Change icons displayed in Devices and Printers folder

[Kunal_R.One]

We have seen that in Windows operating system every hardware and device that we connect to the PC has different icon or icon. But these icons are fixes and cannot be changed. For example, icons for external hard drive, printer, headphones and so on. Many people want to change these icons to icons of their choice. But since they are operating system based, they cannot be changed directly. Here is the guide to change the icons of the pre-defined objects in Windows 7.

But before we proceed to the main guide, I would like to tell you the various types of image resolutions that we will be using. A single image must be of various sizes to make it fit in various pop-ups and windows of Windows 7.

Here is the list of sizes for a single icon,
256x256 32bit + Alpha

48x48: 32bit + Alpha
48x48: 8bit 256
48x48: 4bit 16

32x32: 32bit + Alpha
32x32: 8bit 256
32x32: 4bit 16

24x24: 32bit + Alpha
24x24: 8bit 256
24x24: 4bit 16

16x16: 32bit + Alpha
16x16: 8bit 256
16x16: 4bit 16

• Now that assuming you have created icons of the mentioned sizes on your local drive and they are ready to use. Now download the Devices_printer.rar file that I have attached along with this post. It consists of Devices and Printers Metadata Authoring Wizard in it which you will need to use.
• Once you have installed Devices and Printers Metadata Authoring Wizard in your computer, the context menu that appears when you right click will get a new icon option in it. The new option will be ‘create metadata package’ which you will need to click. You have to do this on the device icon that you need to change.
• Now a window with a black square patch in it will appear. You will have to drag the newly created icon in this black patch t use it as the logo. If the icon image that you have selected doesn’t match the requirement of the software, then it will reject it with an error message.
• Now another Window will open which will have some details regarding the icon needs to be filled. You will have to fill it accordingly. Then Click on Next.
• Now it will give you categories to which you want it to assign. Choose the category which you want to place it in and then click on Next.
• Now go in the Association tab and choose the proper association for the icon. Click Next button when done. Here in association formations, you can create new hardware IDs for different logos.
• You can now go on assigning various hardware IDs to various other icons. You have to right click on icon and go into its properties. Under the details tab, in Device description, choose hardware IDs.
• Now under the option tab of Devices and Printers Metadata Authoring Wizard, you can even set the icon if the device is disconnected. If not needed, then you can enable the ‘Show device in disconnected state’ option.
• Now you will need to go in the finish tab in Devices and Printers Metadata Authoring Wizard and click on Finish. If you want the icons to be changed immediately on single refresh, enable the ‘Copy package to your system's local metadata store’ option.
• Refresh the window of devices in control panel and all icons you changed will appear. The ‘Copy package to your system's local metadata store’ option will store the icons in a folder in your computer which will help to restore the icons after refreshing the operating system. It is like it will install the icons in your computer.

[Tech^Geek]

Thanks for your help with the icons. It will not only help me to change the icons of certain objects to match the theme but will also make it look more beautiful. I will try it as soon as possible. Also it will help to modify certain icons that will help me to notice certain icon immediately on my computer.