Hacking the Windows XP Start Button Text - Editing the start button text
(Page 3 of 4 )
Now we’re ready to do the dirty work. At this point, Explorer.exe should be unprotected and all other programs should be closed. For all intents and purposes you should be staring at your desktop with its original Start button.
Go ahead and start Resource Hacker from the folder where you unzipped it. You can close the folder window now if you want.
With Resource Hacker open, we need to end the Explorer.exe process. We’re not going to be able to edit the file while it’s running. If you try, you’ll just get the classic “this file is in use” error.
To do this, press Ctrl + Alt + Del to open the Task Manager. Typing taskmgr in the Run dialog also works nicely. Select the Processes tab. Find and select the explorer.exe process. Clicking the Image Name heading to sort the listing may make this a little easier.
With the explorer.exe process selected, click the End Process button. You should see your taskbar disappear. You can close the Task Manager window.
Now you need Resource Hacker. If it was minimized when explorer.exe was closed, you can bring it back by holding down the Alt key and pressing Tab repeatedly until it’s selected. Releasing the Alt button will bring Resource Hacker back in to focus.
In Resource Hacker, select Open… from the File menu. Navigate to the Windows directory and open Explorer.exe.
In the left pane you should see a tree listing containing all of the resources in the executable. Expand the String Table listing and then the entry named 37. Next, select the listing for your installed language. There’s usually only one option here anyway. In my case it’s 1033, that the code for en-us (US English).
Now you should see a sort of script in the right pane. In the line beginning with 578, you should see start in quotation marks. Change this to whatever you would like your start button to display. Mine looks like this:
578, "Developer Shed"
Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click the Compile Script button above the right pane. This will edit the resource, but will not yet commit changes to Explorer.exe. You can repeat this process again if you change your mind before saving.
Now go back to the left pane and select heading 38. Make the same changes for line 595. Again make sure to click the Compile Script button.
Now head up to the File menu and Save your changes. You'll see two notification boxes letting you know that a system file has been changed. Click Cancel to the first and Yes to the second. That’s all there is to it. You now you need to start the explorer.exe process again. You can do this from the Task Manager. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to open it again.
From the Task Manager’s File menu, select New Task (Run…) to open the Run dialog box. Type in explorer.exe and click OK. After a few seconds, you should see your taskbar reappear with all of your icons and your newly designed Start button.
Next: Wrapping things up >>
More BrainDump Articles
More By Nilpo/Developer Shed Staff Writer
