i know there are some themes (msstyles) that do it by cutting the start panel problem is that it hardly depends on the icon size you're using. commonly those themes are named "compact"
dunno why but page is now 404 for me you can try to ask on author's page nop , those are crystal icons by everaldo (check http://www.crystalxp.net/ for further details)
i've already ordered mine tried suse livecd too but it didn't detected my audigy card nor my usb modem so why use a suse linux pc if i can't play music or browse msfn?
i would first try to download tweakui and look for the option "rebuild iconcache". if it didn't work, open regedit and head to HKCR\.doc, HKCR\.xls, HKCR\.ppt. check the associations and if they link .ico files correctly