Winapphelper.icns constantly being recreated! Parallels 13

S

SteveB12

Junior Member
I have used many versions of Parallels Desktop and until Version 13 I could happily change the Winapphelper.icns icon to something Mac Dock suitable for any running Windows program that appeared on the dock. I did this by replacing the Winapphelper.icns in the Resources folder (via Show Package Contents) for the windows program in question with an icns file of my choosing. All well and good, it works! (Please don't reply telling me how to create an icon ... I know!).

The problem with Version 13 is that every time I close and re-open the running Windows program for which I have lovingly created a beautiful custom icon, Parallels overwrites WinAppHelper.icns with the original ugly Windows icon with two red bars through it, as before.

Clearly this is not exactly a problem of function ... everything works ... but since using a Mac is in large part about the aesthetics of the thing, Parallels 13 constantly forcing ugly icons on to the Dock is a real pain.

Simple question ... is there a way (like before) that I can change WinAppHelper.icns and it will stay changed?
 
SteveB12 said:
I have used many versions of Parallels Desktop and until Version 13 I could happily change the Winapphelper.icns icon to something Mac Dock suitable for any running Windows program that appeared on the dock. I did this by replacing the Winapphelper.icns in the Resources folder (via Show Package Contents) for the windows program in question with an icns file of my choosing. All well and good, it works! (Please don't reply telling me how to create an icon ... I know!).

The problem with Version 13 is that every time I close and re-open the running Windows program for which I have lovingly created a beautiful custom icon, Parallels overwrites WinAppHelper.icns with the original ugly Windows icon with two red bars through it, as before.

Clearly this is not exactly a problem of function ... everything works ... but since using a Mac is in large part about the aesthetics of the thing, Parallels 13 constantly forcing ugly icons on to the Dock is a real pain.

Simple question ... is there a way (like before) that I can change WinAppHelper.icns and it will stay changed?
Click to expand...
Hi SteveB12. We'll investigate your query internally and get back to you on this at the earliest. Please stand by.
 
Dear Hemnath
Wow! ... You make me wait weeks and then give me that answer! As I said in my original question "(Please don't reply telling me how to create an icon ... I know!)" but nonetheless what you have done is just that!

As I am sure you well know, the article to which you referred me, describes how to change a static application icon. It has nothing whatsoever to do with how to change the icon on the dock for a running windows/parallels app or even a running native Mac app. The Winapphelper.icns icon is your equivalent of the AppIcon.icns for a native Mac app. On a Mac the AppIcon.icns file can be successfully changed. Please don't send me to an Apple guide page when the WinAppHelper.icns file is all about your Parallels system.

It was possible to change the WinAppHelper.icns file to something more suitable on all versions of Parallels up to the current v13. I consider the fact that it's no longer possible to do that to be a BUG ... and one that should be fixed!

Does anyone else agree?
 
SteveB12 said:
It was possible to change the WinAppHelper.icns file to something more suitable on all versions of Parallels up to the current v13. I consider the fact that it's no longer possible to do that to be a BUG ... and one that should be fixed!

Does anyone else agree?
Click to expand...

Not only YES, but HECK YES!!!

This is perhaps the most annoying aspect of using Parallels. At least now I know that I'm not the only guy suffering from this, and it's not because my Office suite is causing the issue.

PLEASE address this ASAP!

Thanks!
 
SteveB12 said:
Dear Hemnath
Wow! ... You make me wait weeks and then give me that answer! As I said in my original question "(Please don't reply telling me how to create an icon ... I know!)" but nonetheless what you have done is just that!

As I am sure you well know, the article to which you referred me, describes how to change a static application icon. It has nothing whatsoever to do with how to change the icon on the dock for a running windows/parallels app or even a running native Mac app. The Winapphelper.icns icon is your equivalent of the AppIcon.icns for a native Mac app. On a Mac the AppIcon.icns file can be successfully changed. Please don't send me to an Apple guide page when the WinAppHelper.icns file is all about your Parallels system.

