It all begins with the start button.
Maybe one of the most
representative symbols of the
Windows operating system, the start
button has been present on our
taskbars since Windows 95 and still
hangs there along with the new
Windows Vista.
Although its shape may have
changed over the years, one thing
remained the same: its display
name, START. This is a remarkable
success for the brand continuity
and for Windows marketing scheme
but we, the end users, may have
gotten bored with it.
Nowadays, everything tends to
become customizable, from a
simple cell phone to an expensive
car. If that's possible, why wouldn't
there be available a method for
renaming the start button?
By default, there is not a single
option available in Windows to
permit changing the name of the
start button but there are always
people who think and act to achieve
what they want.
How it's done
There are two steps to follow in
order to obtain what we want:
1. Editing the explorer.exe
2. Tweaking the registry to accept
the changes.
First step
Explorer.exe is found in Windows
folder and must be edited enable
the renaming of the start button.
Because we are dealing with a
binary file, we need to use a file
editor. I successfully edited the file
using the Resource Hacker
application. It is a free program
available for download
http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/
Once you have downloaded it,
extract all the data from the archive
and run ResHacker. Now open the
explorer.exe.
In the left, you can see an
information tree. Expand String
table > 37 or 38 (37 string is for
the normal XP layout and 38 one is
for the classic layout). You just
select the one suitable for your
Windows and then select 1033. In
the right, line 578 display Start
between quotes. Rename it with the
desired name and then click the
Compile Script button which is
placed above.
It's time to save the new version of
the explorer.exe. Click save as from
the file menu and save it with a
different name. I chose
blackhole.exe.
Step two
Go to start > Run and type Regedit
to open the registry editor. Look for
this path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACH
INE>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Windows
NT>CurrentVersion>Winlogon
In the right, find the "Shell" entry.
Double click on it and replace
explorer.exe with softpedia.exe (or
whatever you renamed the edited
file).
Close the registry editor and Log Off
or Restart your computer. After
Windows XP boots, the new start
button will have the name you have
chosen.
My tip is not to use long names
because the start button will have
to adapt in order to be able to show
such names and its shape will be
elongated and might not look too
pleasant.
Maybe one of the most
representative symbols of the
Windows operating system, the start
button has been present on our
taskbars since Windows 95 and still
hangs there along with the new
Windows Vista.
Although its shape may have
changed over the years, one thing
remained the same: its display
name, START. This is a remarkable
success for the brand continuity
and for Windows marketing scheme
but we, the end users, may have
gotten bored with it.
Nowadays, everything tends to
become customizable, from a
simple cell phone to an expensive
car. If that's possible, why wouldn't
there be available a method for
renaming the start button?
By default, there is not a single
option available in Windows to
permit changing the name of the
start button but there are always
people who think and act to achieve
what they want.
How it's done
There are two steps to follow in
order to obtain what we want:
1. Editing the explorer.exe
2. Tweaking the registry to accept
the changes.
First step
Explorer.exe is found in Windows
folder and must be edited enable
the renaming of the start button.
Because we are dealing with a
binary file, we need to use a file
editor. I successfully edited the file
using the Resource Hacker
application. It is a free program
available for download
http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/
Once you have downloaded it,
extract all the data from the archive
and run ResHacker. Now open the
explorer.exe.
In the left, you can see an
information tree. Expand String
table > 37 or 38 (37 string is for
the normal XP layout and 38 one is
for the classic layout). You just
select the one suitable for your
Windows and then select 1033. In
the right, line 578 display Start
between quotes. Rename it with the
desired name and then click the
Compile Script button which is
placed above.
It's time to save the new version of
the explorer.exe. Click save as from
the file menu and save it with a
different name. I chose
blackhole.exe.
Step two
Go to start > Run and type Regedit
to open the registry editor. Look for
this path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACH
INE>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Windows
NT>CurrentVersion>Winlogon
In the right, find the "Shell" entry.
Double click on it and replace
explorer.exe with softpedia.exe (or
whatever you renamed the edited
file).
Close the registry editor and Log Off
or Restart your computer. After
Windows XP boots, the new start
button will have the name you have
chosen.
My tip is not to use long names
because the start button will have
to adapt in order to be able to show
such names and its shape will be
elongated and might not look too
pleasant.
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