On Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:12:09 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

Crikey! It's NOT the icon that is the issue. The damned things are
showing as FOLDERS, thoroughly cluttering up Explorer. They're NOT
FOLDERS, they are FILES.

...Jim Thompson

Well, they look like folders with a zipper inside on my XP machine:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/crud/zip-icons.jpg
Is that what you're seeing? If I change to
view - details
they look like files.

Incidentally, compressed archives are folders, not files.

If you think that your XP install has somehow been corrupted,
Microsoft fixit has an icon repair section:
Online:
http://support.microsoft.com/fixit/
Download and install:
http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558