When Icons Vanish In Windows If you have ever installed a new Windows application only to find that the next time you power up your system the new program icon is nowhere to be found, this article will help you fix the problem. Occasionally the problem arises where an application is installed, the new icon appears, and the application can be started by clicking on the new icon. However, the very next time the system is powered up, the icon for the application is missing. The software is still present, as verified by looking in File Manger, and the application can be started by double- clicking on the file that starts the application. But, when you try to re- create the icon for the software, the same thing happens the next time the system is turned on. The bottom line is that no matter what you do, you cannot seem to get the icon to stay put. In this case, the culprit is usually a damaged PROGMAN.EXE and/or PROGMAN.INI file. The best solution in this situation is to reinstall these two files from the backup copies included with your system. Depending on the particular model you have, the restoration procedure will vary. Note: When you perform this procedure you will lose the icons for any software that you have added to your system but they can be restored without re-installing the software associated with them. For PS/1 and Aptiva models WITHOUT CD ROM drives and with the Recovery directory intact (ZIP files can be found in the C:\RECOVERY directory): 1. Exit from Windows and go to the DOS prompt (not the DOS icon in Windows) 2. At the DOS prompt type: cd\recovery (press Enter) 3. At the Recovery prompt type: pkunzip^-o^-d^ps1*.zip^c:\^windows\progman.* (press Enter) The (^) symbol represents where you need to insert a space. For PS/1 and Aptiva models that came from IBM with a CD ROM drive installed: 1. Exit from Windows and go to the DOS prompt (not the DOS icon in Windows) 2. Insert the "PS/1 Multimedia CD" into the CD ROM drive 3. At the DOS prompt type: cd\recovery (press Enter) 4. At the Recovery prompt type: pkunzip^-o^-d^e:\recovery\us\ps1*.zip^c:\^windows\progman.* (press Enter) The (^) symbol represents where you need to insert a space. In both cases, the two PROGMAN files should be restored after about a minute. Once the restoration process is complete, restart your system, go into Windows, and use the utilities available for restoring missing icons. If you have any questions about this procedure, please post a note in the appropriate topic area in the appropriate topic or forum area. Be sure to include your DOS version and your model number (i.e., 2155-G82).