Windows 95 indicates by default with a short black arrow whether a particular icon is a shortcut to an object or the object itself. It achieves this by overlaying the original icon of the object with a shortcut overlay icon. You can change the shortcut overlay with the Tweak control panel applet. The Tweak utility is included in the Powertoys pack available from the Microsoft web sit.
If you do not have Tweak installed, you can still change the shortcut overlay icon by editing the Registry directly. Editing the Registry should be done only by experienced users and with extreme care and the Registry should always be exported or backed up before any changes are made.
1. Start the REGEDIT.EXE program.
2. Go to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\explorer\Shell Icons
3. You will see a list of parameters indicated with numbers. Each parameter indicates the icon Windows 95 uses for a particular function. Parameter 29 refers to the shortcut overlay icon.
4. Double click on the 29 key to set the shortcut overlay icon of your choice, e.g.,
"29"="C:\\Windows\\System\\Shell32.dll,28"
Adjust the above value for the location of the Windows directory on your system and be sure to use double back slashes. Shortcut overlay icons should have enough transparent area so that the original underlying icon shows through. Icons numbered 28 through 30 in the SHELL32.DLL in the Windows directory are clearly intended to function as shortcut overlay icons. Icon number 29 is the default black arrow on white background. You do not have to use the icons in SHELL32.DLL. You can use icons from any executable or dynamic link library. Other possible choices are a bent arrow (COMCTL32.DLL,0), a blue spot (MMSYS.CPL,25), and a slashed circle "no" symbol, (SYSDM.CPL,5).
If you change the shortcut overlay icon using the Tweak control panel applet then the changes take effect immediately. If you change it by editing the Registry directly, then you will need to force Explorer to read its icons again, otherwise Explorer will use the old icons from the icon cache and you won't see any changes. One way to do this is to change the color depth or number of simultaneous colors in the Display Properties dialog and then to restart Windows and finally to set the color depth back to its original value and restart Windows again. You can also delete the file called ShellIconCache in the Windows directory and then restart the computer.