LoliVampLover: I completely uninstalled Oblivion and removed all mods. I then created a new character while using the vanilla loader. Problem still persists. What's this about removing it from the registry? Also, I decided to install without using Galaxy at all, so that's not even a factor, until you're telling that there is a chance that using Galaxy will actually fix the issue, rather than cause it.
OK - in this case, I have to give up. Perhaps other people have ideas, or can share their experience with such a problem.
My understanding is that all icon files are treated in the same way by the software. That two icon files are displayed differently (more precisely, the software is able to display one file, but not the other) can only be explained by different file formats. If this is the case, then all people having downloaded and installed the same installation files must see the same problem. Or there is something very different going on, but I have no idea what this could be (in generic terms, some kind of incompatibility making it impossible for your PC to display these icons properly).
For this reason, it would be useful, if other people could post similar problems here. I myself never had such a problem, although I played Oblivion from launch time until today, on several PC's, and installing from CD's and from GOG. I can't speak for Galaxy, as I don't use it. But if your direct download is showing the problem, too, then Galaxy can't be the culprit.
By the way, Galaxy is highly unlikely to fix anything - it's simply another process layer, which complicates things and so may cause problems, but never fix them.
PS: I mentioned the registry, because de-installations don't always clean the registry completely, but leave garbage. This applies, sometimes, to Morrowind, and, people mentioned in the past, to Oblivion, too, occasionally. Re-installing over this garbage may have undesired side effects - but I'm not sure this could cause your problem. Generally, it's not a bad idea to check the registry for such garbage when there are problems with re-installed software, and there is no other explanation.
A word of caution: Registry manipulations may cause problems and make your PC unusable in the worst case. I don't recommend to "play" with the registry, unless people know exactly what they are doing.