A The folder icons featured in the May issue are intended for dressing up your folders. However, Windows doesn't let you assign a different icon for each folder. Even changing the icon for all folders is no small task. To give a distinctive look to a folder, you must make a shortcut to it. For example, use the right-mouse button to drag a folder to the desktop (or elsewhere) and, when the pop-up menu appears, select Create Shortcut(s) Here. Right-click the new shortcut and choose Properties. Click the Shortcut tab and then Change Icon. Next, type the path to the .ico file (or another file that contains icons, such as a .exe or .dll file); or click Browse, navigate to and select the file you want, and click Open. Make sure the icon you want is selected in the Change Icon dialogue box, and click OK. Click OK again to close the Properties sheet.

Caption: For icons galore, click Change Icon a shortcut's Properties dialogue box

If you want to change the icon for an entire file type (for example, all files with a .txt extension), start Explorer and choose View-Options or View-Folder Options (depending on your version of Windows). Click the File Types tab, select a file type, click Edit, and then click Change Icon. Select an icon just as before, and then close all dialogue boxes.