Changing a filetypes icon - adding a"shortcut" like mini-icon

Hello all,

I would like to know if its possible, thru changes in the registry, to
change a filetypes icon. No, not just change the icon itself, but to either
:

Add a shortcut-like mini-icon into one of the other corners

-or-

Change the filetypes icon to a fixed one, but display the files own icon as
a min-icon in one of the corners.

If you wonder what its for, I intend to create an ".ovl" (overlay) filetype
(for likely a simple executable or DLL), and want be able to see at a glance
that 1) its an overlay 2) which program its for (displaying that or its own
resource icon).

Does anyone have an idea ? I've already looked in the registry to how it
workss for an actual shortcut, but that didn't give me the clue(s) I needed.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

On 10/30/20 6:35 AM, this is what R.Wieser wrote:
Hello all,

I would like to know if its possible, thru changes in the registry, to
change a filetypes icon. No, not just change the icon itself, but to either
:

Add a shortcut-like mini-icon into one of the other corners

-or-

Change the filetypes icon to a fixed one, but display the files own icon as
a min-icon in one of the corners.

If you wonder what its for, I intend to create an ".ovl" (overlay) filetype
(for likely a simple executable or DLL), and want be able to see at a glance
that 1) its an overlay 2) which program its for (displaying that or its own
resource icon).

Does anyone have an idea ? I've already looked in the registry to how it
workss for an actual shortcut, but that didn't give me the clue(s) I needed.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


You can add custom icons to a shortcut, and if you're good at something like gimp/photoshop or even an icon editor program like 'greenfish
icon editor pro' (free), you could make this custom looking single ico file and use it on the shortcut. It's a one-off suggestion.

I've done similar for a few of mine. In greenfish you can make a 'library' of several icons and save them as a .dll file. And just like any
other dll in windows, you pick the dll and then scroll through the list of icons and pick the one you want. It works better than stand
alone icons IMHO as the icon name is stored in the "filename.dll,4" format. (4 being the index number).

Al
--
Linux Mint 19.3 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570, Quad Core i7-8550U

R.Wieser wrote:
Hello all,

I would like to know if its possible, thru changes in the registry, to
change a filetypes icon. No, not just change the icon itself, but to either
:

Add a shortcut-like mini-icon into one of the other corners

-or-

Change the filetypes icon to a fixed one, but display the files own icon as
a min-icon in one of the corners.

If you wonder what its for, I intend to create an ".ovl" (overlay) filetype
(for likely a simple executable or DLL), and want be able to see at a glance
that 1) its an overlay 2) which program its for (displaying that or its own
resource icon).

Does anyone have an idea ? I've already looked in the registry to how it
workss for an actual shortcut, but that didn't give me the clue(s) I needed.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



What you need, rather than a registry hack, is a way to create and
assign icons.
Assigning existing icons can be done using the inbuilt MS filetypes
manager; or (better) download FileTypesMan (free).

For creating new icons;
https://icons8.com/iconizer
or you can simply get some of the zillions of personalized icons on the
Net, from sites such as;
https://icons8.com/icons

If, however, you insist on getting into the registry, look here;

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...to-a-file-type

Good luck. What I'd do is design my own, start with an existing picture
and add your mini-icon graphically.

Ed

On 10/30/20 8:16 AM, this is what Ed Cryer wrote:
R.Wieser wrote:
Hello all,

I would like to know if its possible, thru changes in the registry, to
change a filetypes icon.Â* No, not just change the icon itself, but to either
:

Add a shortcut-like mini-icon into one of the other corners

-or-

Change the filetypes icon to a fixed one, but display the files own icon as
a min-icon in one of the corners.

If you wonder what its for, I intend to create an ".ovl" (overlay) filetype
(for likely a simple executable or DLL), and want be able to see at a glance
that 1) its an overlay 2) which program its for (displaying that or its own
resource icon).

Does anyone have an idea ?Â*Â*Â* I've already looked in the registry to how it
workss for an actual shortcut, but that didn't give me the clue(s) I needed.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



What you need, rather than a registry hack, is a way to create and assign icons.
Assigning existing icons can be done using the inbuilt MS filetypes manager; or (better) download FileTypesMan (free).

For creating new icons;
https://icons8.com/iconizer
or you can simply get some of the zillions of personalized icons on the Net, from sites such as;
https://icons8.com/icons

If, however, you insist on getting into the registry, look here;

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...to-a-file-type

Good luck. What I'd do is design my own, start with an existing picture and add your mini-icon graphically.

Ed
images.google.com isn't bad. You can search by name, not always perfect, but under tools you can pick size-icon and at least filter it a
bit. They used to have a filter there of "exactly" and I could pick 256x256 which is a good starting point for the basic icon.

