Customize Active open Folder icon in windows vista.

Posted on July 28, 2008

If you are using Windows Vista(any version), you can change the current active open folder icon viewing in a Folder Tree by applying a simple registry tweak which i'm going to tell you. The benefit of this tweak is that you can easily identify the active open folder among the others.

Here’s how you can do this>>>>>

1. Click on the Start button.

2. Click on Run and type regedit and click on OK.

3. If Windows ask you to continue or not, click on Continue. This

will allow you to open regedit.

4. In the left panel click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer

5. Right-Click on explorer and create a new Key and name it to Shell Icons.

6. Now right-click on Shell Icons and in the new menu click on string value. This will create a new string in the right pane.

7. Double-click on new String, type “4” and hit Enter.

8. Now right-click on it and click on Modify. An “Edit String” dialogue box will appear.

9. In the Value Data field, give the location for your new icon for ex. C:\folder.ico ( where folder.ico will be Icon of your choice) and press OK.

10. As soon as you press OK, you’ll notice in the Left Pane the icon of Shell Icons key has changed to the one you specified.

11. Close Regedit. Now Log Off and Log On to see the changes.

12. You can see the changes in Star Menu>All Programs by clicking on a folder and also in Windows Explorer (in navigation pane). Done