Q: After last updating Windows 98, my shortcut arrow icons have re-appeared. How can I get rid of these again?

• If you cannot wait for MS to fix the problem (and they may choose not to address this), you should be able to remove the shortcut icon overlay using our IconForge product. Here are the instructions for manually removing this icon in Win98 using IconForge:
1. Make a copy of the C:\Windows\System\Shell32.dll file on a diskette for backup;
2. Make a second copy of the C:\Windows\System\Shell32.dll file. Copy the file to C:\Shell32x.dll. You will be editing this second copy in IconForge;
3. Go to the File menu, choose Open;
4. At the bottom of the dialog, be certain that the Show Preview option is marked;
5. In the file list panel, go to the C:\ root folder, then select the Shell32x.dll file which you copied (do not select the original C:\Windows\System\Shell32.dll, since this file is in user by Windows);
6. In preview panel on the right side, scroll down until you find the shortcut arrow overlay icon;
7. Click the OK button to load the icon;
8. Make the changes to the icon. Use the Transparent color palette button to blank out the entire icon (or you can substitute a different overlay graphic);
9. Do not change the icon size or color depth;
10. When you are finished making changes, go to the File menu and click Save (do NOT use Save As);
11. Depending on your build of Windows, there may be a second overlay icons which you may wish to change also, by repeating this process;
12. Because Shell32.dll is a system file, you need to reboot into MSDOS (reboot and hold down the Ctrl key to get to the menu to allow you to go right into DOS);
13. Once in DOS, copy your edited Shell32x.dll file to overwrite your existing Shell32.dll. e.g.,
         copy c:\shell32x.dll c:\windows\system\shell32.dll
    If the file is set to read only, you may need to re-set the properties on the file so that you can overwrite the old file;
14. Once the file has been copied, press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys simultaneously to reboot your system.
    If your changed icon does not immediately appear in Windows, go to IconForge's Edit menu and click the Rebuild Windows Icon Cache function.
If the edited file causes problems, you can boot to DOS and copy your backup Shell32.dll file back into the C:\Windows\System folder. Note that this technique is only recommended for Windows 95 and 98. Other Windows versions can experience problems if the Shell32.dll system file is tampered with.