2BrightSparks Help and Support

SyncBackSE/Pro icons appear as generic Windows icons

It has been reported by a few users that a syndrome can occur in Windows 7 whereby the OS will try to unilaterally apply a 'shield' overlay to various SE/Pro icons (locations vary). This is an attempt (apparently) by Windows to indicate that double-clicking (etcetera) such an icon will trigger a UAC (User Access Control) prompt. It seems that occasionally Windows snarls up this process (presumably resulting in a corrupt 'combination' icon being cached), and this corruption is detected when Windows tries to load that cached icon as a replacement for the standard icon contained in the SE/Pro EXE. As a result a 'lowest-common-denominator' generic Windows icon is displayed instead. This behavior is reportedly not limited to our software, but is (apparently) limited to software which asks for 'elevated privileges' by default (which SE/Pro do in order to perform their advertised functions, e.g, copy open/locked files).  It may therefore happen that SE/Pro are the only such software on users' PCs, and may thus give the misleading impression this is limited to our software alone, which it seems is not the case.

Here are some cures or workarounds suggested by SyncBackSE/Pro users in our forum:

1. You can choose the correct icon to use by right clicking on the icon > Properties > Change Icon and Browse to the file "C:\Program Files (x86)\2BrightSparks\SyncBackSE\SyncBackSE.exe"  (Note - change path accordingly based on which SyncBack program you have)

2. Right click the icon > properties > Compatibility tab > tick 'Run this program as an administrator' check box

3. Right click the icon > properties > Compatibility tab > click on 'Change settings for all users' > tick 'Run this program as an administrator' check box

4. Delete IconCache.db file.

- Stop explorer.exe process (open command prompt > enter taskkill /f /im explorer.exe)
- Open File Explorer > Folder Options > Views > tick hidden items

- Go to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local folder and delete the hidden IconCache.db file

- Reboot. This action would purge and rebuild the icon cache.

Note that we have not been able to replicate this syndrome here at 2BrightSparks, so cannot vouch for the efficacy of any cures/workarounds. This information is provided 'as is', without prejudice. You try these suggestions at your own risk.

SyncBackFree is generally not affected, as it does not by default ask for elevated privileges (as it contains no functionality that needs them). It may occur if the freeware version's main EXE file or a shortcut to it is set to 'Run as administrator'.