Hack Your XP Login Screen

If you're really into bland stuff, the default Windows XP login screen is right up your alley. But I want my computer to greet me with gusto, so I have some serious plans for my own login screen. As far as I'm concerned, that dull default XP password-prompter has got to go.

On tonight's episode of "The Screen Savers" I'll show you how to turn that yawn-inducing XP login screen into a devil-may-care thrill ride of customizable excitement! For free! Can I get a what-what from my peeps in the back of the club?

Back up your files first

To change your XP login screen, you need to make changes to a file called "logonui.exe," which you can find in the c:\windows\system32 folder. Before you do anything, make a copy of logonui.exe in your System32 folder and rename it "logonui.bak."

If you don't see logonui.exe in your System32 folder, perform the following magic trick.

1. Go to Tools > Folder Options.
2. Select the View tab.
3. Under the Advanced Settings header, make sure the button is selected next to "Show hidden files and folders." Also make sure the box is unchecked next to "Hide protected operating systems files."

Once you've located the file, open logonui.exe in your favorite resource editor. If you're still looking for a resource editor, I recommend Resource Hacker or ResBuilder.

Once you open logonui.exe in a resource editor, you'll see the breakdown of bitmaps and text info associated with the file. As you can see, there are a lot of individual images to edit.

Now you've got two options.

Option No. 1: the hard way

You can build your own login screen from the ground up by creating your own images to replace the default bitmaps. Once that's done, you can save the file as a new executable with a name such as "new_logonui.exe."

I went over this process in my Hack Your XP Boot Screen Windows Tweak, so visit that page for a step-by-step tutorial.

Option No. 2: the much, much easier way

If you don't want to go through all those steps, use a premade login-screen theme!

You can download them from a variety of online sources, but my favorite is ThemeXP. Click the Logins link in the left navbar for thousands of login-screen choices.

Once you download the Zip file and unzip it, select the executable (.exe) file. You replace the original logonui.exe file with this file. You can further edit this new file with your resource editor, if you want to.

Finalizing your new login screen

However you decide to edit logonui.exe, you'll need to save your changes by overwriting it with your new file. Just restart in safe mode with command prompt.

1. Reboot your machine and press F8 before your boot screen kicks in. This will bring up a menu screen with a choice called "Safe mode with command prompt." Select it and press Enter.

2. Log in as administrator.

3. At the command prompt, type "cd c:\windows\system32" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

4. At the command prompt, type "copy new_logonui.exe logonui.exe" (no quotes) and press Enter. Make sure you use the actual name of the new logonui.exe file.

5. At the command prompt, type "yes" (no quotes). Press Enter to overwrite the original file.

6. At the command prompt, type "shutdown -r" (no quotes). Pressing Enter will then restart your computer.

Now when you boot up, you should see your new settings! Take that, boring old login screen!

Ah, the joy of absolute power.

Love,
Sarah

Download of the Day: Movie Organizer

If you've got a hefty film library of DVDs, VHS tapes, or maybe even a few LaserDiscs, I hope you've got a good system for keeping track of it all! If not, try Movie Organizer by OXD Software, a free program designed to help keep your collection perfectly arranged...especially you closet burners who have 100 DVD-Rs without proper cover art that all look the same.

Do a Google search for this kind of program, and you'll come up with a handful of similar options. But I like Movie Organizer's look the best.  It's designed to be used with OXD Software's Movie Organizer Online Database, a ever-growing collective database of film facts, but IMDB is also integrated for more thorough results.

Movie Organizer works with Windows 9x/NT/2000/Me/XP systems. Have you used it? Do you like it? Got another freebie that you like better? Post a comment!

Download of the Day: Kapsules

Want a widget-friendly Windows desktop? Then try out Kapsules.

As all you Mac users know, widgets are small, visual programs that run on your desktop. They can be transparent and moved to your location of choice, depending on your mood and organizational habits. The most popular widget program for the Mac is Konfabulator, though the folks who make DesktopX claim their widgets came first. DesktopX widgets are pretty slick, as is the entire DesktopX suite, but I love to try out the new stuff. Especially when it's free. Let me know how your success is with the Kapsules widgets already available for download, but definitely let me know if you design one of your own.

Kapsules also has a pretty hefty development guide for those of you who love to create new toys.

Kapsules works on Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 systems.

Have fun!
:)
s

Something Old… Something New…

Today marks the last day of TechTV before TechTV merges with G4 to become “G4TechTV.”

Many of you have written me to ask what’s really going on with the merger. And I’ve been mum to you all because I want to wait until things are totally, completely, for sure abso-definite before I pass the info along. If you can bear to hear this again, please be patient just a teensy bit longer while life works itself out.

Anyway, tomorrow Kevin and I will both be missing from TSS, with Roger and Cat in our places. But don’t worry, it has nothing to do with the merger. I just happen to be a bridesmaid in my friends Kathy and Ryan’s wedding, so the mister and I are jetting down south to celebrate the festivities. Our comrades from CFH were kind enough to help Pat hold down the fort in our absence, and I thank them.

Now, time to party on the beach for a few days! Check my moblog for the action.

Ok, you’re all informed. