how to make my own shell32.dll or whatever u what to call it. i tried doing some searches on msfn forum site & on microsofts site but nothing. what i want to do is to create my own .dll where i have my own icons in it that would just be added to my unattened cd, then if i wanted to change icons i would direct it to my new dll. or would it be easier just to copy winxp shell32 and remove everthing i don't need. all i want is to have the icons in it.

Use Icon Package Explorer. That way you can copy shell32.dll to your desktop from c:\windows\system32\shell32.dll and then edit the files that are in there. You can add or delete files however you wish by right clicking. Enjoy.

http://www.stardock.com/products/iconpackager/

i was looking @ that but i haven't used it @ all, so i was not sure whether or not that would work for what i want to do. thanks......

why don't you try
shell packs
xpize is the best shell pack.. i think u love it

if u want to make ur own try editing shell32.dll with resource hacker program.

Resource Hacker Read My Tut And Add Your Own Icons.
This Way You Can Add The Icons You Want To Have. You
Can Also Change Menus And Dialogs.
Example Of The Run Box Change

Ive downloaded Icon Packager and customized my icons and stuff then i saved the icon package.
now how do i add it to my Ua CD?

srry for my eng
Doohoodogg

you have to use makecab and then once its cabbed replace the one on ur UACD

Yes, but what file do i need to makecab, because ive copied the shell32.dll from my sytem32, i opened it with reshack, and no icons are changed, i think that icon packager has some kind of shell, and when you unnistall it the xp shell32.dll became active and the defaut icons are aplied.

Srry for my eng

get all ur icons in a folder together then open shell32.dll with resource hacker, then goto action>replace icon. then simple find the file u want to replace and then click open file with new icon and browse to the icon u wish to use. once u have replaced all the icons u want.just save the file. it will create a backup of the original just incase.

PS : Gunsmokingman, what theme is that screenshot of cause it looks very smart.

Thats exactly what ive done before posting the reply.It didn work!

Any ideea why?

It A Theme I made my self. Thanks Here Is A Link For The Theme
My Grey Theme Sfx Please Note Some Of The Things Like Icons
And Any Changes Made To Dialogs, Are In My Shell Files.

Hey, that Recycle BIN icon...did you get it from foood icons ?

Yes I use a combination of various Longhorn, fooods, Icons In The Shell

Can anyone help me with my problem.
I repeat : I edited shell32.dll with my favorite icons then makecab-it and then put it on my Ua CD in i386 and after ive tested the XP, no icons changes, still the default icons.
I'm really p***ed off because of this, anyone says that they customize their shell32.dll the makecabit and then they put it on their Uacd and it works for them.
Whats wrong ?
Srry for my eng, i need hlp plss

If you are adding updates to the XP CD then there are some that
will change the shell32.dll back to Microsoft shell32.dll
Where are you editing the shell32.dll, because if you try and
change it here \windows\system32\ then nothing will stay.
You have to move the shell32 or any files you plan on changing
to a folder outside of Windows.

when i edit my shell file and makecab it and replace it in my UADVD some icons dont change?...i added the ryanvm update pack and sp2 to it so is it because of that? how do i get by this if thats the problem?

I use a modified replacer cmd to replace any shell files in my runonceEx.cmd
That how I get by the problem.

I copy the shell32.dl_ from my XP Pro + SP 2 + Hotfixes sorce into an folder named The Lab, and the i i expand it, then i use res hack to replace some icons then i makecab-it and then i copy-it back to the XP Ua I386 folder.
I make the iso, and no icons chages, stiil the deafult icons.
And i dont use ryanwn update, just SP2, wich i integrate using nlite, and some hotfixes.

Srry for my eng.
Now, do u guys have any ideea how to make the modiffied shell work?
Thanx

gunsmokingman what do u do to ur runonceex file?

Nothing other then add a start / w for my replacer.cmd
What I did was modified the replacer.cmd to automaticaly
replace the shell32.dll, then after that done I reboot
and my stuff is there.

ohh could i have that modified replacer?

Have you guys ever considered what Windows XP would be like without a shell32.dll? I mean, for those who don't want icons? Would save some resources/memory for sure. Just curious on your thoughts. Cheers.

I do not think Windows wil not run with out the Shell32.dll
So your idea is no good.
The shell I make is approx Half A MB smaller then the
original shell32.dll from Microsoft. I could make it smaller
if I took out the extra bitmaps I add to the shell.

