Shell Icon Overlay - Batch File Solution?

[rjbinney]

You know the little overlay in the lower left of an icon that shows you if it's a shortcut, or its update progress? Yeah, I really like that.

Dropbox has a little green one that shows you it's updated, OneDrive has one that shows you if the file is updated, or not; more specifically, it also shows you if there are any sync conflicts (which is great when many people share a drive).

Trouble is, Dropbox and OneDrive don't play nicely nicely in Windows 10. Windows can only accept so many overlays at once, and it applies them in the order that they appear in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers

Because Dropbox comes first in alpha order over OneDrive, it fills all of the slots with Dropbox overlays, and then you don't get any OneDrive overlays.

The "fix" is easy - rename all of the overlays, so the first bunch are the ones you want: there are a few Dropbox ones I don't need, so I can edit the names accordingly, putting OneDrive first, and everything is groovy.

EXCEPT.

Except, except, except.

Every time Dropbox releases an update - which is weekly - it rewrites the g-d registry so I have to go in and delete the new overlays.

So I have two questions/options:

1) Can I somehow get Dropbox to install its release and NOT touch that part of the registry?

or

b) Can I write a batch file that I just double-click after a Dropbox update and it fixes everything for me?


Thanks

[rjbinney]

BUMP

[DaveLembke]

I havent tested this with Windows 10, but you should be able to undo the changes via a merge. More info here: https://superuser.com/questions/1023221/adding-a-registry-key-via-batch-file

Be very careful when messing with registry. You can mess it up pretty badly with bad or missing keys etc.

[BC_Programmer]

For  reference:  the maximum number of said overlays is 15. Not for any specific reason, it seems- it was decided in Win95 and they've just not sat down with a cold one to work out a better method. Realistically, overlays aren't very useful though which may be why they've not gone to that effort.

Can I somehow get Dropbox to install its release and NOT touch that part of the registry?

You could use the permissions settings and make the ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers key unwritable from any account. Of course this would apply to more than just dropbox, too.

Can I write a batch file that I just double-click after a Dropbox update and it fixes everything for me?

Yes, but I get the suspicion your question is really "Can somebody else write a batch file that I just double-click after a Dropbox update and it fixes everything for me?"

You can use REG DELETE in said batch to delete the unwanted entries that appear, and run it after installing dropbox.

[BC_Programmer]

Also adding on to Dave's method above you can use a reg file. You will have to change it though.

if you export the ShellIconoverlayIdentifiers key, you can change the resulting .REG file in a text editor and add a hyphen to the front of the keys you want to remove, in the square brackets:

Code: [Select]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers\ OneDrive1]

would delete the OneDrive1 registry value. They usually come paired with @= lines which aren't needed for this and can be removed.

[rjbinney]

Yes, but I get the suspicion your question is really "Can somebody else write a batch file that I just double-click after a Dropbox update and it fixes everything for me?"

Oh, you cynic.

Well, yeah, I guess if something has already been written that I can crib, that would be great...

I really find the overlays useful - knowing the sync status of various files, particularly when I'm collaborating on a bunch of different stuff with a bunch of different people, is helpful.

I had read about the "First 15" rule, and what happens is, Dropbox fills the first ten slots - but those first ten slots AREN'T the overlays that Dropbox seems to use! That is to say, I have re-named 15 overlays for 1D and DB, and they ALWAYS work. Then, when Dropbox does its update, it drops ten more at the "top" of the list, and then I delete them, and I see no change in functionality.

I didn't know I could change the permissions for a single registry key. I might actually try that.

And, Dave, I will have to think about your post... Anything titled "SuperUser" tends to intimidate me.

Thanks! Will report back.

[DaveLembke]

And, Dave, I will have to think about your post... Anything titled "SuperUser" tends to intimidate me.