Instead using default windows’ icons in %SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll, you can change use nice Vista icons that located at %SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll file.

Here is the step:

• Right Click on choosen folder that you want to change the icons
• Select Properties
• Select “Customize” tab
• Click “Change Icon…” button
• Change SHELL32.dll with imageres.dll
• Press Enter

Now you can see the new list of Vista Icons…

Compatibility: Windows Vista

Note: if you want to extract the icons from *.dll to *.ico you can use software from Nir Sofer(IconsExtract) or LeeLu Soft(geticons)