I installed this program and it worked perfectly the first day. Now I want to add a sub-folder and change it to the same colour as the rest of the directory; however, the "Change Icon" command has disappeared from the context menu. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Simple, easy to use and effective. Doesn't appear to have any slowdown issues on my xp or windows 7 computer and installed very fast. Can't complain about its quality but ultimately its not essential in terms of being a product that people would rush out to buy as most people are possibly happy with the basic windows folder colors etc. Its a shame, but perhaps the price would need to be lower to grab those people. The Pricing seems to be the only issue here.

#32 Julia, I liked your review, also. In fact, I liked it better than someone else's who always gave a little bit, here, then directed you to his own web site for the rest. Yours is all right here on the same page, and with no personal agenda going on.


Thanks to #57 Cheers helpful comment to Karen, I got it figured out. I tried the program out on a few of my desktop folders - folders of Internet stuff, games, music, etc. Plainly speaking, I would not pay $19.95 for this software, but more like maybe $5.00. It's just not all that and then some. I may check out some of the other suggested software programs to see if I like them better, or just do as I've always done, and simply label the manila folders with what's in them. I will add this for the developer/vendor, though, that it is nice of them to give us this software program for free. :)

I thought this as frivolous software and didn't install it until 40 min were remaining. But this funny and interesting. You can organize in a better way and improve the look of folders. Nice change if you get bored looking at those default yellow folders.

Hi again, Thanks to #28, #33 & #1 for helpin me out with my Q. In turn, paying their act of kindness forward to...

#46 Hi Karen :) .. i had the same prob. You won't find the program in the 'all programs' list. To use it, simply right-click on any folder you want to change, you'll find in the drop-down list "change icon", that's the program there.. changing icons is pretty easy/self explanatory from there. (Not sure what some of the other icons are about... when i have time i'll find out maybe. Hope that helps. Have a good'n' :)

A bit buggy.This software does not make any sense as there are not many options of customising those folders. Also on few occasions it really didn't change anything. It remained virtually the same so I think they need to fix those bugs and add some variations to the software before they could compete with any other good available program.

To # 26, 45 and 46: This program generates no entry in the start menu of Windows and no Icon on the desktop, but the new entry "Change Icon" in the pop-up menu of the Explorer.

To # 41: You can easily return to the original appearance of the folder with "Restore Default" from the next pop-up menu.

Nice review Julia. Very helpful to read.

What's happened to Asharif? His reviews were helpful and articulate. Has he been scared off. Is julia taking his place?

How do you install themes? there is no execution file in the program folder, and the instruction on their website is just wrong.

My Idea won't show up in Idea Informer, so I'll post it here. I love the program, its great, but it would be nice if it would work on shortcut folder Icons also, and the ability to select and change multiple folders at the same time would be a huge plus too. Thanks GAOTD!

OH wow this is a Fantastic program.... This is already a huge time saver for me.

Thank you.

I'm having the same problems as #26, but on XP SP3. I've tried the same procedure several times, making sure to do it in the order given in the Read Me file, and still get the same two options; go to web site, or uninstall the program.

I always though those words next to and/or under the folders were pretty sufficient, myself. LOL There are also those pictures and icons you can customize, but I never felt the need, since I can read.

Very nice little program. It was easy to install and is very user friendly. Installed on OS Windows 7 Ultimate. I know I could have gone into Properties, then Customize, and then “Change Icon”, but this little program takes those steps away. Anything to curve some clicks is ideal for me. Thanks GOTD. When in Windows Explorer, just hi-lite the folder, right click, change icon and choose the color. So easy to use.

