Can't find your Google Earth icon?

Can't find your Google Earth icon?: "

This is a problem we've seen happening more and more often lately, so we thought we'd address it here. I'm not sure if the bug has become more widespread, or if Google Earth is simply reaching an increasingly wider audience.

In some configurations of Windows, the Google Earth icon will disappear from your system after you install a Google Earth software update. In many cases, the icon won't come back even after you reinstall, presumably because the software already thinks that it's there.

Fortunately, there are a few easy solutions.

A - Automatically restore the icon

Google has created a simple program called the Google Earth Icon Restorer that should take care of it for you with a few simple steps:

1 - Download the Google Earth Icon Restorer application.

2 - The application name 'geicons.exe' will appear in your download bar. Select Save.

3 - Run the application by selecting Open, or double clicking 'geicons.exe'

4 - Look at your desktop and find the newly created shortcut icon for Google Earth

5 - Delete the application by selecting "geicons.exe" in your download bar > [Open in Folder] > [Delete]

B - Manually restore the icon

If the automatically restore solution didn't work for you, or you'd rather simply do it yourself, you can follow the instructions for your system below.

Windows XP and Vista:

- Go to 'C:\Program Files\Google\Google Earth\client' and find googleearth.exe

- Right click on googleearth.exe and choose 'create shortcut'

- Move a copy of that shortcut to your desktop and a copy to 'C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Google Earth' folder

Windows 7:

- Go to 'C:\Program Files\Google\Google Earth\client' and find googleearth.exe

- Right click on googleearth.exe and choose 'create shortcut'

- Move a copy of that shortcut to your desktop and a copy to 'C:\ProgramData\Start Menu\Programs\Google Earth' folder

64 bit versions of Windows:

- Go to 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Earth\client\' and find googleearth.exe

- Right click on googleearth.exe and choose 'create shortcut'

- Move a copy of that shortcut to your desktop and a copy to 'C:\ProgramData\Start Menu\Programs\Google Earth' folder