Desktop went a bit strange

[Negatratoron]

This started immediately after I turned off Descent 3:

All of the shortcuts on the desktop never turn into the regular, graphical versions; they just remain the default icon (with the top right corner folded and the application window image in the middle). This does not happen to the three regular files that I happen to have on the desktop.

After right clicking on the icon and going to properties, the window appears, and in the top left is the regular icon that the shortcut should be using. If I push Change Icon, select the icon, and push OK, the desktop icon changes back to what it should be. So, how might this have happened and how might I get the My Documents, Recycle Bin, and so on icons back?

I tried solving the problem with System Restore. The computer turned off, as usual. I logged in. The background image and the cursor were both on the screen, but the start menu and shortcuts/files were gone. I logged out, logged back in, and the same exact thing happened. I restarted the computer, went to bed, logged in this morning, and now (Thank goodness!) the icons are back (but not graphical).

Thank you.

[Negatratoron]

I just played Descent 3. I turned off Descent 3. The desktop came back, but I still have no idea what ever could have happened.

[Negatratoron]

All of the icons reverted to default after Descent 3 crashed again. The entire computer just keeps crashing. The stability is going out the window. I'm now running virus scans...

[Krom]

System specs? Windows version/driver versions. From the sounds of it, there could be something wrong with your video drivers, what kind of video card do you have? (/me hopes it is not a Intel onboard video adapter...)

[Floyd]

the program icons turn into the default ones if your computer has not enough memory. it all should come back after a while if you leave it alone.

[Negatratoron]

Windows version is 2002 or 5.3, from two different sources
Video card is GeForce 7600 GT
I just updated the drivers. New driver version is 9.1.3.1

What would video drivers have to do with it?

I finished the virus scans (which identified and deleted a foreign registry key) and now the computer seems just as stable as it was a few days ago, but the icons on the desktop still don't show up properly.

Here's an image: http:\\\\home.comcast.net\\~terakai\\Desktop.JPG

All of the shortcuts that show up properly were the ones for which I manually put the image back. I could do that for all of the icons (except My Network Places, Recycle Bin, and so on), but I would like to undo whatever caused the images to disappear in the first place.

EDIT: In response to what Floyd said, I have 1GB of RAM, and even immediately after logging in, the icons don't appear properly. It seems unlikely that after a few months of using this computer, the computer would suddenly not have enough memory. I turned off a few memory-hungry processes and the icons still don't appear.

[fliptw]

Explorer has a limited amount of room for icons and their positons on the desktop and icons in the start menu, just adding one icon past that limit will do this. its a hard number, and there is a registry key that you can use to increase that number

What you might want to try, is just auto-arranging the icons, and then log off and log back on, or install the TweakUI app, have it rebuild the icon cache(select Repair, it'll be the first option).

[Negatratoron]

Thank you, it worked. Which registry key is it, might I ask?

[fliptw]

bewm

but thats for the cache in ram. the tweak ui fix fixes the cache on disk.

[Duper]

D3 uses a huge disk cache. If you notice, you'll \"lose\" 50 Mb off your hard drive after playing D3. It doesn't release it.

[Mobius]

Yep - TweakUI is a very very good app.

I also use it to change the BIG UGLY SHORTCUT ARROW to a finer, more subtle arrow.

Be VERY careful with TWEAKUI (and other progs like X-Setup) because you can Bork your PC bad with it if you don't know what you're doing.