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Windows 98 - Increase the icon cache and reduce errors

November 25, 2013
Updated: December 6, 2021
Quick overview:

The icons on the desktop, in Explorer or in the Start menu are all stored in a specific part of the working memory. This part is called the icon cache and can also get mixed up due to its limited size (it holds a total of 500 icons) - icons are then overwritten and moved. For example, if Windows wants to display the icon from My Computer, it is no longer in the same place: a completely different icon is then displayed.

It is therefore advisable to increase the so-called icon cache to prevent such errors from occurring in the first place.

Conveniently set the size of the icon cache

1. Click on Start/Run and enter the command regedit next to Open.

2. Now navigate through the keys HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer and right-click in the right pane.

3. Now select New/String from the context menu that appears and name this newly created value Max Cached Icons (please note spaces).

4. Now double-click on it and enter the number 2000.

A restart should be enough for your symbols to be displayed correctly again. A whopping 2000 symbols are now loaded into the working memory!

NOTE FOR NEW PUBLICATION: This article was produced by Sandro Villinger and comes from the Windows Tweaks archive, which has been built up since the late 1990s.

Founded Windows Tweaks as a teenager in 2001, his helpful PC tricks made it Germany's most visited Windows site (at the time Sandro looked like this). He then went on to write for international publications such as PC-Praxis, Computerbild, PCWorld in the USA, IMTEST.de and Hifi.de. Sandro's main job is as Global Product Marketing Lead and Consultant for various global tech companies, including Microsoft, AVG, Avast, Nero, TeamViewer, Swiss IT Security Group and now currently in the fintech sector for Gendigital. But he can't get rid of his passion and shares his tweaks here again. Privately, he enjoys traveling the world and loves Asia, especially Japan, Singapore and Korea, but also natural places like Iceland and the Nordics. You can reach Sandro via e-mail.

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