It was possible to change the WinAppHelper.icns file to something more suitable on all versions of Parallels up to the current v13. I consider the fact that it's no longer possible to do that to be a BUG ... and one that should be fixed!
My site: http://maybomebara.com.vn
Does anyone else agree?
Click to expand...
I find this answer very good, I want to say
 
SteveB12 said:
Dear Hemnath
Wow! ... You make me wait weeks and then give me that answer! As I said in my original question "(Please don't reply telling me how to create an icon ... I know!)" but nonetheless what you have done is just that!

As I am sure you well know, the article to which you referred me, describes how to change a static application icon. It has nothing whatsoever to do with how to change the icon on the dock for a running windows/parallels app or even a running native Mac app. The Winapphelper.icns icon is your equivalent of the AppIcon.icns for a native Mac app. On a Mac the AppIcon.icns file can be successfully changed. Please don't send me to an Apple guide page when the WinAppHelper.icns file is all about your Parallels system.

It was possible to change the WinAppHelper.icns file to something more suitable on all versions of Parallels up to the current v13. I consider the fact that it's no longer possible to do that to be a BUG ... and one that should be fixed!

Does anyone else agree?
Click to expand...
Hi @SteveB12, let me explain the situation please. Since Parallels Desktop 13 we have changed the behavior of Shared Windows Applications when in comes to application icons. This was needed to cover another very popular scenario: when a user updates/upgrades an application in Windows (e.g. Internet Explorer update to major version) and the application icon changes. Prior to version 13, once the application icon is changed in Windows the corresponding application stub icon (Internet Explorer.app on macOS) would not be updated. To fix this we've added a condition when Parallels Desktop compares the time when guest executable was created/updated with the time when stub icon was updated. If the first timings differ - we update stub icon with the current guest application icon.

This is the reason why your custom icon is being changed every time you restart the app. Please also note that editing the contents of Windows shared application stub is not allowed/supported, however, to work around this situation you can modify the icon's 'date modified' time to match the same time in Windows (e.g. using touch in Terminal).

If you'd like to have a feature in Parallels Desktop to set custom application icons for Windows Shared Applications, I suggest you visit Parallels Desktop for Mac Feature Suggestions forum branch and post this request there.
 
Hi Guys, maybe i have missed something but custom icons are supported in PD13. I just make the test and it works fine if you assign your preferred icon to the Windows application. I made an experiment on Calculator by setting the icon using Get Info and pasting the picture. See pics.
After that i did several restarts include Mac reboot. Icon still mine.

Before:
Screen Shot 2017-11-15 at 14.45.45.png
After:

Screen Shot 2017-11-15 at 14.46.33.png
 
@alexg No idea how your system is retaining that custom icon unless you have some special way to "assign your preferred icon to the Windows application" that the rest of us don't know about! The Get Info / Paste technique only handles changing the icon of apps when they are not running ... it has nothing to do with the dock icon for a running app (those are AppIcon.icns for Mac apps and WinAppHelper.icns for Windows apps).
If the icon for your running Windows calculator still hasn't reverted back to the Parallels double red bar icon, please tell me exactly ,step by step how you did it.

@dmitry Your solution of changing the modified date for the icon using touch in Terminal filled me with hope! It does work for a while but them randomly fails and puts back the Parallels system generated icon.

It's still hard for me to get my head round that nobody else seems bothered by these ugly incongruous apps on the dock!
 
@StanislavZ Thanks for the quick reply. In many ways though, that's even worse! It means you know that it's a desirable feature and you could fix it for the Home Edition if you wanted to!!! What's the upgrade path from Parallels Home 13 to Parallels Pro 13 please?
 
SteveB12 said:
Dear Hemnath
Wow! ... You make me wait weeks and then give me that answer! As I said in my original question "(Please don't reply telling me how to create an icon ... I know!)" but nonetheless what you have done is just that!

As I am sure you well know, the article to which you referred me, describes how to change a static application icon. It has nothing whatsoever to do with how to change the icon on the dock for a running windows/parallels app or even a running native Mac app. The Winapphelper.icns icon is your equivalent of the AppIcon.icns for a native Mac app. On a Mac the AppIcon.icns file can be successfully changed. Please don't send me to an Apple guide page when the WinAppHelper.icns file is all about your Parallels system.

It was possible to change the WinAppHelper.icns file to something more suitable on all versions of Parallels up to the current v13. I consider the fact that it's no longer possible to do that to be a BUG ... and one that should be fixed!

Does anyone else agree?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top