Thanks a lot for your help Margo - just after my last post and another look at the site you suggested I found what turned out to be the right request to Google "vista icon cache" where I went to "http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/117229-icon-cache-rebuild.html" and did as suggested [see below] and presto - ALL back to normal. Thank you so much - Best wishes, Errol.
" Rebuild the Icon Cache NOTE This will delete the icon cache so Vista will wipe out all icons in the cache and reload the icons into the cache for the files as you run across them again.
1. Open Folder Options to select Show hidden files and folders.
2. Open a Windows Explorer window.
3. Go to C:\Users\(User Name)\AppData\Local
4. Right click on IconCache.db and click on Delete.
5. Click on Yes to confirm the deletion. NOTE: This deletes the file to the Recycle Bin. It is safe to empty the Recycle Bin when finished.
6. Close the window.
7. Empty the Recycle Bin.
8. Restart the computer.
9. When you go back, you will notice the Size of the IconCache.db file is smaller, and the Date Modified is now the current date. NOTE: If for some reason IconCache.db is not there or the size has not changed much, then just restart the computer again. You may need to restart a couple of times in some cases. [2 Reboots in my case]
