Wierd 'software update' display icon in system prefs..

Ok just noticed this last night but in the system prefs window my software update icon has changed and looks very wierd, almost like a lightswitch, infact id say ist like its displaying a different area of the prefs window.. its hard to explain but its not the symbol usually used and the text is cut off so it just says 'software'
whats happened? is there a fix?

Hi, James.
To solve the corrupted preference pane icon problem:1. Quit System Preferences if it is open.
2. Open your Home > Library > Caches folder, then trash the following two files therein:
• com.apple.preferencepanes.cache
• com.apple.preferencepanes.searchindexcache
3. Empty Trash.
4. Launch System Preferences and see if the problem is resolved.Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

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