How To Change Your Start Button In Xp

[rmdort 0]

YOU NEED A TOOL CALLED RESOURCE HACKER

http://libertyboy.free.fr/programs/system/reshack.zip

A. Bypass WFP:
1. In Windows Explorer, click Tools, Folder Options, then View. Uncheck Hide protected operating system files and check Show hidden files and folders.
2. There is a file named filelist.xml in \windows\system32\Restore. Right click the file, then click Properties, and uncheck Read-only. Open filelist.xml in Notepad (not in MS Word or any other text editor!!!), and add the line shown in bold below, then save the file and close Notepad.

<exclude>
<rec>%sytemroot%\explorer.exe</rec>
<rec>%windir%\system.ini</rec>
<rec>%windir%\tasks\desktop.ini</rec>
<rec>%windir%\win.ini</rec>
<rec>*:\AUTOEXEC.BAT</rec>
<rec>*:\CONFIG.MSI</rec>
<rec>*:\CONFIG.SYS</rec>
</exclude>
3. In \windows\system32\dllcache, you will find a backup copy of explorer.exe. Rename it to explorer.bak.

B. Change the name of the Start Menu button
1. Run Resource Hacker, and open \windows\explorer.exe
2. Click String Table > 37 > 1033 (XP-style button)
3. Replace "start" with whatever you want
4. Click the Compile Script button.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 for String table > 38 > 1033 (Classic-style button)
5. Save the file (File>Save). Hit Cancel then Yes when Windows File Protection pops up.


C. Change the icon of the Start Menu button
1. Click Bitmap > 143 > 1033
2. Click Action > Replace bitmap > Open file with new bitmap (the new picture must be 25x20, and have 16 million colors).
3. Select a picture file, click Replace, then save (File>Save) your work. Hit Cancel then Yes when Windows File Protection pops up.
4. Close Resource Hacker

If you do not want to reboot to see your new button, kill then restart explorer.exe (Clt-Alt-Del > Processes > explorer.exe > End Process Tree > File > New Task > explorer > OK)

[chilipie 0]

Isn't this likely just to f*** up the whole OS? I don't think it's a brilliant idea to change the system files .

[marijnnn 0]

nah, it's just some registry hacking. it's pretty safe to do so. still, i'd advise you to copy your explorer.exe file before you do so. and don't just go change everything you find

[daob 0]

Yeah Resource hacking is pretty safe so long as you only change simplethings like images and the like. Its also a great tool for ripping pictures from programs too . Anyway there is a way that you don't need REShack to do if you don't want to use ittheres a app called SkinStudio which can change those things pretty easily

[thedevil 0]

Yes I have used the resource hacker and It works... I really think messing with OS files is dangerous for your data stored in the disk... you will never know when the system crashes and leave you empty handed...

[iGuest 3]

I would actually like you to change the explorer and call it explorer1, it helps techs know what you did. Also if you screw up boot back up in command mode adn type explorer.exe this will open the file "browser" move the file from there.

[Herbert1405241469 0]

I remember a while back I was trying to customize my Windows Box by changing some of the pictures (the windows logo that shows up in Win2k while it's logging in) and somehow I ended up rendering my machine totally unusable I had a cool boot splash screen for awhile before that though. But ever since then, I left those system files alone