# Win 7 Desktop Icons slow to load



## alicez (Jul 12, 2008)

On the Win7 (64-Bit) I notice lately that the desktop icons are slow to display. They start with 'white boxes' and then slowly they fill-in with the correct icon.
I tried the following, and now the icons show right away, but then the screen blinks (for lack of a better word) and the icons show as 'white boxes' and then in a second or two they return to the regular (colored) icons. Anything else I can do to make the icons appear as fast as they did orginally and stay that way rather than turning "white" and then changing back to the regular colored icons?
Thank you.
====================
_1. Close all folder windows that are currently open.

2. Launch Task Manager using the CTRL+SHIFT+ESC key sequence, or by running taskmgr.exe.

3. In the Process tab, right-click on the Explorer.exe process and select End Process.

4. Click the End process button when asked for confirmation.

5. From the File menu of Task Manager, select New Task (Run…)

6. Type CMD.EXE, and click OK

7. In the Command Prompt window, type the commands one by one and press ENTER after each command:

CD /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local
DEL *IconCache.db* /a
EXIT
8. In Task Manager, click File, select New Task (Run…)

9. Type EXPLORER.EXE, and click OK.
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http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/90/startupg.jpg/
P.S.
Hope this "problem" wasn't caused by installing MSE? After the icons show the first time (when computer is turned on), I notice the MSE icnon in lower right has a red X on top of it and when the X goes away (in a sec or so) the icons turn white and then in a second go back to their ususal color. If I click on the MSE icon (with the red cross on it) the MSE will open and in RED it states "Real Time Protection is Not Turned On." And then in a second or two the Red Cross goes away and the the wording turns Green. I think there might be something wrong with the MSE or it does NOT work well with Win 7 64 Bit. Maybe I should do a System Restore, to remove MSE and get back AVG? 
Or, uninstall MSE and re-install (some posts have said that if you remove MSE, you might not be able to re-install.) I just don't know what is going on!

Any suggestions? I am at a loss. Checked Google and all sorts of answers and remedies which I really do not want to fool around with. Some say MS rushed the MSE for Win 7 and there are still problems.

Gateway ZX4800-02, 4GB Ram, 750GB HD, Win 7 Home Premium (64-Bit) Processor Intel Premium Process T4300 (2.1 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 80MHz FSB Dual Core


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## pip22 (Nov 21, 2004)

1) Run the Error Checker on your system drive by right-clicking it's icon, choose _Properties_, click_ "Tools"_, click _"Check Now"_, tick both options, click _"Start"_, Restart Windows.

2) Defragment the system drive: _Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter_


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## alicez (Jul 12, 2008)

Nothing found!


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## shadow6224 (Feb 12, 2011)

Hello!
Please download the TSG system information tool and post the results here.
Thanks!
LINK: http://static.techguy.org/download/SysInfo.exe


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## Phantom010 (Mar 9, 2009)

*Increase the Icon Cache*


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Try the icon cache fix. If you have defragged recently, that can slow down how fast the desktop loads for a while, but it should get better with use.

Try to limit the number of startup programs you have, too. If there is a lot else loading, then the desktop icons will take longer, too. I use Startup Delayer to spread my startup items out over a 2-minute interval so that each item gets a chance to start fully before another is loaded. That may be extreme, but it works well, especially if you have a startup item that sometimes fails to load or loads incorrectly at times.

If your AV does a logon scan, that can slow the load, but it is worth the inconvenience to be safe.

Generally speaking, that is just how startup goes on some machines. You just need to wait for it to finish.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

Another thing that may be worth trying is to use the AVG uninstall tool. When an Anti Virus program in uninstalled through Programs and Features it usually leaves remnants behind which can cause some problems. Use this tool and it will clean out any leftovers.

AVG Removal tool


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