Customize your folder icons
Vista has improved the appearance of the folder icon over older versions of Windows. 
In Vista, the folder icon is now ‘open’, and you can see thumbnail representations of the folder’s contents– which makes finding things inside much easier to accomplish.
But, they’re still the plain-old Manila folder; and if you create a lot of them, it can get difficult differentiating them, and finding which one contains the document you’re seeking.
Tip of the day: Change the icon for your folders and make them more “you”.
Icons are really just little pictures that someone has created. Typically, they are 16 x 16 (or 32 x 32) pixel bitmaps. Those of you with an artistic flair (or have Photoshop skills) can use a graphics program, like MS Paint, to create your own icons. You can download icons from the Internet. Or, you can use the built-in Change Icon tool.
To change a folder’s icon, right-click on it and select “Properties”. Then click on the “Customize” tab. The screenshot is from an XP machine.
Now click on the “Change Icon” button.
The window that opens contains the existing collection of folder icons that comes with your version of Windows. Use the scroll bar to search through this collection until you find one that you like.. and that will help remind you of the folder’s contents.
When you do find one that suits, click on it (“select” it) and then click on the “OK” button. The “choose” window will go away: now click on the “Apply” button in the “Properties” window.
For illustration purposes, I have selected the camera icon (lower-left corner), and now my folder looks like this.. 
which, combined with the folder’s name (in this instance, I will rename it to “screenshots”), will help me remember its contents and make navigating to my Saved work easier.
And besides, I think it just looks better than that plain manila folder.
Today’s free link: I mentioned that you can download more icons from the Internet, and a search will reveal many sources for free, pre-made icons. One such place is Icon Archive, which claims to have over 16,000 icons to choose from.
Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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