Grey x's on all desktop icons Windows 8.1

Anonymous
2014-06-18T14:52:09+00:00

Recently a client discover that all of their desktop icons (files and shortcuts) have large Grey X's in the corner on their Windows 8.1 home PC. The files are still accessible upon click through to them. They do not have a tape drive (one possible cause I have seen) and the shortcuts point to various locations on the primary C: drive (documents folder etc). Repairing the icon cache temporarily resolved but it seems to just come back again. They are running Carbonite as a backup, however a brief search of "Carbonite with Grey X's on icons" has not yet yielded anything either. Any help would be welcomed.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2015-03-19T17:30:16+00:00

I experienced the problem for the first time ever this morning in one of my laptops After tracking what I did this morning that might had caused it, I finally remembered to have installed an update for Boxcryptor. After uninstalling the Boxcryptor app, the grey X's disappeared from all those folder its was on. Bingo! Hope it helps!

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-12-11T21:50:46+00:00

    Yes, I've been saying it was Norton since this conversation began in June, but very few people believe me, even when I posted a direct link to the Norton support site that explains what they are, how to use them, and even gives a picture example.  Some people just don't believe the truth :)

    Glad you got it sorted!

    I'm running neither Carbonite nor Norton nor dropbox. I still has this problem. MSFT should resolve this issue not letting everyone wonder what's happening.

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  2. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2014-12-11T21:28:40+00:00

    Yes, I've been saying it was Norton since this conversation began in June, but very few people believe me, even when I posted a direct link to the Norton support site that explains what they are, how to use them, and even gives a picture example.  Some people just don't believe the truth :)

    Glad you got it sorted!

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-12-11T17:47:49+00:00

    I have found the answer to removing these gray X's that overlay the windows desktop icons.  It is part of Norton's backup settings.  Go to your Norton click on Settings - Backup Settings - Backup Status Overlays - make sure it is turned off.

    Hope this helps.

    Glenn

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  4. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2014-12-10T15:58:38+00:00

    Hi Dylan,

    Have you already taken the actions mentioned above?

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