* Follow them and change text on Start Button whatever you want (e.g.,your name).
Step 1 - Modify Explorer.exe File
* In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. * Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor.
* For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker.
* Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res).
* It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.
* Get this from http://delphi.icm.edu.pl/ftp/tools/ResHack.zip
* The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.
* Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe.
* Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.
* The category we are going to be using is "String Table".
* Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033.
* If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38.
* The right hand pane will display the stringtable. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.
* There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight.
* They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used Click Me!
* You’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out is now active.
* I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile.
* Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu.
* Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file.
* Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.
Step 2 – Modify the Registry
* !!!make a backup of your registry before making changes!!!
* Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system.
* If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open field.
* Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon
In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box.
* In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.
* Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference.
* If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.
Technorati Tags: Computers