Fix for Windows 7 bug where taskbar icons point to the wrong programs not requiring reboot
Currently, some of my taskbar icons point to incorrect programs. For example, when I click on my Pidgin icon, Google Chrome launches. Also, my Google Chrome icon is totally missing (even though there are instances of the app running). I've found discussion of this bug at the link below; however, the proposed workaround is to reboot one's computer in safe mode, which is really disruptive as this bug happens to me somewhat regularly. Does anyone know of a better solution?
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_programs/windows-7-64-bit-ultimate-taskbar-bug-wrong-icons/e856e688-b51c-402a-9559-b34add9111c2
A slightly better fix:
- Right-click the task bar and choose Properties
- Toggle the "Use small icons" checkbox
- Click Apply
This seems to re-draw the taskbar and in doing so will fix the above issue.
I found restarting explorer fixed this issue for me. In command prompt:
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe
For me rebuilding the icon cache helped. I killed explorer.exe, removed %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\IconCache.db and started explorer.exe again.