Windows 7: Change drive symbols - how it works

If you don't like the drive symbols in Windows 7, you can change them with a little trick. We'll show you how it's done.

Change drive icons in Windows 7

To change a drive icon, you need to create a registry entry:

1. Open "Execute" with the key combination [Win] + [R] and type in "regedit". Confirm with [Enter].
2. Navigate to the path "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ DriveIcons". If the "DriveIcons" key does not yet exist, click on "Explorer" and create it with "Edit" - "New" - "Key".
3. In the "DriveIcons" folder you now create the same key for each drive whose icon you want to change. Name the keys with the drive letter.
4. In each of these keys you create another key with the name "DefaultIcon".
5. In the most recently created keys, double-click on "Standard" on the right side.
6. Change the value to "C: \ Windows \ system32 \ shell32.dll, X".
7. The X is a placeholder for the desired symbol. Read what you need to use in the next paragraph.
8. Do the same for all drives that you want to change and click on "OK".

Change drive symbols: which number for which symbol?

To find the variable that represents your desired symbol, you have to open the list of possible symbols:

1. Switch to the desktop and right-click on any shortcut - for example on your browser.
2. Select "Properties" and switch to the "Shortcut" tab.
3. Click "Other Icon" and copy "C: \ Windows \ system32 \ shell32.dll" into the field above the icons. Confirm with [Enter].
4. Start counting from the top left at 0 and go through the symbols column by column from top to bottom.
5. Enter the number that has the desired symbol instead of the "X" above.