Computer Hardware Servicing Tutorial

( Tested on WIN XP -= Use trick at your own risk! =- )

Have you ever wanted to to change the word "Start" in the Start Button of Win XP but could not figure out how? Changing it is so easy, you dont have to be a geek to do so. All you need to have is a program called Resource Hacker and a brain to follow some instruction. Sounds easy right?

What we are going to do is to change the text which happens to be "Start" of the start button. We can only do this so if we alter the text of the explorer shell ( explorer.exe ) with the help of ResHack ( Resource Hacker ). Then after doing so, we need to change the string value of the Shell by typing in the name of the edited explorer.exe file. Lets get started!

A. Download the Resource Hacker Program and save it on your desktop.

B. After successfully downloaded ResHack, we will navigate to the system32 folder of the Windows Directory. We can easily access the directory by opening "Run" and type in "%systemroot%" without the quotes. It should display something like c:\WINDOWS or D:\WINDOWS but by default the root is C:. Once you are at the WINDOWS directory, look for the file named "explorer.exe" and create a backup of it and save it on your desktop.

C. Now, we need to terminate explorer.exe by ending its process at the Task Manager. Click right on the taskbar and then t "Task Manager". Alternately, you may use key combinations as CTRL+SHIFT+ESC. Go then to the "Processes" Tab and look for explorer.exe. Once explorer.exe is found, click right on it and choose "End Process Tree"

D. We now need to open Resource Hacker. Go to "Applications" Tab, then to "New Task" which is situated at the lower right portion of the window. Once clicked, you will see a "Create new task" window. Noticeably, a "Browse" button should be clicked and navigate to your desktop and click on ResHack to open it.

E. Editing of Explorer.exe will now be possible using Resource Hacker. To do so, just go to "File", then "Open" and locate the Explorer.exe file in the C:\WINDOWS or the WINDOWS Directory of another partition.

F. In the left Panel of the Resource Hacker, navigate to "String Table". Inside "String Table", go to Folder 37 then click on 1033. On the right pane, double click on the word START of line 578 and once START is highlighted type in any word you wish to replace it like Clhido. Then Click on the "Compile Script" button then go to "File" and click on "Save as" to save the edit as "testing". Exit

G. Again, go to "Task Manager" and open "New Task" then type in "regedit" ( without quotes ).

H. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon then double click on the "Shell" String Value and replace "Explorer.exe" to "testing.exe" then click ok.

I. Log Off or Restart Computer

J. Comment or link this blog to help share the trick. :-)