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Compiling a C++ Windows executable with a custom icon - Last Modified 2008-10-07 17:53 UTC - Created 2008-10-07 17:53 UTC

This example shows how to compile a simple C++ program into a standalone Windows executable (32-bit) with a custom icon.

I used MinGW version 3.15.1 with GCC 3.4.5.

1. Start by creating a test.cpp example file
   

   #include 
   using namespace std;
   
   int main () {
    cout << "Hello World!";
    return 0;
   }
   

2. Create a resource file (say appicon.rc) with a line defining the location of your .ico file
   AppIcon ICON "MyApp.ico"
3. Compile the icon into a resource object with a command like
   C:\MinGW\bin\windres.exe appicon.rc appicon.opc
4. Compile your executable with the resource object included with a command like
   "C:\MinGW\bin\g++.exe" appicon.opc test.cpp