Here is another interesting topic for Resource Hacker lovers. In this topic, we are going to mention a few system files in Windows 7 which can be modified to change look of various Windows components like login screen, dialog boxes, menus, etc.

You'll need Resource Hacker to modify these files.

So here is a list of various system files in Windows 7 which can be easily hacked using Resource Hacker:

Approx. all Windows 7 system icons -> %windir%\System32\imageres.dll

Login Screen Background -> %windir%\System32\imageres.dll

Login Screen image resources -> %windir%\System32\authui.dll

Startup Sound -> %windir%\System32\imageres.dll

Start ORB images -> %windir%\Explorer.exe -> Bitmap -> 6801 – 6812

Windows Version Image in “About Windows” dialog box -> %windir%\Branding\Basebrd\basebrd.dll

Windows Version Image in bottom of Login Screen -> %windir%\Branding\Basebrd\basebrd.dll

Control Panel Left Sidebar Image -> %windir%\System32\Shell32.dll -> Bitmap -> 632 & 633

Getting Started (aka Welcome Center) Images -> %windir%\System32\oobefldr.dll

Laptop Battery Meter image resources -> %windir%\System32\batmeter.dll

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Resources -> %windir%\System32\ieframe.dll

Windows Media Player 12 (WMP12) Resources -> %windir%\System32\wmploc.dll

Above mentioned system files/locations are new to Windows 7 and were not present in earlier Windows versions, like XP. If you want to change look of other menus, dialog boxes like RUN, Progress, System Properties, Start menu, Taskbar Properties, etc, you'll have to edit some other system files which you needed to edit in Windows XP. But there is a little difference, now those files don't contain the resources but their .MUI files do.

For example in Windows XP, RUN dialog box resources were present in “%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll” file but in Windows 7, the resources are present in “%windir%\System32\en-US\Shell32.dll.mui” file.

All these .MUI files are present in any of following 2 locations:

%windir%\en-US\
%windir%\System32\en-US\

To know about other system files which are same for all Windows versions and contain resources of various dialog boxes, menus, etc, you'll need to visit following links:

List of Files to be hacked using Resource Hacker

List of Resource Locations to be Hacked Using Resource Hacker

All these file names and resource locations are same in XP, Vista and 7.

Complete list of AskVG articles

This article was posted in Resource Hacker, Windows 7.

Last night i was using both my DVD and my CDrom drives just fine. Windows did some update last night and now the drives dont show up at all. Im not sure what to look for to fix this issue. I have made no other changes whatsoever in between the time that i used it just before powering down last night and when i turned it on today. It was working perfectly fine last night.

Thank you

*edit* i went into my bios and both my ide drives aren't showing up there either.

If you have tried every little thing but Windows 7 is still running sluggish, I highly suggest you attempt to use fix windows xp blue screen to maintain your pc timely and make your Windows 7 fly again.

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