I knew I had seen ("the real"?) FolderIco long before and for free : a quick google search and voilà :
http://eng.softq.org/folderico/
First released in 2006 ; other very interesting utilities like FileType Verificator (FTV), sShutDown, Badges, Folder2MyPC, FolderJpg2Ico and ICL Builder Beta (unfortunetaly, icl librairies output by this one are usable only on Windows Xp and below).
Most of those programs were featured on the customization site http://www.crystalxp.net/
and they're translated into at least 5 languages.
From what I gather, this FolderIco (softq.org) works with XP (v.3.7.2) but you'll need Folderico 4 if you're on 7 : however, on 7 64-bit, the contextual menu will not be complete.
See for yourself (10 icons packs or themes, can use icl files -aka Icon Librairies-).
I had also tried iColorFolder and FolderMarker (it was still free back in 2007) on Windows XP, but since I'm now using Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, guess I could give the current giveaway a shot and see if it can use my downloaded icons...

Have to agree with other comments, FolderMarker Free is better, plus the paid version probably has more because of that.
Not taking anything away from GAOTD, just sometimes it works out this way...

I'm thoroughly confused... I downloaded the software and installed...

can't find it in my "all programs" list on my Windows 7 - 64. It does show up on Windows 7 - 32... but, when I click on the icon, it just takes me to their website????

What's missing?

Same problem as #26 only I am using XP. Emailed the company about the problem but I haven't received any response from them. I downloaded two times and uninstalled both times. Didn't bother again.

Someone mentioned "Folder Marker." Yes, I loved that; I somehow memorized what color something was, so would only have to look for that particular color all over my desktop/etc. HOWEVER, during a crash -- tho' I had the original file(s) -- it became no good to me. It would not let me REinstall it without only having it be one of those "temporary" files!! Boy, was I bummed! Now they're all the same (bland) color, and much HARDER to find. Waiting for FOLDER MARKER to become available here again. :o(

Does this color, or only let you figure out what icons (which, on folders, are rather tiny to distinguish) to put on folders? Well, guess we'll find out, won't we? But we surely *DO* miss "Folder Marker."

Thank you.

I don't get anything other than a link on the Web and an uninstall pg.
Is this right?

Which version is this? I already have version 4.0 and I'm pleased with it. Thanks for any info!

Hey anyone please reply... Can we get the previous yellow folder when we dont want it...?

Works easily and quickly on my Windows 7 Pro x64. But what really impressed me was that the program installation defaulted into Program Files, instead of the usual Program Files (x86). Having two Program Files libraries in Windows 7 really annoys me.

Not much more than what you can already do to an icon without such a program. You are limited to the modified icons in their library and when an icon is modified, it loses the images that appear "inside" an open folder (such as the first pictures in a particular folder).

Nice, usable, but I expected more picture type icons instead of the multicolored folder type. This is probably a personal preference but I would rather see the Windows type Icon. Installed fine on Win7 x 64. Would not pay the price for this but thanks for the free-bee.

Actually, a correction. I made an unfair criticism. There is actually a 'Games' icon in the Everyday set. My mistake!

However I didn't realise that because I applied all the icons to folders during my test run, and I have absolutely no idea what the image on the 'Games' icon is. I couldn't recognise it. It's some sort of device.

I have been doing my own folder customization since 2005 in XP Pro.
Just hit Properties on any folder then click customize and there you are.
I have colored, used pre-loaded icons and pictures and even inserted picture of myself on some of my folders. That's it, simple and effective, no software needed. You can make your own color icons in any variety of colors in any picture editor and save it as or converted to icon file.

Easy to use program for a non-savvy user like me. Tried other free progs but didn't work for me. This is a definite keeper. Thanks to 18 MarkR. I'm one of those saddos who like eye candy! But I didn't know how to change folder icons so easily!

On Vista 32-bit, a nice add-on; it works just fine. A little bit of finagling was needed to get the registration .exe past my Comodo firewall. The preexisting built-in method - the Properties dialog and so on - remains usable, but this makes a decent array of options much easier to get at.

#17 in answer to your question see the post by #1.

For an infinite choice of folder colors try RAINBOW FOLDERS.

#12 I installed the program on my Vista laptop and remotely changed an icon on my Ext HD attached to my desktop.
Accessing the same folder via the desktop showed that it had reverted back to its normal Windows format.

I could not get the program to install successfully on my XP desktop.
Right clicking the "change icon" item in the context menu produced only a text list with no colored icons adjacent to each text item.
Could be because I already have FOLDER MARKER installed on the desktop - unless anyone has any other suggestions.

Thanks a million to #1, who recommended the freeware version of Folder Marker. I've just installed both products on my Windows XP SP3 box and I've done a side-by-side comparison.

FolderIco is a decent product which installed quickly and easily, and is very easy to use. So is Folder Marker Free. And that's about as positive as it gets for FolderIco. Basically this is all about eye candy and personal utility i.e. total subjectivity! So that's the only basis on which I can review FolderIco.

Firstly, FolderIco has a less attractive and less polished, professional-looking Windows XP context menu interface than Folder Marker Free. The colour context menu icons which FolderIco uses are rather crude, and don't look like the final result after application.

FolderIco offers 13 Everyday icons and 12 Work icons as well as 12 colours.

With the exception of the 'Downloads' icon, the 13 Everyday icons are, to me, unattractive, poorly designed, and have no obvious value. Why offer '1 Star', '2 Stars' etc up to '5 Stars'? Nothing that's worth less than 3 stars lasts long on my PC! Why offer 'Webcam', 'Bittorrent', 'USB', 'Printer' and 'Microphone' icons but no music, art, games, book or tech-related icons? Once applied to your folders, some of the Everyday icons look blurry when the parent folder is viewed in Tiles mode. That's downright sloppy for a commercial product. In fact, it's ridiculous.

The only one of the 12 Work icons I like (from 'High Priority', 'Normal Priority' 'Approved', Pending', 'Rejected, etc) is the 'Internet files' icon, which features a nice blue globe. The rest of them are ok, and at least they don't look blurry in Tiles mode, but they're not very attractive or useful to me. I've downloaded far more exciting icons from free icon sites, and now I can apply them quickly and easily using Folder Marker Free.

Folder Marker Free offers a similarly uninspired set of work-related icons, but they're at least clean and sharp, and more importantly, Folder Marker Free offers the option to set up a dozen of your own icons for fast application to your folders.

For the same price as FolderIco, there is a Folder Marker Pro version which offers considerably more icons and options.

TeoreX really need to raise their game. There's a much better freeware alternative to FolderIco, which has a vastly better pro version at the same price as FolderIco. I really have no motivation to keep today's giveaway of FolderIco installed.

That was an amusing little diversion. Thanks for the interesting giveaway, GOTD and TeoreX.

I'll pass on this one...I've used a free program, Rainbow Folders, for several years now. With this, I can change colours and can choose classic, XP, or Vista style folders. Works for me....

Did not install and gave this error message:

C:\Utilities\FolderIco\folderico.dll
Unable to register the DLL/OXC:RegSvr failed with exit code 0x5.

FolderIco is a cute little app that makes it easier to change individual folder icons in Windows' Explorer... rather than right-click a folder -> click Properties -> click Customize -> click Change Icon -> select a file & select your icon, you can get away with just a couple of mouse clicks from the [right-click] folder context menu. And, with the exception of 7's XPMode VM it works -- I mention that because it **might** mean it's incompatible with Remote Desktop, causing Windows' Explorer to crash when you right click a folder. As others have noted you can only use the included icons, which are stored in 3 .icl files in the program's folder -- removing FolderIco you'd lose its icons.

FolderIco itself is just 1 .dll file & those 3 .icl files I mentioned -- add a couple of uninstall files etc. and it takes up ~2 MB. Installation adds a menu to the folder context menu [what you get when you right click a folder], which means some added registry entries -- installed & activated you'll have 1 key for the app, 1 for uninstall, plus 6 other keys for a recorded total of ~116 adds (keys + values).

If you use Windows Explorer rather than something like Windows Search or 7's Libraries, changing a few folder icons can make it just a little quicker finding the folder you want/need -- IMHO change too many & you spend just as much time visually sorting through the different colors etc. as you did reading the text labels. If you're just after eye candy personally I think FolderIco is a bit dull, but for quickly flagging the folder for the project the boss is screaming about (today anyway), FolderIco could be a time saver.