The modified cmd I use for replacer is set to some specific spots on my
computer.

could u make me a modified replacer that i could ?

i just used resource hacker to replace the icons i wanted & then used the makecab to resize to put on my unattended cd, just took over a month resize all the icons i wanted to resize & i have about another months to do, so i can make another one............

i did use icon package to get the icon libraries from the alienware themes, all three of them, i have some other icon libraries i would like to use as well.............

i have also tried xprize, it is a great idea, not sure if i want to go that far, cause i also have modded mspaint, cmdprompt, & mspaint w/ some sweet icons i found...........

been reading this thread and i have a question...
when using the res hacker replace icon method do u have to do any resizing of icons at all? or just replace them?
also does anyone know where the icons are stored for winamp please? i want to replace these for some of foood's icons
thanks

i think u dont have to resize it.. im using restorator2005 to edit my shell32 & i dont do any resizing there too... but i think resizing icons is like reducing the file size...

cool! cos i was thinking of creating my own version of shell32.dll with foood's icons and a few others and i didnt wanna spend ages doing it for it not to work, lol
thanks

Heh i changed the classic theme a bit removed all 48x48 icons and got a 333kb explorer.exe and 4.22 mb shell32 , it speeded up performance and browsing quite a bit i might add

here is a screenshot any comments?

http://www.upload2.net/image_gallery/3342/8956/namnl%F6s.JPG

what i did was to resize the icons to include all but the 4-bit (16 colors), all other formats are shown below

8bit - 256 colors
48x48, 32x32, 24x24, 16x16

24bit - true color
48x48, 32x32, 24x24, 16x16

XP format
128x128, 96x96, 72x72, 64x64, 48x48, 32x32, 24x24, 16x16

Vista
256x256 packed (so only be seen if used w/ vista)

Desdicado where did you find the shell32 and explorer?

Dirtwarrior : they were in windows by default i just reshacked them

look in the system32 folder.....

sory, but i`m a little confused. so if i`m changing icons with object dock, then i can`t put it in to cd?
and about shell32.dll: maybe the changed file should be in $OEM$ folder, then it would be changed correctly?
Thank You, i am new in all this

Just replace the Shell32.dl_ in the XPCD\i386 Folder
Here is a cmd that will makecab the shell32.dll in %Systemdrive%\windows\system32, then checks
If this folder exist %systemdrive%\ShellFiles if it not there then it makes the folder, then moves the
makecab shell32.DL_ to %systemdrive%\ShellFiles

ok thanks gunsmokingman, i got that;) but do i have to change shell32 with reshackers? because i`ve changed shortcuts with object desktop icon packager, so where does tnis sh.t puts them? thanks

Resource Hack the shell32.dll, use Repalcer to change the shell32.dll
then run the cmd.
Doing it this way means you do not have to use 3rd party apps for
your icons.

How do I obtain a modified shell32.dll from this? IconPackager seems to leave the shell32.dll untouched. The program remembers the paths of the icon files seemingly. Can someone clarify or help me on this? I have set my icons up how I want them via IconPackager, and I want to take this modification and put it into a modified shell32.dll to put on my UA cd. Thanks in advance..

any one help me ......

i have done al those steps

now how to put that modified shell32.dll file in system it cant be done it shows message plz change the name of the file . so what i did i change the name off original shell ones and then only i was able to moved it from the windows directory .

But still i cant delete it as its shows " this file is in use" .
after restarting my pc i was able to delete it and what i found that the icons where changed then i tried to change more icons little greedy . But now when i restarted all gone back to those default icons

Now plz say what to do i mean plz say the method step by step

Windows will not use the modded shell32.dll because it will appear invalid. Instead it will automatically replace the "reshacked" dll with the correct one from its backup C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache (unless you disabled Windows File Protection (WFP)). It now has a new checksum values from our edit with resource hacker, and this new checksum value will not match the value stored inside of the file.

We have to update this checksum inside of this PE (Packed Executable) file, and use ModifyPE with it's -c switch, to recalculate the checksum and store it so that the file does not appear to be corrupt to Windows.

At command prompt type:



Use modifype after editing the file, and/or right before using or compressing it (for new installation).

@prithvi:

1. ModifyPE your "reshacked" shell32.dll
2. Delete the backup shell32.dll at C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache (so that windows will not recover from the "true" backup)
3. Copy your "reshacked" shell32.dll into C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache (the new backup)
4. Use your own technique in replacing C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll
5. Enjoy...

Hey mau-yong thanks buddy it works atlast

specially due to urs 2 method "Delete the backup shell32.dll"

so here the final steps/methods , after this sure no one will have any prob



after replaceing urs shell file plz restart or better shutdown urs pc and then restart

I'm happy it helped.

I have readed this topic several times.
But still unclear

What I have: custom full_uacd with ryan update pack integrated and custom shell32.dll cabed to shell32.dl_ and placed in my uacd. Windows file protection on my uacd disabled.
What I want: that after installation my custom uacd shell32.dll will be in windows\system32 UNCHANGED by update pack and without any additional actions form user since it is unattended installation.
If such it is possible ?