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Editing WINNTBBU.DLL For Dummies


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The first thing you need before you do anything, is a program that can open up, and examine the innards of the WINNTBBU.DLL. The program i use is Resource Tuner. Most people use Resource Hacker (cause its freeware), but i find this one alot more user friendly.

Whilst that is downloading, you may wish to extract the WINNTBBU.DLL from your I386 Directory on your WindowsXP CD, and chuck it in a folder someplace. I recommend making a brand spanking new folder where you can store all your new setup screen goodies, so you have them all in the one spot when you need them.

Download is done? Excellent. Give Resource Tuner the good ol' install treatment, and when you're done, execute the application.

From there, you'd want to select File --> Open and then select your WINNTBBU.DLL file you extracted earlier. Since Resource Tuner is a 30 day trial program, it'll ask you to register blah blah, just smash continue.

Your screen should look like this:

rt1.JPG

If you expand the bitmap subfolder, you'll see lots of little enteries that start with 100, and go up to 192. Now all of them arent there, so dont be alarmed. It goes from 100 to 109, then skips straight to 150. This is normal. You're not missing any enteries, so take thoes fingernails out of your mouth.

If you have a little browse through the enteries in the bitmap subcategory by clicking on a few, you'll notice that each one holds a different bitmap image. These are what you will be editing, and replacing, in order to make your install screens look spiffy.

You will notice that there are several versions of each bitmap image. One set are for 1024 x 768 (high resolution) and the other set are for 640 x 480 (Low resolution). We will be editing the high resolution images.

Here is a brief explanation of where the bitmap files you will need are located:

100 - Windows Logo in the top left hand corner.

101 - Windows Logo in the top left hand corner.

102 - Windows Logo in the top left hand corner.

103 - The main background image.

104 - Image shown next to the task when it has been completed.

105 - Image shown next to the task which has not been completed.

109 - Image shown next to the task when it is being performed.

181 - 192 - Little animating images in the bottom right hand corner of the setup screen.

Okay. From then on, all you need to do is Right click on the image you wish to edit, and select Save Resource As... and choose a location to save the image.

Once you've extracted an image, its time to edit it. Any graphics editing program will suffice. Change it how you wish. The only limits are, that the backdrop must be 1024 x 768, and all images must be in 256 colours. I find it easier to make the image, then convert it to 256 colours at the end.

So now you have your new image that you want to throw back into the WINNTBBU.DLL. This is how you do it.

Back in your resource tuner, select the key that you extracted the image from, right click --> edit resource. On the next screen, you need to press the Open Resource button, illustrated below.

rt2.JPG

From there, select your edited bitmap. Next, select Ok. Select Yes from the next dialog box.

Follow thoes last few steps to editing your bitmap files, for all the other bitmaps you wish to change, save your new WINNTBBU.DLL (File --> Save File As...) and bobs your monkey! But don't relax yet ... we're not done.

By this point, you should have all your bitmaps replaced in the WINNTBBU.DLL file.

You're almost done! Open up a command prompt (windows key + R, then type in cmd) and navigate to the directory where you saved your WINNTBBU.DLL. (If you dont know how to navigate directorys through dos, i suggest you find out)

Next, at the command prompt, type in this command.

makecab winntbbu.dll

This will create a file called winntbbu.dl_ in the same directory.

All you need to do now is throw that file you just created (winntbbu.dl_) into your i386 folder on your XP CD, and thats it!

Congratulations, you've just changed your XP Setup Screens! Give yourself a pat on the back and a chocolate eclair. You've earnt it.

Note: You do NOT need to put the new WINNTBBU.DLL file into your i386 directory. Only the winntbbu.dl_

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OK, coupla more questions for the tech savy guys....

- Has anyone figured out how to change the color of the text in the startup screen?

- Has anyone figured out a way to remove the progress bar and the text that goes with it (i.e. "Setup will take approximately 39 minutes")?

Heres what i've got so far. i would like to change the text to a green and remove the status bar crap.

mine.jpg

mine2.jpg

mine3.jpg

I really wish I could use some sort of animated .gif or something to have the matrix text scroll. :)

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OK, coupla more questions for the tech savy guys....

- Has anyone figured out how to change the color of the text in the startup screen?

- Has anyone figured out a way to remove the progress bar and the text that goes with it (i.e. "Setup will take approximately 39 minutes")?

Heres what i've got so far. i would like to change the text to a green and remove the status bar crap.

mine.jpg

I really wish I could use some sort of animated .gif or something to have the matrix text scroll.  :)

DUDE EXCELLENT, LOVE IT..

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