The problems most people face are lagging of Windows and getting stuck also known as screen freeze. Every person faces different problems using Windows when running on low specs computer. Mostly this problem occurs when the user runs more than one app on his PC. One of the many problems is Icon Cache. It is not related to hardware but it is a problem of software. many users treat it as a hardware problem and so find the solutions as such. To solve this problem one must find a solution to the problem in a software which is causing this problem.
Microsoft revolutionized this era for computers and is still advancing in technology. Microsoft started with Windows 7 then 8 and lastly 10. These operating systems are coolest and has all the new tech inside them. Although all of these versions of Windows are developed to run on any kind of PC, even the ones with low specs. However, some people then face problems regarding the performance of Windows.
What is Icon Cache?
You must be thinking what Icon Cache is? It is almost similar to thumbnail cache. Thumbnail cache provides the user with thumbnails faster when it passes the command to the CPU. Same as thumbnail cache is Icon Cache. It helps user to get the icon faster when viewed by the user. It saves an image of the icons in the temporary memory of your PC and whenever you open up a windows with any kind of icons, your CPU presents you with that image so that you may see all the icons at their place without any delay. When the icons are shown from the Icon Cache user can do whatever he wants on his PC. And he may never find any difference.
What will happen if Icon Cache is low?
Now we know what Icon Cache is and how important it is for the smooth function of our PC. Mostly all the PCs running Windows have an Icon Cache of 2 MB. This memory is divided to show you your icons at different locations of your computer. Although it is a good amount of memory for some icons but when you open a window with a lot of icons it may take some time to load all of them, or it may not even load properly. None of the Windows users want their Windows to lag or work slowly.
So if you want to increase the speed of your computer to open your icons faster, when you open a window, you need to increase the Icon Cache. The solution provided in this tutorial will work on any of the versions of Windows, whether Windows 7, 8 or 10. This solution will help you in increasing your Icon Cache.
How to increase Icon Cache in Windows
It is not very difficult to perform this tutorial of increasing Icon Cache in Windows. It does not matter what version of Windows you are using; you just need to follow the steps below to increase the Icon Cache in Windows. This tutorial will not only teach you how to increase the Icon Cache on your PC, it will also make you learn how to alter it in any way.
Just follow the steps below to get your work done.
- First of all, you need to open Run program, for this you may use keyboard shortcut keys WIN + R, or you can go to Start Menu to open Run program.
- After opening the run program, you need to type regedit in the blank space and press Enter on your keyboard or press ok from your mouse.
- Now you need to navigate through the following path given below
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
When you open the option of Explorer by following the path, now you need to create a string to do that you need to follow the steps below.
- Right click on any of the empty space on the Registry editor in the Explorer window.
- Select the option of New and then String Value in the menu
- Name this String as Max Cached Icons
- Double click on the string you created by the name of Max Cached Icons
- Now modify the value in the box and write 4096 or 4 MB.
That’s the whole procedure, now you will experience the faster speed of your icons to open in your Windows. You can further increase the value in your created string or ca lower it down at your own pleasure.
Rebuild Icon Cache in Windows 10, Windows 8/7
If you do not experience your windows loading your icons faster than before or it is the same as before. It is better to rebuild Icon Cache in Windows. To rebuild the Icon Cache, you just need to do few steps.
- Open Command prompt from your Start Menu or through Keyboard shortcut keys
- Enter the following text in the Command Prompt
cd /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local attrib –h IconCache.db del IconCache.db start explorer
That’s it, now you’ve rebuilt the Icon Cache successfully. This will solve your problem of Icons appearing slow on your windows.
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