The Run Box Tweaking Guide

[LiquidGUI]

Introduction

I have seen several people ask about tweaking the run box, I hope this guide explains how to tweak it in a easy and quick manor. It can be done on 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP. The tweaking of the run box involves 5 things: ResHacker, Replacer, a Reboot, a good idea of what you want, and about 10 minutes. Here is an example of what I have created:

Tools of the Trade

ResHacker (Right Click Save As)

Replacer (Right Click Save As)

Download, unzip and put them in a place where you will remember them.

(I personally put them in C:\hack\)

Step By Step

1) Press Start > Run and in the box type in:

xcopy "C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll" "C:\"

This copies the shell32.dll file to the C:\ drive root for editing.

2) Open up ResHacker from where you installed it.

3) While in ResHacker select File>Open

4) In the open dialog, type in C:\shell32.dll and press Enter.

5) Once your file is opened you will see a tree on the left site, navigate it through these branches: Dialog>1003>1033. Like so:

6) A dialog should pop up when you go into 1033, it is a dialog editor like one you would see in a IDE like Visual Basic Studio. You can drag the items around to your liking. This being mine:

and if you wish to use my config just simply place this into your dialog script in the main window.

1003 DIALOGEX 0, 0, 181, 38
STYLE DS_FIXEDSYS | DS_MODALFRAME | DS_NOIDLEMSG | DS_CONTEXTHELP | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
CAPTION "Run"
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg"
{
   CONTROL 160, 12297, STATIC, SS_ICON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 3, 9, 21, 20 
   CONTROL "", 12298, COMBOBOX, CBS_DROPDOWN | CBS_AUTOHSCROLL | CBS_DISABLENOSCROLL | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_VSCROLL | WS_TABSTOP, 26, 7, 153, 198 
   CONTROL "OK", 1, BUTTON, BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 27, 20, 50, 14 
   CONTROL "Cancel", 2, BUTTON, BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 78, 20, 50, 14 
   CONTROL "&Browse...", 12288, BUTTON, BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 129, 20, 50, 14 
}

7) When you are done press Compile Script at the top of the main window and File>Save

8) If you wish to change the run icon to something that looks better for the dialog simply navigate to: Icon Group>160>1033. Right click on the 1033 and press Replace Resource.

9) Press Open File With New Icon. Find the icon you want to replace it with and then press Replace. When back in the main window press File>Save and exit the application.

10) Once out of ResHacker and saving your new shell32.dll open up the program Replacer that we downloaded earlier and a batch file window should pop up like the one below.

11) For the Original prompt type in C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll and press Enter.

12) For the Replacment prompt type in C:\shell32.dll and press Enter.

13) When it asks you if it wants you to continue or press Y and then Enter.

14) You should get this screen when its over, then press any key and it will close the program.

15) Reboot your computer by opening Start>Turn Off This Computer>Restart or Start>Run>shutdown -r. Enjoy your final results.

Conclusion

I hope that you enjoyed this guide and look forward to future ones. If you have any questions or comments. Please limit criticism to the constructive nature. Thanks for reading.

-LiquidGUI

Edited February 8, 2005 by LiquidGUI

[Elmo]

thanks :)

keep the mods coming

[Gary King]

Lots of work to change something that we only look at for half a second when we use it. :p

[Harsh!]

Nice guide...

Thanks gonna give it a shot now..

[LiquidGUI]

Thanks you guys, and to Gary King, it may seem like alot of work it is actually not much but for those that love customizing this is one more thing for you guys to do :p

[war]

Nice job.

Works for me:

1003 DIALOGEX 0, 0, 181, 38
STYLE DS_FIXEDSYS | DS_MODALFRAME | DS_NOIDLEMSG | DS_CONTEXTHELP | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
CAPTION "Run"
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg"
{
   CONTROL "", 12298, COMBOBOX, CBS_DROPDOWN | CBS_AUTOHSCROLL | CBS_DISABLENOSCROLL | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_VSCROLL | WS_TABSTOP, 3, 2, 174, 197 
   CONTROL "OK", 1, BUTTON, BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 4, 18, 50, 14 
   CONTROL "Cancel", 2, BUTTON, BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 65, 18, 50, 14 
   CONTROL "&Browse", 12288, BUTTON, BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 126, 17, 50, 14 
}

[Mx]

Very nice :)

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

nice article

thanks (Y)

[war]

Speaking of shell32 anyone got a nice 1020 replacement?

[Oompa]

oooh Awesome! Thanks!