The Rabapab Blog

Here recently I have been experiencing an issue within Windows 7 where an installed applications Start Menu and Task Bar icons break, or show as the default file icon.  When inspecting the Icon reference in the file properties everything is correct and icon shows correctly within the Property window.  However, when I the program is running, its icon on the taskbar is broken.  This has now happened with two different pieces of software.  Both the Zune software and Tetherberry.  I am currently running Windows 7 on both my laptop and netbook, however the netbook is the only device so far that is experiencing the issue.  For a short period of time the icon displays properly and then breaks, for what seems to be no reason.  The Zune software I was able to uninstall it and reinstall and the icon would work for a short period of time, but would then break much in the same way as before.  The Tetherberry software appears to be broken permanently, as I have installed and uninstalled it numerous times as well as removing all references to it from my registry files.  Upon reinstall the icon is broken, however if I browse to the actual location of the file in Windows Explorer I can see the proper icon.  It can also be seen properly on the Desktop, and within the Property window for the file.

If anyone has any ideas please comment and let me know if there is anything I can change or modify to correct this issue.  Right now it is simply a cosmetic issue, but I certainly would like the application icons to work properly.  The failure currently only seems to be impacting my netbook, not sure what the connection is there, but hopefully I will be able to figure it out quickly.  I would really like to be able to see the icon that should be displayed for these applications, instead of the default Windows file icon. 

So I just picked up a copy of Tetherberry tonight, decided I could certainly get some use out of something like that.  And I will especially now that I have this netbook pretty much running how I want it.  Battery life is rather good so far with Windows 7, although for the best battery life I must reduce Windows 7 to its Power Saver mode.  It takes away some of the prettiness of the operating system, but oh well, it still does what I want it to. 

So Tetherberry will allow me to use my Blackberry data plan as my internet connection, wherever I can get data service on my phone.  I have nationwide coverage and it is a pretty big network, so I should pretty much be able to hop online from anywhere.  Now obviously with the type of connection that I have I do not plan on watching a movie over the internet with it.  I really intend the connection to be for email, light web browsing and messaging.  That is mostly because I don’t want to over use my connection, and since I would only really use it when I am travelling it shouldn’t be a problem to keep the bandwidth usage to a minimum. 

I will be checking out Tetherberry over the next couple of days, and I will throw my thoughts up in a few days.  This is certainly not new software and has been out for several months, but I felt the need to type something so this is what I came up with.  LOL. 

If you would like to check out Tetherberry for yourself, feel free to visit their website at http://www.tetherberry.com.  The software currently sells for $49.95, but compared to the monthly recurring cost of tethering service with most of the nations cell phone providers, that is a small price to pay.  And more importantly it is a one-time fee.  As I mentioned I don’t intend to use anymore bandwidth than I would normally use on my cell phone during a given day, not to mention that I would most likely only ever use the software a few times a month.  But to be able to look at map on a screen the size of a netbook or laptop instead of that tiny Pearl screen makes it worth it 10 times over, I would even take it over the Storm screen.