ACM - University of Iowa: Forums / Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials / Change Windows Vista Logon Screen (.default user wallpaper)

Forums

ACM - University of Iowa :: Forums :: Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials

<< Previous thread | Next thread >>

Change Windows Vista Logon Screen (.default user wallpaper)

Author

Post

scott

Wed Feb 28 2007, 06:42PM

[ Computer Genius Man ]

Registered Member #2
Joined: Sat Apr 29 2006, 01:17AM
Posts: 1012

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE DONE TO YOUR COMPUTER BY THIS TUTORIAL!!

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I have gotten alot of this from various sites but none had any complete information

let me give background

this is the default signon on background

And i want to change it to

In Windows XP you could simply change a value in the registry to change this image it was
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\wallpaper

in Vista its compiled into %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\imageres.dll

AT THIS STAGE BACK UP %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\imageres.dll

the first step is to take ownership of imageres.dll

create File on Desktop Called cmda.bat
and in the file type only "cmd" <- no quotes
save file

right click cmda.bat and select "Run As Administrator..."

A command prompt will open that has Admin Privileges

type at the command prompt



>takeown /f "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\imageres.dll"
>icacls "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\imageres.dll" /grant administrators:F

upon Success you know have rights to edit imageres.dll

Now Download a Resource hacker Like ResHacker click Here to DL

Run it

open file

%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\imageres.dll

and under `IMAGE` are the logon jpgs

each number
5031 - 5043 correspond to different resolutions

here is a map

5031 => 1280x1024
5032 => 1280x960
5033 => 1024x768
5034 => 1600x1200
5035 => 1440x900
5036 => 1920x1200
5037 => 1280x768
5038 => 1360x768
5039 => 1024x1280
5040 => 960x1280
5041 => 900x1440
5042 => 768x1280
5043 => 768x1360

if you want really robust logons change them all i didn't want that because the computer i user is 1280x1024.

so i right clicked 5031 -> 1033

and select `replace resource...`

click `open file with new resource`
and navigate to your replacement jpeg that is the size of the file your replacing
ORIGINAL FILE AND REPLACEMENT SHOULD BE OF THE EXACT DIMENSIONS replace 1024x768 with files of size 1024x768 only

fill in the following:



`Resource type`: IMAGE
`Resource Name`: <; 5031 - 5043 (which ever number corresponds to the current resolution you are replacing)>
`Resource Language`: 1033 //(if jpg, else 'I DON'T KNOW use jpeg')

save over imageres.dll

and reboot

Because the truth hurts
the world is a hard and lonely place
and nobody gets anything for free.
And you know what else:
one day you and everyone you know is going to die.

Nick

Mon Mar 05 2007, 12:21PM

[ Almost Seymour Cray ]

Joined: Mon May 01 2006, 08:16PM
Posts: 704

Nice dude! ResHacker is a sweet program. I've used it for some XP customizations in the past.

Carpe Noctem!

scott

Mon Aug 20 2007, 01:21PM

[ Computer Genius Man ]

Registered Member #2
Joined: Sat Apr 29 2006, 01:17AM
Posts: 1012

does anyone know how i can programmaticly change a dll at runtime, without recompiling obviously its possible because ResHacker does it.

I am willing to use c/c++ for this limited porpoise

Because the truth hurts
the world is a hard and lonely place
and nobody gets anything for free.
And you know what else:
one day you and everyone you know is going to die.

Thnikkaman

Tue Aug 21 2007, 10:13AM

[ Solved NP-Completeness ]

Registered Member #29
Joined: Tue Aug 01 2006, 02:37PM
Posts: 716

scott wrote ...

does anyone know how i can programmaticly change a dll at runtime, without recompiling obviously its possible because ResHacker does it.

I am willing to use c/c++ for this limited porpoise

I am sure that c/c++ is the only way to deal with dolphins in any matter.

Tue Aug 21 2007, 10:17AM

[ Computer Genius Man ]

Joined: Sun Apr 30 2006, 12:23AM
Posts: 2487

Thnikkaman wrote ...

I am sure that c/c++ is the only way to deal with dolphins in any matter.

LOL!

Who Am I? Former UI student who got BS & MCS from 2004-2009. I now work at Microsoft.

Why Am I Here? I'm a former ACM president and I like keeping up on the chapter.

Wed Nov 12 2008, 12:46PM

[ Lisp Hacker ]

Joined: Tue Mar 11 2008, 10:09PM
Posts: 353

For reference, logon studio now has a product that does this for free. They have a huge collection of backgrounds too.

BJ Dibbern
www.gotdibbs.net

Nick

Thu Nov 13 2008, 07:35PM

[ Almost Seymour Cray ]

Joined: Mon May 01 2006, 08:16PM
Posts: 704

Thanks for the tip dude. Logon Studio looks pretty nice.

Carpe Noctem!

scott

Wed Dec 10 2008, 09:39PM

[ Computer Genius Man ]

Registered Member #2
Joined: Sat Apr 29 2006, 01:17AM
Posts: 1012

I just figured out how to automate the whole process so i may be putting out an EXE that does this some time in the future

Because the truth hurts
the world is a hard and lonely place
and nobody gets anything for free.
And you know what else:
one day you and everyone you know is going to die.

Wed Dec 10 2008, 11:12PM

[ Lisp Hacker ]

Joined: Tue Mar 11 2008, 10:09PM
Posts: 353

Sweet i'd be interested in hearing the story behind the automation if you'd volunteer it...

BJ Dibbern
www.gotdibbs.net

Moderators: JT, Nick, Austin, BJ, Keen, Tyler