New TC UP 4.0 and Skype icon

[John]

Just wanna give head-up to all of you guys who has Skype and who's gonna use new TC UP 4.0
When installing it gives you a file association option to choose from and if you set it to "Default" after the installation is completed it changes Skype icon to look like IcoFX icon but with the "Skype" written below it. Looks funny huh?

[attachment=117] [attachment=118]

I had to reinstall TC and choose option "None" to get rid of it and to have my Skype to look normal.
Maybe if you choose option "Custom" or whatever it's called there and uncheck the proper file association box this won't happen but I just don't know which one of them causes this and why Skype only.

[fenixproductions]

Whole "TC UP team" figured it out

The problem is on the Skype's side. It appears that it's shortcut differs from others. Please take a look on attached screenshot. On the left side you will see valid LNK Properties, on the right - improper one.

You can fix this issue by adding link to Skype.exe file by yourself.

[John]

Whole "TC UP team" figured it out

The problem is on the Skype's side. It appears that it's shortcut differs from others. Please take a look on attached screenshot. On the left side you will see valid LNK Properties, on the right - improper one.

You can fix this issue by adding link to Skype.exe file by yourself.

Thanks I'll try this

[John]

Whole "TC UP team" figured it out

The problem is on the Skype's side. It appears that it's shortcut differs from others. Please take a look on attached screenshot. On the left side you will see valid LNK Properties, on the right - improper one.

You can fix this issue by adding link to Skype.exe file by yourself.

Hey I checked this thing out with properties and I wanna say that I also have iTunes installed which didn't change its logo after TC UP 4.0 installation but has way stranger looking properties box(doesn't even have Start In path) so I don't think it has anything to do with the shortcut being different. Check it out yourself.

[attachment=121] [attachment=122]

[fenixproductions]

Shortcut was our first guest but "icons problem" is more complicated.

When you've got a shortcut to any item Windows is always trying to retrieve an icon for it. For non-executable files this is an icon of associated application. For executables Windows is looking for included images and if the search is success, you will see it.

The source of the problem is that you have many ways to get LNK file for loading an application:

1. Direct link to EXE file (Target: C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe).

2. Complete executable name (Target: Skype.exe) and the path to it (Starting path: C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\)
In that case Windows will look for Skype.exe under "C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\" directory.

3. Executable name (Target: Skype) and the path to it (Starting path: C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\)
In that case Windows will look for Skype.exe, Skype.com or Skype.bat under "C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\" directory.

4. Executable name without path (Target: iTunes).
Windows will look for iTunes.exe, iTunes.com or iTunes.bat under system specific directories:
- folders defined for PATH environment variable (written in c:\autoexec.bat file),
- C:\Windows\
- C:\Windows\system32\
- registry entry called "iTunes.exe" or "iTunes" under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\.

As you can see above: plenty of ways and even if they work for loading an application, they might not work for icons.

For the end: take a look on Skype's shortcut and 3rd point.
Theoretically Windows should retrieve an icon from:
C:\Program Files\Skype\Skype™ 3.8.exe
what is nonsense because such file does not exist.

After all: I am still amazed that this shortcut works for starting it!

[John]

Hey I didn't understand what did you mean by "file doesn't exist"? It's in the Skype>Phone>skype.exe just like you mentioned earlier.
And what if the forth way with the executable name without a path overrules all the above? Yes, the Skype properties seems to have an invalid path but it also has an executable name above it to look for. Just like the iTunes without any path. So why won't it work if iTunes is working?

[fenixproductions]

Hey I didn't understand what did you mean by "file doesn't exist"? It's in the Skype>Phone>skype.exe just like you mentioned earlier.

Yes, but shortcut points to:
C:\Program Files\Skype\Skype™ 3.8.exe
Does it really exist?

I don't think that Windows is supposed to search all "C:\Program Files\Skype\" subfolders to find out proper executable and "even if" it's name is shown as Skype™ 3.8.

And what if the forth way with the executable name without a path overrules all the above? Yes, the Skype properties seems to have an invalid path but it also has an executable name above it to look for.

So Windows might look for executable under system paths or registry BUT it might be the source of problems with retrieving an icon.

Just like the iTunes without any path. So why won't it work if iTunes is working?

I've created valid registry entry for my own app and it is working, so I assume that iTunes did it also. I don't know how can Skype start because I can't find same thing for it in my registry. I don't really know why Skye will be started after double clicking on this shortcut.

Edit: I've read LNK files specification and used couple of tools to investigate.
The only information I've gain is that this shortcut does not point to executable after all. Each tool I've used to check out shows an ICO file (C:\WINDOWS\Installer\{5C82DAE5-6EB0-4374-9254-BE3319BA4E82}\Skype.ico) as a target. It explains IcoFX replacement but running Skype is still a wonder.

[John]

Ha-ha! I was just about to say that Skype has its own mysterious ways of doing things when I saw your edited message