Binaryworld - Changing the icon of a drive ... [ VB -> Windows ]

By editing the Registry it is possible to change the icon that Windows Explorer uses for a drive. For example, if you want to change Drive E's icon, create the following registry key:

HEKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\DriveIcons\E\DefaultIcon\

When you create the above key, a string value named "Default" with value not set is automatically created. What you have to do is setting this value with the path of the icon, and this changes the drive icon of Drive E.

If you want revert back the default Icon, just delete the value of the "Default" string value, or just delete the above registry key. Here are two reusable routines to set or reset the icon for a specified drive:

Click here to copy the following block

Sub ChangeDriveIcon(ByVal driveLetter As String, ByVal icoPath As String)
  Dim regKey As String
  regKey = "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons\" & _
    driveLetter & "\DefaultIcon"

  ' create the parent key
  CreateRegistryKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, regKey
  ' set the (Default) value with the icon's path
  SetRegistryValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, regKey, "", icoPath
End Sub

Sub ResetDriveIcon(ByVal driveLetter As String)
  Dim regKey As String
  regKey = "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons\" & _
    driveLetter & "\DefaultIcon"

  ' delete the key
  DeleteRegistryKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, regKey
End Sub