Tips and tricks with IconPackager
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Executive Summary
IconPackager is a program that allows users to change nearly all of their Windows icons at once by applying "packages" of icons. A package of icons contains icons to replace most of the common icons on your Windows PC.
What makes IconPackager special is that unlike Microsoft's themes which only change a few icons, IconPackager changes hundreds of icons. Everything from "My Computer", "Recycle Bin", Folders, all the way to specific file format icons such as .doc and .xls files and any other file type a user wishes to use.
IconPackager in action...
You look at icons all day. The same old icons. With everything else in our lives, people expect to be able to customize the aesthetics of what they use. Cell phones, televisions, refrigerators, cars, etc. And yet, by default, Windows will not allow you to change most of your Windows icons. Windows supports "themes" that can change a few of the Windows icons but most remain the same.
Enter IconPackager.
IconPackager can change nearly every icon in Windows. It can even change icons that most people would think are impossible to change.
Users visit websites such as WinCustomize.com and can download entire packages of icons created by either Stardock or IconPackager theme authors. These packages contain replacements to pretty much every icon you see in Windows. Once loaded, the user can than apply these icons to their system to customize the look of Windows to their tastes.
There are hundreds of icon packages available on the Internet with more being made all the time. Want to have a holiday looking desktop with all your icons changed? Download one of the many holiday oriented icon sets. Want your icons to look similar to icons on another operating system? No problem they're out there.
You don't have to rely on icon packages made by others either, creating your own icon packages is very easy.
Just go through the icons you want to change and then replace them one by one with icons you have found on the net or created with an icon editing program such as Stardock IconDeveloper. Once you are finished, you can save your changed icons as IconPackager theme to apply right away or save for later. Or you can package them up for distribution to your friends and coworkers.
IconPackager also includes Icon Explorer. It is designed to make it easy to navigate through libraries of icons and view them easily in different sizes and formats so that you can get an idea of how an icon looks and decide if it's one you would want to use.
The shareware version of IconPackager can do all this and more. The enhanced registered version is only $14.95 (or can be purchased as part of Object Desktop, a suite of Stardock's desktop enhancements.
The Enhanced Registered Version
The enhanced registered version has even more features. For example, shell integration is added with the enhanced version. This allows users browsing through their system to right click on any file and go to the added "Icon" tab and change the icon. This even works on executables (there are other programs that can change some icons but few if any other programs that allow users to change the icons of actual individual programs right from Explorer).
Changing icons from the Windows shell with the enhanced version.
Another nice feature: Being able to replace those ugly file type icons.
Ack. You open up a folder only to be reminded of how ugly your icons are. And people wonder why some people love Macs...
With IconPackager, you can right-click on those files and choose a new icon for those associations very quickly.
Much better.
Conclusion
IconPackager is made so that people who use a Windows PC can decide how they want their icons to look. IconPackager is the world's most popular program (by far) for doing this. It is also the most complete and most supported program for doing so. If you want to change your Windows icons, this is the way to do it.
It runs on Windows 98, ME, 2000 and Windows XP. $14.95 to register the stand alone version or can be purchased as part of Object Desktop which is $49.95. Its home page is https://www.stardock.com/products/iconpackager.
IconPackager is a program that allows users to change nearly all of their Windows icons at once by applying "packages" of icons. A package of icons contains icons to replace most of the common icons on your Windows PC.
What makes IconPackager special is that unlike Microsoft's themes which only change a few icons, IconPackager changes hundreds of icons. Everything from "My Computer", "Recycle Bin", Folders, all the way to specific file format icons such as .doc and .xls files and any other file type a user wishes to use.
IconPackager in action...
You look at icons all day. The same old icons. With everything else in our lives, people expect to be able to customize the aesthetics of what they use. Cell phones, televisions, refrigerators, cars, etc. And yet, by default, Windows will not allow you to change most of your Windows icons. Windows supports "themes" that can change a few of the Windows icons but most remain the same.
Enter IconPackager.
IconPackager can change nearly every icon in Windows. It can even change icons that most people would think are impossible to change.
Users visit websites such as WinCustomize.com and can download entire packages of icons created by either Stardock or IconPackager theme authors. These packages contain replacements to pretty much every icon you see in Windows. Once loaded, the user can than apply these icons to their system to customize the look of Windows to their tastes.
There are hundreds of icon packages available on the Internet with more being made all the time. Want to have a holiday looking desktop with all your icons changed? Download one of the many holiday oriented icon sets. Want your icons to look similar to icons on another operating system? No problem they're out there.
You don't have to rely on icon packages made by others either, creating your own icon packages is very easy.
Just go through the icons you want to change and then replace them one by one with icons you have found on the net or created with an icon editing program such as Stardock IconDeveloper. Once you are finished, you can save your changed icons as IconPackager theme to apply right away or save for later. Or you can package them up for distribution to your friends and coworkers.
IconPackager also includes Icon Explorer. It is designed to make it easy to navigate through libraries of icons and view them easily in different sizes and formats so that you can get an idea of how an icon looks and decide if it's one you would want to use.
The shareware version of IconPackager can do all this and more. The enhanced registered version is only $14.95 (or can be purchased as part of Object Desktop, a suite of Stardock's desktop enhancements.
The Enhanced Registered Version
The enhanced registered version has even more features. For example, shell integration is added with the enhanced version. This allows users browsing through their system to right click on any file and go to the added "Icon" tab and change the icon. This even works on executables (there are other programs that can change some icons but few if any other programs that allow users to change the icons of actual individual programs right from Explorer).
Changing icons from the Windows shell with the enhanced version.
Another nice feature: Being able to replace those ugly file type icons.
Ack. You open up a folder only to be reminded of how ugly your icons are. And people wonder why some people love Macs...
With IconPackager, you can right-click on those files and choose a new icon for those associations very quickly.
Much better.
Conclusion
IconPackager is made so that people who use a Windows PC can decide how they want their icons to look. IconPackager is the world's most popular program (by far) for doing this. It is also the most complete and most supported program for doing so. If you want to change your Windows icons, this is the way to do it.
It runs on Windows 98, ME, 2000 and Windows XP. $14.95 to register the stand alone version or can be purchased as part of Object Desktop which is $49.95. Its home page is https://www.stardock.com/products/iconpackager.
