Well, I have Windows XP SP2. This problem is completely new to my PC.
It happened 2 days ago, without doing anything strange, and I have not
found any solution yet. So let's go with google answers.
I double-click the icon "My computer" on the desktop; it opens, I see
all my drives C: D: E: and 2 DVD F: and G:. The standard icon for C:
disappeared. It now has the Win icon for "I don't know what this is"
(a white sheet with a small Windows' window inside). All other drive
are fine.
I already tried some shareware that let's you change all icons in
Windows (like iconpackager) but this don't solve. All other icons
change, but not the missing C: icon. I've also tried the registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons\C\DefaultIcon

where I put the string  "E:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll,8" in the Default key.
Note that the string don't exist in standard Windows registry, but it
is supposed to work that way.

This don't help, either. Always missing icon (obviously I reset my
machine after changing the registry).

Anyone has a solution  ??

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Request for Question Clarification by keystroke-ga on 26 Oct 2006 05:34 PDT

Hello ginosergio,

I am a little stumped as to why Windows did this. I have a feeling
that it has messed itself over. However, try this and see how far it
gets you.

Load up "My Computer" and click Tools, then Folder Options, then File
Types, then highlight "(None) Drive" and click Advanced. Once here,
click "Change Icon" and select the icon you want. That should change
the icon back. If it does not I would expect some problems sometime in
the future with the windows install you have.

--keystroke-ga

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Clarification of Question by ginosergio-ga on 30 Oct 2006 15:11 PST

KEYSTROKE-GA, I already tried that. All my HDD icons change, except C:
. Yes I know that XP has "problems". I'm working with it (and with
PCs) since their birth, and I'n not new to these things. If I ask for
help, it's really a tought problem.
Thanks for your try.

Hi ginosergio-ga-

Diagnosing this problem over the Internet without actually being able
to work with the machine is a bit challenging, so I'll go through a
checklist of various actions to do, of differing severity.

One : Drivers could be an issue. Affirm that WinXP recognizes the
drive. To do this, right-click one the drive's icon, hit Properties,
and click hardware. If the drive is unknown, you may have to reinstall
drivers for that particular drive.

Two : It could be a physical hardware problem. Affirm that the cable
is firmly in your drive.

Three : It could (less likely) be a malware problem. Run your cleaner of choice.

Four : If all else fails, you could reinstall WinXP, which would more
than likely solve the problem. I'd remind you to back-up all of your
sensitive files.

If you could give results of what happens for further troubleshooting,
that would be dandy.

-Redshypht

For redshypht-ga:

Thanks for your help. I think it was obvious that my C: drive is
connected and works without problem. Before and After "the problem".
For question 3, I have AVG, Spybot, Ad-aware, Ewido and Winpatrol.
Nothing found.
For question 4: reinstall XP ?????? For one icon ?  I can pay 2$ if
someone has a solution to this, but for an XP reinstall someone should
pay me 2000$, at least... You can't imagine how complex is my PC
(printer, scanner, USB digital camera, Firewire video, Ehternet LAN
(it's a gateway), DSL on gigabit LAN, WiFi LAN, 6+1 Dolby Digital,
Satellite TV receiver, TV out, and something else... oh, and also some
software installed, about 280 Gb).
Thanks anyway.

your PC doesn't sound that complex, a day reinstalling, I'd have it
back up and working in a couple of hours.

Still I can understand where you are coming from. Does the missing
icon affect the way your PC works?

here are a couple things to do. first check the root of the c drive
for a file with the name autorun.inf. if it exists delete or move it
somewhere else.  this file is used for the autorun feature on cds but
will in some cases get copied to the hard drive.  if that is not the
case download tweakui from microsoft's xp website at the following
location and install it.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

this should add a powertoys option to your start menu.  in that sub
menu launch tweakui.  the last option in the tree on the left is
repair.  click it and the click the rebuild icons button on the dialog
to the right.

Answer to  usrhlp-ga:

My friend, I can't reinstall my PC in one day. Maybe the basics (OS,
drivers, patches) but for the software, I should first take some hour
to list all that was installed before, and then reload after the
format.
Not a nightmare but it comes close.

Would you do that, for ONE single missing icon ? And... no, this thing
does not affect the way my PC works.

Thank you
Sergio

Answer to jaybf-ga
-------------------
Yessss, you got it. It was an autorun.inf. I don't know from where it
came, but it contains a reference to a setup.exe (that I obviously
don't have on my root) and it's icon. This explain the "missing icon"
icon.
I think you should post an answer, to get your 2$.
Thank you.

Sergio