Al

--
Linux Mint 19.3 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570, Quad Core i7-8550U

Big al,

You can add custom icons to a shortcut

I know. But thats not what I'm after. Its the *small* icon I want to add
to a filetype. Just like a ".lnk" filetype does, but than one of my own
choosing and preferrably in the lower-right corner.

Any ideas ?

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

"R.Wieser" wrote

| I would like to know if its possible, thru changes in the registry, to
| change a filetypes icon. No, not just change the icon itself, but to
either
| :
|
| Add a shortcut-like mini-icon into one of the other corners
|
| -or-
|
| Change the filetypes icon to a fixed one, but display the files own icon
as
| a min-icon in one of the corners.
|

It might work to add the IsShortcut value to the class.
For example, you might be able to make all .ovl files
show a shortcut icon. But that would be confusing,
of course. I don't know of any other overlay type.

You can also cause DLLs to show an icon like an EXE,
at least on older systems, and assuming they have an
icon resource section. Just add a DefaultIcon value under
HKCR\dllfile, if it's not there, and set the default value
to %1. (If there's already such a setting you can save
the existing default as another value, in case you ever
want to change back, and then change the default.)

But it sounds like what you want
is to specify a unique icon for an individual file. So maybe
something like abc.dll with a little Firefox logo in the corner
to show it goes with Firefox? There's nothing like that.
You could certainly do such a thing with your own DLLs,
if you have DLL icons showing, but Windows has no facility
to display custom icons on a per-file basis. Even with EXEs
it's just a system of using the first icon in the resources.

Bu I know you, Rudy. Your next question is going to be how
to hack EXE resources without disabling UAC, right?

Ed,

What you need, rather than a registry hack, is a way to create and assign
icons.

No, I don't. I know, in this regard, my way around the registry and do not
need a tool for that.

And you missed the point : I am not asking how to assign an standard icon to
a (new) filetype, I'm asking about how I add an overlay-icon as you can see
in the lower-left of a ".lnk" (a shortcut) file. Preferrably in the
lower-right corner.

Good luck. What I'd do is design my own, start with an existing picture
and add your mini-icon graphically.

Definitily not, as that would make all the ".ovl" files show the same icon.
As mentioned, the (future) ".ovl" file is either an exe or DLL, and both can
have their own icons. I would like to keep those, but with a mini-icon
added just as happens with a shortcut. (or the other way around: A standard
big icon for the ".ovl" filetype, with the files own icon added as a
mini-icon. But thats wishfull thinking :-) )

Regards
Rudy Wieser

Mayayana,

For example, you might be able to make all .ovl files
show a shortcut icon.

Yeah, Copying stuff from the "lnkfile" subtree would probably be a good
start.

But that would be confusing, of course.

:-) Indeed.

I don't know of any other overlay type.

I know that it can be done for/with an iconlist (assigned to a list- or
treeview), but have never tried that. IOW, technically it seems to be
possible.

Just add a DefaultIcon value under HKCR\dllfile

I know. But that will make all overlay files look exactly the same. And
as those overlay files are (normally) tightly bound to a specific executable
that is not exactly what I'm looking for. Hence my question.

But it sounds like what you want is to specify a unique icon
for an individual file. So maybe something like abc.dll with a
little Firefox logo in the corner to show it goes with Firefox?

Bingo! :-)

Or just a big FireFox icon with a little "I'm an overlay file!" icon in a
(the lower-right) corner.

Even with EXEs it's just a system of using the first icon in the
resources.

To be honest, I hadn't even thought of that. But you /had/ to put that idea
into my mind, didn't you ? :-p

Bu I know you, Rudy. Your next question is going to be
how to hack EXE resources without disabling UAC, right?

UAC ? Whats that ? Oh, wait ... Thats that thing that continuously bugs
you ("you have moved your mouse. If you intended to do that than please
click OK") until you had enough and google for how to disable it. Right ?

As for "hacking resources", isn't that what the "UpdateResource" function in
Kernel32 is for ? Never tried it though.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

"R.Wieser" wrote

| I know that it can be done for/with an iconlist (assigned to a list- or
| treeview), but have never tried that. IOW, technically it seems to be
| possible.
|

That's an interesting thought. An Explorer window is
a Listview. But I don;'t know of any Shell functions to
work with icons. shell just deals with basci stuff like
finding out which file is selected.

|
| As for "hacking resources", isn't that what the "UpdateResource" function
in
| Kernel32 is for ? Never tried it though.
|
On XP, if you've disabled system file protection, that
might actually work. I'll check back with you in the Spring.

On 10/30/2020 3:35 AM, R.Wieser wrote:
Hello all,

I would like to know if its possible, thru changes in the registry, to
change a filetypes icon. No, not just change the icon itself, but to either
:

Add a shortcut-like mini-icon into one of the other corners

-or-

Change the filetypes icon to a fixed one, but display the files own icon as
a min-icon in one of the corners.

If you wonder what its for, I intend to create an ".ovl" (overlay) filetype
(for likely a simple executable or DLL), and want be able to see at a glance
that 1) its an overlay 2) which program its for (displaying that or its own
resource icon).

Does anyone have an idea ? I've already looked in the registry to how it
workss for an actual shortcut, but that didn't give me the clue(s) I needed.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



First of all, you need to create the icon. Icon Extractor from Nirsoft
at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iconsext.html is freeware. You would
use this to capture icon images for editing. Greenfish Icon Editor from
http://greenfishsoftware.org/ is freeware. You would use it to do the
editing. Remember to create different sizes and color depths of the icon.

Alternatively, you would use Icon Extractor and then manipulate the
results with an image application such as Windows's Paint or the
freeware GNU Image Manipulation Program from https://www.gimp.org/.
You would than paste the result into Greenfish Icon Editor to create the
icon at various sizes and color depths.

Once you have created the icon, you can use File-Types Manager from
Nirsoft at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/file_types_manager.html, which
is also freeware to set the icon on the .ovl extension. Actually, I
would use File-Types Manager to create the extension instead of trying
to tweak the Windows registry.

--
David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump told us the
virus would disappear by April. Later, he said it would be gone
when the weather turned hot.

In Ventura County (population less than 850,000), there were
2,134 new COVID-19 infections in September as the temperature
reached 117F. That month, there were also 36 deaths, a persistent
daily death rate through the entire month of 1.2%.

At one time, Trump claimed COVID-19 was a Democrat hoax. Now
Trump has the virus. Schadenfreude!

I don't think COVID-19 will disappear until after Trump disappears.

"David E. Ross" wrote

|
| Once you have created the icon, you can use File-Types Manager from
| Nirsoft at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/file_types_manager.html, which
| is also freeware to set the icon on the .ovl extension. Actually, I
| would use File-Types Manager to create the extension instead of trying
| to tweak the Windows registry.
|

That won't work here. It's easy to assign a new icon for
a specified file type. What he wants is to assign a custom
icon or display style for specific PE files. Those either show
a generic icon or the icon is taken from the PE file's resources.

In other words, the default
for DLL is a generic system icon. An EXE shows an icon from
inside the resources of the EXE file. DLLs *can* be made to
also do that. But that doesn't provide any way to assign
the icon, because there's no system for assigning icons to
individual files. Whether you use the file manager or edit
the DefaultIcon Registry value, those icons are only on
a per-extension basis. So it would mean hacking the icon
resources of the PE file. That's fine if it's your PE file, but
if it's from Firefox, MS Word, or a Windows system file, that's
not going to go so well.

David,

First of all, you need to create the icon.
[snip]

Thank you for those suggestions. The thing is that I already know how to
get/create icons and apply them to filetypes.

The thing I do /not/ know is how to add a shortcut-like mini-icon to such a
filetype. And that's the question I would like to have answered. If its
at all possible that is.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

To all,

After digesting some of the responses I realized that my request, "Changing
a filetypes icon - adding a"shortcut" like mini-icon", was perhaps a bit
ambigue.

I didn't mean that as drawing something on an existing icon and use that,
but instead as what a shortcut does : displaying a *second*, small icon (the
bend arrow) over the one it takes from its target - only visually combining
the two.

IOW, the origional, target files icon never gets actually changed.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

R.Wieser wrote:
To all,

After digesting some of the responses I realized that my request, "Changing
a filetypes icon - adding a"shortcut" like mini-icon", was perhaps a bit
ambigue.

I didn't mean that as drawing something on an existing icon and use that,
but instead as what a shortcut does : displaying a *second*, small icon (the
bend arrow) over the one it takes from its target - only visually combining
the two.

IOW, the origional, target files icon never gets actually changed.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser



Do you mean "an icon pointing to another icon"? And, if so, how does
your mew .ovl extension fit into this schematic?

As far as I can work out, you can't have an icon pointing to an icon.
Windows isn't built for that.

In this situation you'd be well advised to delineate what you're trying
to do more explicitly.

Ed

Ed,

Do you mean "an icon pointing to another icon"?

Huh? No.

Take look at a shortcut. See that it shows the icon of the file its a
shortcut for *but also* an overlay-icon that looks like a small white
rectangle with a bend black arrow in the lower-left corner ? That is what
I'm after - to add such an overlay icon for an .ovl filetype.

In this situation you'd be well advised to delineate what you're trying to
do more explicitly.

:-) I can do my stinking best in trying to explain what I'm after and
making direct references to something similar (a shortcut), but I can't
understand it for you I'm afraid.

I from my position have absolutily /no/ idea how you could come to a "do you
perhaps mean an icon pointing to another icon?". An icon simply /can't/
point anywhere - other than by showing an arrow of some kind. And that only
means something to a human.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser