Yet another IE annoyance...

Icons disappear with the cache

[balinor]

Ok, this problem is not the end of a world, simply an annoyance I wish to fix. Some of my clients just LOVE the little favicon that shows up next to a favorite in IE. The problem is, these tend to disappear whenever the browser dumps the cache, as that is where it resides. My question is, is there a way to control where IE places these files so they can be 'permanent'? And while I'm no the topic, any way to control IE places certain cookies? Some I wish to keep permanently (at least until they are set to expire), some I wish to dump with the cache. Any suggestions (other than to switch browsers) would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Krapulator]

No I don't think so....IE's support of this is very weird and unreliable.

[tedster]

Not as far as I know -- it's just one of those little annoyances, and a strange one on top of it all, since IE was one of the first to implement the favicon.

[DrDoc]

My question is, is there a way to control where IE places these files so they can be 'permanent'?

If you save the favicon for each page in your favorites, and then change the properties the way you would for any shortcut -- then they will be permanent

[MrMcTerse]

The IE cache can be retreived from, just be very careful not to click on anything in there or you could be in for a disaster.

Win98/ME Users:
C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content IE5\...

XP Users:
C:\Documents and Settings\%User Account%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

What I do when I spot a favicon on my desktop (which is where I initially drag all my internet shorcuts; I do not use Favorites at all) is pop open my temporary internet files folder, and right-click-drag the favicon to the desktop and select Copy here (one at a time) and quickly rename the icon to match the site name; ie. webmast.ico.

Then I move the favicon to a special folder (Favicons) which I keep in the Shared Pictures folder on my XP. Next, I right-click the shortcut on my desktop and select Properties>>Change Icon.

Navigating to my Shared Pictures\Favicons folder, I locate the icon, open it, then apply it. Finally I drag the shortcut to my Shared Documents\Shortcuts folder and place it in one of the many folders in there, as appropriate. Now I have permanent icons on a great many of my 'favorite' shortcuts and I can find them on the fly when I'm looking for them.

Note: It makes good sense to store all sharable content in the Shared Documents folder. That way, other users have access to the content, as well as the shortcuts.

I've set up several machines for 'newbie' users to default to the Shared Documents with all their apps, and place specially created desktop shortcuts to these folders in every user account. It means quite a lot of work in the Registry, but for them, it's worth it.

[grahamstewart]

A while ago I was actually thinking about writing a little app to go through my Favourites and retrieve the FavIcons for each one, copy it somewhere safe and then change the icon (Favourites are actually just text files so it wouldn't be too hard).

But I've stopped using IE so I don't have the need anymore. Might be worth searching to see if you can find something to do this tho.

[balinor]

Thanks for the replies guys, that is what I figured I had to do, I was just hoping for something less time consuming. But if the favicons are important, I guess that is the only way. You'd think the folks at MS would have figured this one out on their own, but I supposed that is asking too much for a 'free' piece of software.

[bruhaha]

There is a free utility you can download from pcmag.com, called "FavOrg". They describe as follows:

"FavOrg, scans the Web sites in your Favorites list for favicons and makes your favicons persistent. It also lets you associate any icon you choose with a given shortcut, even if no favicon is provided"

(Actually, to get it free you'll probably have to download it from a different site. But you should be able to find plenty of those with a simple web search for "FavOrg".)