To #17: I did the same thing you did with the same results. To use the program,right click on any folder and a menu will show up giving you different options to select.

I'm happily running the Folderico freeware version and I don't need the extra features thanks aw to TeoreX for the application and Gotd for the choose !

"Installs" every time on Windows 7 32bit but never installs any means to run the programme. No icons on desktop, in the start menu or in the programs folder. All I can do with it is go on the web or uninstall which is what I have done. Very strange never had that happen before so I tried three times all with the same result. It even activates as well but no way to use it.

Very nice program. Installed, activated and runs on XProSP3 without apparent conflict. Changed folder attributes on usb drive as well, seems fine.

One quick question though... would installing and running other programs like it (i.e. FolderMarker) cause any conflicts as they do alter the right-click menu. Thanks for your response if any.

Installed fine on Win7Pro 64-bit. Nice colors but wish could use own icons, or icons AND color. Just suggestions. :-)

After reading #9 & 13 above, tried FolderMarker Free. Doesn't play well with Win7 -- no colors available, can't open photos in large icon view if folder icon changed, etc. After install, said newer version available which turned out to be the one that costs way more than FolderIco's usual price -which you find out after installing.

I'm staying with FolderIco -- Thanks, GOTD!

Not sure with icon changers like this, do they set something in the registry, or do they have to run in the background - trying to keep the background process clutter to a minimum

No way to have it working on windows 7 64bit. Anyone else?

Thanks to GAOTD and Folderico
I already have the Free version installed - great program.
But is this offer the Free version or the Standard version.
http://www.folderico.com/download.html
The file size suggests the Standards version, but after installing it, it appears to be the Free version. Is there anyway to verify this?
Thanks

Yes, my comment was about price, but I agree with the commenter who said the developers wanted feedback about their product. That is my feedback.

I use another folder changer. One that allows me to customize the color and use any .ico file I choose. I paid $12.95 for it. People won't pay more for a program that offers less. - I don't think.

I'm one of those saddos who doesn't have any standard yellow folders anyway, having gotten used to right-clicking on a folder, going into Properties, then Customize, and then "Change Icon".

It's standard stuff and takes only moments to do in any Windows OS from XP onwards. (What surprises me is the number of people who don't seem aware of this facility. . .)

That said, today's software offers a useful supplement to the existing changeable icon range. I like the colour prioritising and the ease of use. The app is fast, light, and as it's free today (I doubt I'd ever pay anything for an icon changer when it's already free in Windows) has to rate as an excellent GOTD for those who like a spot of tweaking.

Hi, can anyone help me out? Apparently installed the program correctly according to the dialog box saying so after installing it, but on looking for an icon on PC to start the program, including in programs list, nothing showed up, so haven't been able to run it.. so i uninstalled and reinstalled hoping that that would rectify the problem. No luck as yet. If anyone could help me out that would be appreciated.. and thank you in advance :) Cheers

The question of price is relevant.

With GAOTD we get the Deal, free, today. This is good. We can try it out and decide if we like it or not, free. But somewhere down the road, we may have a crash or upgrade an OS or for some reason need to reinstall. Then we will have to buy it.

If we try it today, and decide that the results we get are as valuable as the price -- if we had to buy it -- then the price is right and I say, keep it. IF the results are less than the price warrant, I don't care to keep it.

Why should I put effort into using a software that I would not want to buy if I had a crash and then needed to buy it?

I've used older versions of this program for the last couple years and am happy to have the newest version. It gives plenty of options for changing folders.

Thank you to TeoreX and GOTD!

If only all giveaway programs could register as easily as this did

There are a variety of these programs available -- some freeware -- that all do what this one does.

This works fine but it's more limited than other payware because it only changes the color and not the style. That's not all that important but folder MaRker Free does the same thing and is always free.

BTW, #9 got the name wrong. It isn't foldermaker.com it is http://www.foldermaRker.com