Custom iPod Icon in Windows XP

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Ah, the things we do to waste time. My task today, have a proper icon for my iPod display in Explorer and My Computer views in Windows XP.

WinXP iPod icon
Custom WinXP iPod Icon

To start, a disclaimer. This modification entails changing some settings in the Windows Regsitry. If done incorrectly, Registry changes can corrupt your entire Windows installation. If you are not comfortable making Registry changes then this modification is not for you. Also, this may work on Windows 2000, but you will need to find different icons as Win2K does not support XP high-res icons. Finally, you need to have Administrative access to your WinXP computer.

That said, visit this page at the Xicons site and download the icon zipped file. Next unzip the icons and save them somewhere that makes sense to you. Personally, I have an ‘icons’ directory in the ‘My Documents’ directory. You can also save the icon files to your winnt/system32 or windows/system32 directory if you wish. Now choose which of the icons you wish to use. I have only found XP icons for the original iPod, which is the model I have. If you find XP icons for the new iPod design, please make a comment below.

Next we need to make sure that the iPod gets the same drive letter each time it is connected. Personally, I like the letter ‘I’ (for iPod). It is far enough away to allow my other removable devices to not infringe. Typically, you can choose any drive letter after ‘D’ . To change the drive letter go to the Control Panel and then open the ‘Administrative Tools’ folder. Then double-click ‘Computer Management.’ In the left tab of Computer Management click on ‘Disk Management’ — your various hard drives will show up on the right. In the top right pane, right click on your iPod’s drive letter and choose ‘Change Drive Letter and Paths…’ and then click ‘Change’ and then change your drive letter. Click ‘OK’ twice and then close ‘Computer Management.”

Open the Registry Editor by going to Start->Run and typing ‘regedit’ and click OK. Goto [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer]. Look for ‘DriveIcons.’ If it doesn’t exist, create it by right-clicking on ‘Explorer’ and click ‘New->Key’ and entering ‘DriveIcons’. Then right click on ‘DriveIcons’ and choose ‘New->Key’ and enter the drive letter you chose above. Again, right click on the drive letter and click ‘New->Key’ and enter ‘DefaultIcon’. Now click on ‘DefaultIcon’ and the right side should show (Default) – REG_SZ and (value not set). Double-click (Default) and in the ‘Value data’ enter the full path to your icon file. If you used a folder in ‘My Documents’ or if the path to your icon file contains directory names with spaces then you should enclose the entire path in double quotes, i.e. “c:\documents and settings\username\my documents\icons\ipodAngled.ico”.

Close the Registry Editor and disconnect your iPod. When you reconnect your iPod your new icon should show up in the various explorer views. Credit for the Registry hack goes to David Candy and a post I found in Google Groups.

14 thoughts on “Custom iPod Icon in Windows XP”

  4. has anyone else experienced that the icon will not change if you change the “autorun.ico” file associated with the inf file? I actually deleted the previous ico file and the computer is still using the old ico. any ideas?

  6. Thanks! I used Patrick’s option and it worked. It is a good option for folks who use their ipod on two computers.

  7. i just saw this when i saw that same thing as patrick says about the autorun, only thing is that it doesnt always work, the regedit trick always works.

    you can also do this with your PSP too 🙂

  8. here’s the easiest way to make your iPod or any type of removable storage have a custom icon:

    1) plug in your ipod or removable media
    2) find the icon that you’d like to use to represent your ipod, etc and put that file in the root of the drive
    3) click start > run > notepad
    4) type the following in notepad:

    [autorun]
    icon=ipod.ico

    (where ipod.ico is, type the actual filename of the icon, complete with the .ico)

    5) click file > save as, then save the file as “autorun.inf” on the root of the ipod/device
    6) unplug the ipod/device, then replug…

    and presto, you should see your ipod or flash drive represented with your own icon

  9. you can also do this with an autorun.inf. that way your icon is displayed on ANY windows machine, and can also be used to display a message when plugged into the pc, eg “Give me back my ipod” or loads winamp etc…

    V

  10. i wonder why MS chooes ti disable autorun icon feature on hdd and removalbe drives.

    it was usupported under win95 and 98.
    by using a autorun.inf you owoudl be shure the drive hade the same icon on differen machines/drive letters

  11. I’ve reciently been playing with icons and found a program Mikeroangelo (search on google) makes it easy to change system Icons

  12. aah! It won´t work @ my computer!…Can somebody help me? I think I´ve done everything right…”DriveIcons”–>(how do you have to write the letter of the iPod? I´ve tested it with G and G: )DefaultIcon–>dirctory….please sb. help me!

  14. …This is great, I’ve been looking for something like this. I would have assumed that apple would make a nice little icon pack for windows/macs… But thanks, this is great.

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