Prosidius Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 (edited) Did you ever want to change the text that says start? With a few modifications you can. Note: This guide/tutorial requires editing of Windows files. Please be cautious when editing these files. Change Start Menu Text 1. Download Resource Hacker. 2. Locate explorer.exe in your C:/Windows directory. Copy this file somewhere and give it the name explorer.bak. 3. Launch resource hacker and use resource hackers menus to open up explorer.exe. Once opened you will see lots of collapsed folders. 4. Expand the String Table folder and then find folder No. 37 (folder No. 38 if you're in Windows Classic mode). 5. Click on resource 1033 and locate the text that says "Start." This is your Start button, Change the "Start" text to your text of choice. You don't have a character limit, but the text takes up valuable taskbar space, so don't make it too long. 6. Click on the button labeled Compile Script. This updates the settings for your Start button. But nothing will happen until you complete through step #20, so keep going! If you just want to change the text and nothing else like hover text, image, etc. jump to step 16. Change your hover text 7. While you're here, why not also change the text that pops up when your mouse hovers over your Start button? 8. Right now it says "Click here to begin." Well, duh! We already know that's where to begin! 9. Open folder No. 34 and click on resource 1033. 10. Find the text that says "Click here to begin" and change it to something cooler. 11. Click on the Compile Script button to update this resource. Customize your Start icon 12. For an added bonus, you can also change the Windows icon to the left of the text, too. 13. Collapse the String Table folder and expand the Bitmap folder at the top of your folder list. 14. Click on folder No. 143 and click on resource 1033. You should see that familiar Windows icon. 15. Go to the Action Menu and select "Replace bitmap." Select "Open file with new bitmap", and locate the replacement image on your machine. Note: The image must have a .bmp extension and a size of 25 pixels by 20 pixels. Then click the Replace button. 16. Now that you've made your changes, save the file in your Windows folder with another name, such as newstartbutton.exe. Don't name it Explorer.exe, because that file is already being used by your system. Close all open programs and restart your system. 17. Boot into Safe Mode With Command Prompt by pressing F8 on startup. Then choose Safe Mode in the command prompt. 18. Log on as administrator and enter your password. 19. When the command prompt comes up, make sure you're in the right directory by typing "cd c:\windows" (without the quotes). 20. Now type "copy c:\windows\newstartbutton.exe c:\windows\explorer.exe" (no quotes). Type "yes" (no quotes) to overwrite the existing file, then restart your system by typing "shutdown -r" (no quotes). When Windows relaunches, you'll see your new Start button in all its glory! Thanks goes to sarah lane and thescreensavers. :) Enjoy Adam Edited September 15, 2004 by Adamb10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeS Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 It's too trouble :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajjeet Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 just did it...fun to play with windows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringo Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 good guide (Y) thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted September 15, 2004 Veteran Share Posted September 15, 2004 Also, the start logo can be a 32Bit bmp. What i do, is save it with a different name, go into task manager, kill explorer.exe, then run the file i saved, it loads the way explorer would when you start the computer, you can rename it there also, save rebooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambi Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Awesome (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalizar Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 when i try to do it, it says that the file is in use, and it doesnt copy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobebetter Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 thanks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin89h Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Hmm, great idea :D I got one problem but, how do you make a bitmap that would be proccessed as transparent? The original windows icon had black around the logo, and the black was made transparent. That doesn't work for any new bitmaps I put in. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringo Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 when i try to do it, it says that the file is in use, and it doesnt copy it. you need to use a program called Replacer to avoid the Windows File Protection.... the proggie is in here: http://www3.telus.net/_/replacer/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshMan Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 That's cool, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.r.l. Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Looks like the one comin from TweakXP :) Nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted September 15, 2004 Veteran Share Posted September 15, 2004 Hmm, great idea :DI got one problem but, how do you make a bitmap that would be proccessed as transparent? The original windows icon had black around the logo, and the black was made transparent. That doesn't work for any new bitmaps I put in. Any ideas? Do you have photoshop, if you do, save the image as a 32Bit windows bitmap, if you want to edit the file, try Gif Movie Gear for Icons, when i extract 32Bit bmp files with resource hacker, it screws up the image and makes it 24bit, gif movie gear can make it 32bit again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosidius Posted September 16, 2004 Author Share Posted September 16, 2004 I made a edit to make it shorter for those just wanting to change the text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McGazza Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 I made a edit to make it shorter for those just wanting to change the text. Thanks Adamb :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sp1k3 Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 lol i did this for 98 users ago....did it thro dos -_- it was hard :p i remember how the START was T R A T S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.r.l. Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 That guide just wont work 0.o I recompile the script with the new value and it just asses up <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuxi Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Nice guide! :D It could come in handy sometime... :shifty: :ninja: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.r.l. Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Hum... maybe it didnt work because I tried to replace "start" with sh it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosidius Posted September 19, 2004 Author Share Posted September 19, 2004 That guide just wont work 0.oI recompile the script with the new value and it just asses up <_< Remember recompiling it won't apply the changes. Read the guide carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnkimble Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nastrodamus Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Cool info thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jymi Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 very useful guide, maybe lose the last few steps and just use 'replacer' tops (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazebee_ Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 thanks for the guide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piggY| Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 a great site with loads of cool tips and tricks is: http://www.tipsdr.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts