Question

How can I use the images within shell32.dll in my C# project?

Answer 1

You can extract icons from a DLL with this code:

public class IconExtractor
{

    public static Icon Extract(string file, int number, bool largeIcon)
    {
        IntPtr large;
        IntPtr small;
        ExtractIconEx(file, number, out large, out small, 1);
        try
        {
            return Icon.FromHandle(largeIcon ? large : small);
        }
        catch
        {
            return null;
        }

    }
    [DllImport("Shell32.dll", EntryPoint = "ExtractIconExW", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, ExactSpelling = true, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
    private static extern int ExtractIconEx(string sFile, int iIndex, out IntPtr piLargeVersion, out IntPtr piSmallVersion, int amountIcons);

}

...

form.Icon = IconExtractor.Extract("shell32.dll", 42, true);

Of course you need to know the index of the image in the DLL…