Permanent customized folder icons with InnoSetup in any computer

Question

I have modified some folder icons and I am including these folders in my InnoSetup installation. The problem is that once my program is installed, my customized folder icons are gone and what I see is just the oldfashioned "yellow" Windows folder icons.

EDIT

The answer was provided by the user TLama. It worked in my computer at first. I had some problems with different Windows versions at different computers. I will write now my working code after having tried sucessfully in several computer systems.

Icons used:

• Ico1.ico
• Ico2.ico
• Ico3.ico

Modified folder icons:

• c:\\FDR1
• c:\\FDR2\\FDR3

Step 1:

I have used the software "Folder icon changer" to have my icon in place for the three folders I wanted changed. You may use any other free software too. After execution, a desktop.ini appeared in each of the newly changed icon folders. For instance, the FDR1 has the content:

[.Shellclassinfo]
Iconfile=F:\Resource\Icons\Ico1.ico
Iconindex= 0

Step 2:

I have then erased the path above and saved "Ico1.ico" into the directory "c:\\FDR1" I had just modified :

[.Shellclassinfo]
Iconfile=Ico1.ico
Iconindex= 0

I did the same for the Ico2.ico (inside the FDR2) and the Ico3.ico (inside the FDR3). The "Icon1, 2 and 3" and "desktop.ini" file attributes were all set to hidden. But, it is important NOT to set the icon properties to "read only".

Step 3:

Inside Inno repeat TLama's suggestion.

#define OutputDirectory_1 "c:\FDR1"
#define OutputDirectory_2 "c:\FDR2"
#define OutputDirectory_3 "c:\FDR2\FDR3"

[Dirs]
Name: {#OutputDirectory_1}; Attribs: system
Name: {#OutputDirectory_2}; Attribs: system
Name: {#OutputDirectory_3}; Attribs: system

[Files]
Source: "c:\FDR1\Ico1.ico"; DestDir: {#OutputDirectory_1}; Attribs: hidden system
Source: "c:\FDR2\Ico2.ico"; DestDir: {#OutputDirectory_2}; Attribs: hidden system
Source: "c:\FDR2\FDR3\Ico3.ico"; DestDir: {#OutputDirectory_3}; Attribs: hidden system

Step 4:

Compile !

Now, your folder icons will permanently work in any computer and system !!

Answer 1

Your target folder should have either read only or system attribute configured. To create such folder you can use, like Miral mentioned, [Dirs] section and its attributes. This will have an advantage, that after you run the installation process, InnoSetup automatically notifies Shell about changes, so the folder icon will be changed without an extra notification function call.

; this is a defined preprocessor variable used to simplify the script
; management; this variable contains the path, where the icon will be 
; applied (it's used twice in a script, so it's easier to manage that
; from one place)
#define OutputDirectory "d:\TargetDirectory"

[Setup]
AppName=My Program
AppVersion=1.5
DefaultDirName={pf}\My Program
OutputDir=userdocs:Inno Setup Examples Output

[Files]
; here you need to use "hidden" and "system" values in Attribs parameter
; to include into the Desktop.ini file hidden and system file attributes
Source: "Desktop.ini"; DestDir: {#OutputDirectory}; Attribs: hidden system

[Dirs]
; here you need to use either "readonly" or "system" value in Attribs parameter
; to setup to the output directory read only or system file directory attribute
Name: {#OutputDirectory}; Attribs: readonly

Important:

Don't forget that you have to compile the script using CTRL + F9 before running, whenever you change the content of your input Desktop.ini file as well as when you change the value of the preprocessor path variable (I've been missing this few times and then wondering about the setup package content).

Answer 2

In order to activate custom folder icons you have to programmatically set the "read-only" attribute of the folder containing the desktop.ini file. (You can't do this from Explorer, but you can via the command line and from Inno.)

[Dirs]
Name: {app}; Attribs: readonly

Note that the path inside the desktop.ini file must be valid on the user's filesystem; you may want to use an [Ini] entry to create or modify this file to suit the installation path.

(This doesn't actually make the folder read-only -- this attribute is treated differently on folders by Windows because only files can meaningfully be read-only.)