Hacking the Windows XP Start Button Text - Back up those files!
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Before you begin editing any operating systems files, always remember the first rule of computing: Back up!
I’ve taken the time to add a lot of pictures to this article so that you can see exactly what I’m doing. In an effort to keep them in the highest detail possible, I have not cropped any of them. You can click on any of the shrunken images to see them full size.
You’re going to want to back up all of the files we’ll be working with. While we’ll only be editing one we will be deleting several others. You can back them all up very quickly by running the UnprotectExplorer.vbs file included in my component pack. Not only will it back up all necessary files for you, but it will also take care of the next step as well—unprotecting Explorer.exe.
If you prefer to do your backup manually, just follow along. If you ran the script, you can jump to the next section and begin “Editing the start button.”
We’re going to be editing Explorer.exe which is the executable used as the Windows shell. This is the file that manages your taskbar and start menu along with some other things.
In My Computer, open up your Windows directory (the directory where Windows was installed). In most cases this is in C:\Windows but it may also be C:\Winnt on Windows 2000 upgrades. Find the file named Explorer.exe and make a copy of it in the same directory. Name your copy something like Explorer.backup.exe.
If you’re running Service Pack 1 or 2, navigate into the ServicePackFiles directory and do the same. This time, however, you’re going to delete the original. This is a backup file used by Windows to replace a damaged Explorer.exe file in your Windows directory. Since we’re going to be editing it and changing its file size, Windows is going to think it’s been corrupted.
Go back up a level and perform the same process again in the LastGood folder if it exists. Again, make sure to delete the original. This is the folder where Windows stores backup files that are used when you boot using the Last Known Good Configuration option.
In case you’re worried about not being able to use the Last Known Good Configuration, don’t be. After making our changes, a successful reboot will add our hacked version of Explorer.exe to the LastGood directory making it once again available for future use.
Navigate back up to the Windows directory and then into System32. Find a directory named dllcache and perform the same operation again, both backing up and deleting the original. This is the backup folder used by Windows File Protection.
Take a breath, you’re almost there. Now that we’ve eliminated all of the backup files that Windows would use to undo our changes, we need tell it to stop monitoring the file for changes. This will prevent Windows from nagging us about an incorrect file version once we reboot.
To do that, you’ll need to navigate back into the System32 directory and then into the Restore directory. Here we’re going to edit a file called filelist.xml. This is a hidden file. You may need to enable viewing of hidden files and folders in order to see it.
You can do that by choosing Folder Options from the Tools menu. In the Folder Options dialog box, select the View tab. In the Advanced Settings box, scroll down until you see Hidden files and folders. Select the radio button labeled Show hidden files and folders and then click Apply and OK to save the changes.
You should now see the file grayed out. Right-click it and choose Properties… On the General tab, remove the checkmark next to Read-only to remove the file’s read-only attribute.
Now make a copy of the file as we’ve done before. Right-click the file and open it using Notepad or some other simple text editor. Near the top of the file you’ll find an <EXCLUDE> section. Insert a line above the one containing “<REC>%windir%\system.ini</REC>” and add the following line in the exact same format.
<REC>%windir%\Explorer.exe</REC>
Save your changes and then reapply the read-only attribute by replacing the checkmark in the File Properties dialog box. You’ve now removed file protection for Explorer.exe. Although protection isn’t officially disabled until you reboot, you'll want to see the nag screens to know that your changes were applied successfully.
Once we’re all finished up you’ll want to reboot to get your system up and running properly again. While it is uncommon, you may experience some slight system instability until you do.
Next: Editing the start button text >>
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