Missing Windows Icons

Possible causes:

There can be many things associated with icons missing from Windows:

• Icons cannot be seen because the Program Manager window is not maximized.
• Icons are outside the visible viewing area within a window.
• Icons were deleted.
• There may be corruption or a virus on the hard drive.

Basic Troubleshooting:

Hard drive corruption:

Before you begin troubleshooting missing Window icons, you should run ScanDisk or ChkDsk to make sure that the hard drive has not become corrupted.

At the C:\> prompt type:

ver

and press Enter to determine what version of MS-DOS that you are currently running.

If you are running MS-DOS version 5.0, at the C:\> prompt type:

chkdsk /f

and press Enter. When DOS is finished checking your hard drive for corruption, you are prompted to save any corruption as files in the root directory. If ChkDsk did not find any problems you will not be prompted to save the files. To save the files, press the Y key on the keyboard and press Enter.

If you are running MS-DOS version 6.0 and above, at the C:\> prompt type:

scandisk

and press Enter. ScanDisk asks you to fix any corruption that it finds. You can skip the undo process as well as the surface scan.

If either of these diagnostics find any problems, you may want to reload the application that has lost the icons.

You should run an up-to-date virus detection program to make sure that your system problems are not virus related.

Visibility of groups and icons within Program Manager:

If the group or icon that you are looking for is outside the desktop area of the Program Manager, the icon may appear to be missing. To determine if this is the case, maximize the Program Manager window. To do this, click on the UP arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the window or hold down the Alt key and press the space bar, then press X.

Once you are certain that the Program Manager is maximized, you need to be sure that all the group windows within the desktop area are closed. By having all the group windows closed, it is easier to determine if there are any missing groups or icons. To do this, hold down the Ctrl key and press the F4 key. Repeat this until there is no change on the screen. Arrange the group icons in the visible area of Program Manager by clicking on Window then Arrange Icons. You can also hold down the Alt key and press the W key, then press A. All of the group icons should now be visible.

If all the groups are not visible, there should be a scroll bar on the bottom or on the right side of the window. This means that a program group window is still open outside the visible area of Program Manager. Using the scroll bars, locate the open group. Minimize the group by clicking on the DOWN arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the group window.

Resolving Problems:

Finding missing groups:

You need to determine the file name of the missing group. Open File Manager. Choose the Search option on the File Menu or hold down the Alt key and press F, then press H. A window titled Search will pop up. In the Search For: box, type *.GRP then press Tab. In the Start From: box, type:

c:\windows

and press Enter or click on OK. A list of group files will be displayed.

Each of the file names will start with C:\WINDOWS\ followed by an 8 letter word, and end with .GRP. The eight letter words are the important parts. The missing group file should be listed here. The eight letter portion of the filename you are looking for should be the first 8 letters of the name the group originally had. For instance, the Accessories group filename is "C:\WINDOWS\ACCESSOR.GRP" and the file name for the Main group is "C:\WINDOWS\MAIN.GRP". Look for a filename that most closely resembles the original group name. When you find the filename, write it down. Exit File Manager and return to Program Manager. From the File Menu select New or hold down the ALT key and press F, then press N. A window titled New Program Object will pop up. Make certain that Program Group is selected. Press Enter or click OK. A window titled Program Group Properties pops up. Ignore the Description Box. In the Group File box, type the filename you found earlier. Press Enter or click OK. If the groups do not reappear, reinstall the program to recreate the groups and icons.

Missing Windows 3.1 groups or icons:

If the missing icons were in the Main, Accessories, Games, or Network groups, try the following steps to recreate them. From Program Manager, select Run from the File Menu or hold down the Alt key and press F, then press R. A window titled Run will pop up. In the Command Line box, type

SETUP /p.

There must be a space after SETUP and before the /p. Press Enter. The missing standard groups should reappear.

Missing Windows for Workgroups 3.11 groups or icons: If the missing icons were in the Main, Accessories, Games, or Network groups, from Program Manager, select Run from the File Menu or hold down the Alt key and press F, then press R. A window titled Run will pop up. In the Command Line box, type

WINSETUP /p.

There must be a space after WINSETUP and before the /p. Press Enter or click on OK. The missing program icons should reappear.

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