Can someone tell me how to make my own login screen for XP?

[silver24]

I would like to know if someone has info on how to make login screens so I can use a Pic of my girls as the login screen.

Thanks.

 

[jst0ney]

Sarah Lane did it on the screen savers awhile back that they replayed this weekend. I tried to find the link but the G4 Techtv merger has left out alot of content from the techtv side. Word is they are working on it but here is the useless link.

You may have some luck here. Good Luck

jst0ney

 

[AtTheGates]

1) Go to ThemeXP.org and download a simple looking theme. I used this one.
2) Extract the exe from the zip file and open it with Resource Hacker.
3) Expand the Bitmap section, expand the folder 100, and select the 1033. You should see the background image in the right panel.
4) Right click on the image and hit copy.
5) Open Paint and hit Edit->Paste. Select Image->Attributes and take note of the size and the dpi. If you have chosen a good starting logon this should be the same size as your desktop.
6) Choose a good picture of you girls. Resize this image so it is the same as the one being replaced. DPI should be the same as the one being replaced or just use 72 dpi.
7) Return to ResHacker with the background image still selected. Select Action->Replace Bitmap. Open your picture and hit Replace. If you get an error here, try resizing the image with a different program. If I use Photoshop 5 to resize this step will always fail.
8) Select Save As and name the file logonui.new.
9) Move logonui.new to C:\Windows\System32
9a) Copy logonui.exe and name the copy logonui.exe.bak.
10) Restart your computer and hit F8 during boot to get the safe mode menu. Choose ?Safe Mode with Command Prompt?.
11) Log on with administrator privileges. At the prompt type cd c:\windows\system32(enter). Then type copy logonui.new logonui.exe(enter).
12) Restart your computer and you will see your new logon screen.

Standard disclaimer. I originally got this info from bfarber

Edit: This is how to do it without any 3rd party apps. There are programs to make this easier but I have never used one. There should be more information on these programs on ThemeXP if you are interested.

 

[silver24]

Thanks, ill give it a try.

 

[NogginBoink]

Don't do it.

This is an Extraordinarily Bad Idea.

The logo bitmap is stored as a resource inside the kernel. If you edit it, first off, windows file protection will want to overwrite your file with the known-good MS version. (This is a Good Thing.)

If you get past that, you move on to worse problems. Let's say that you do this, then later you install a service pack. The service pack installer attempts to verify which version of the kernel you have installed. It can't match your kernel to anything that it knows about, so it assumes you have a custom OEM kernel and does not upgrade the kernel with the service pack.

If you're lucky, you're in Blue Screen City and can back out of this. If you're unlucky, you get all kinds of bizarre behavior that you blame Microsoft for when the root of the problem is your editing of the kernel.

 

[AtTheGates]

NogginBoink is correct about the service pack thing but I would not call this an extraordinarily bad idea. Before installing the upcoming service pack it would be good to revert back to the orginal file. Delete the logonui.exe that you created and then rename logonui.exe.bak to logonui.exe. You should also have an extra copy of the original logonui in C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386.
There are risks but if you feel comfortable messing around with your OS then give it a try. Browse the forums at ThemeXP to see what problems people have and see if it is worth it to you.

 

[newParadigm]

One word for ya Bud, ScreenBooty.

It's a great little program, search it on google and you'll find a download link.

 

[silver24]

Well im useing SP2 Beta and ive used Login Loader to install downloaded Login Screens without any trouble, so if the above doesnt work, at least you guys tryed to warn me........Thanks.