeps coming every few days:

first, desktop icons disappear and I am unable to bring them back, and after an hour or so the desktop appearance is reverted to the non-taskbar view.

I am unable to revert back to the taskbar view, or restore desktop icons until I restart or logout from the session. Any ideas what could cause this?

Thanks for the reply. I am using the core (free) version.

UPDATE: a few minutes after I posted the question, all of sudden the icons came back and the layout restored. I don't know what is going on.

Is there any log I can look into ?

In fact, I wasn't able to find .xsession-errors in my home neither in /var/log. Only one copy under /root/ with some info messages and no errors/exceptions.

This might seem unreasonable, but: could it be that ZorinOS is turning desktop service off while updating some packages and runs it again? (I am new to Linux as desktop env., so I don't know if it behaves like Windows in installing updates in the background)

No. Any updates applied to the Desktop would be initiated on the next restart. Unlike windows, Zorin OS does not take over the desktop while you are using it.

Updates that you select that can take effect right away do so. But anything that would interupt the user and workflow must wait on the user to pause (Either from log out or reboot).

Why have the synced icons on my PC changed from a green circle with a tick (Available on this PC) to a solid green circle with a tick (Always available on this PC) when I haven't changed anything? Never seen this before and the only option on right clicking the Dropbox menu is to make online only...with a blue cloud icon.

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These are indeed a couple of Dropbox sync icons that already existed; would you mind checking the article I linked in my previous reply for additional info on the sync icons, and let me know if you have any questions?

These are set to available off line...and always have been. Changed the whole Dropbox folder to online only which produced a visible thumbnail and a blue cloud icon but not the grey one shown in the article you referenced, then swapped them back to off line again...and now they all have the solid green circle. What is going on?

Yet again, Dropbox has 'updated' and substituted One Drive icons....which isn't even installed on the PC. Why does this keep happening and how do I restore the correct icons? Have uninstalled Dropbox software and reinstalled, but same problem.

This problem most commonly arises when installing new software, but it can also be caused by previously installed applications. The issue is generally caused by a file association error with .LNK files (Windows shortcuts) or .EXE files (Windows executable programs).

While a System Restore does not affect any of your personal files, it reverts any system changes you have made since the previous restore point. This means the process may remove installed programs, modify registry settings, and alter other system files.

Option 2: Reset LNK and EXE file associationsWarning: This option uses registry scripts that reset the Windows registry entries for LNK and EXE file associations. We strongly recommend backing up the Windows registry before proceeding.

Unexpected changes to your LNK and EXE file associations is a likely cause for your icons changing. Therefore, you can run one of the following registry scripts on your computer to change them back. The scripts reset the file association information for .LNK and .EXE files back to the initial settings for your Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation.

Option 3: Create a new user accountAnother option to fix your icons is to create a new user account and abandon the account that has the problem. This approach will fix your icons with minimal effort. However, after creating the new account, you may also have to transfer your old files and reset many different user account settings. To create a new account, follow these steps:

There are many different programs that can cause your Windows icons to change unexpectedly. By following one of the three options above, you can fix the file associations for .LNK and .EXE files and restore your icons back to the original ones.

All of my PDF files have had their icons changed to Chrome icons. The files no longer open with Acrobat Reader....they now open through the Chrome browser. I'm not sure what caused this. The only thing I can think of is that my girlfriend was on my computer renaming a PDF when I noticed a popup that asked something about file extension or destination. I tried to tell her not to hit the "yes" button, but I was too late. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the problem. Can anyone help me to get the icons changed back to PDF icons?

You need to reset your file associations so that your system uses Reader to open pdf files. It's pretty easy to do but varies from one OS to the other. You can google the information on resetting file associations and find instructions or you could let us know what OS you are using and we can let you know how to do it.

To set Chrome as default, I used "Control Panel>Default Programs>Set Your Default Programs". This was after the Windows 10 Action Center "All Settings>System>Default Apps" method would not set Chrome as default.

To solve the icon issue I did a right click on any PDF file, picked "Open With>Choose Another App>selected Acrobat(or Reader)>checked the "always use this app for pdf". I then had to do a restart and all was good again.

Failed option 2. type chrome://settings/content in the Chrome address bar. Check the box at the end "Open PDF files in the default viewer application, the Finished button. After I did this I tried to open a PDF on a webpage and Chrome went crazy, flashing a blank tab open and closed repeatedly.

Failed option 3. Windows 10 Start > Settings > Choose default apps by file type > .pdf > select Adobe instead of Chrome :

Result: the setting did not update for me, Chrome could not be dislodged this way.

Just removed the shortcuts in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs then found the exe's (I had three applications that Chrome took over) and put the new ones in there. Worked no problem. Hope this helps.

I have the same problem with pdf files opening in Chrome. I tried changing the setting in Chrome to use the default program but it still continued to open in Chrome (even though Acrobat was the default program). I gave up, uninstalled Chrome and used Opera. Despite this, the same problem exists except now it tells me Chrome needs updating! If I use File Manager to list th files it shows pdf files with the Chrome icon. By selecting the default program to open & selecting Acrobat all is fine until next reboot.Windows 7 Ultimate, 64 bit. ANy help greatly appreciated. Thx.

With windows 10 there are problems with the way pdf files are associated (Edge is considered by MS to be the initial default handler) security hash codes were added to try and force changes back to Edge, though that may now be less enforced it is still present.

The easiest way to ensure your installed SumatraPDF is default handler and thus shows the yellow icon in place of a red one is to right click a pdf and ignore any old settings (you may see I have 2 older ones!) and go to chose another app

Again ignore any old settings, tick the box and select More apps

Again !! ignore all old settings and select Look for another app on this PC

In the window you need to enter %localappdata%\sumatrapdf or wherever your installation including SumatraPDF.exe is (in my case you dont see it as I installed in program files for multiple users) but a default 3.2 install should have put it in that folder

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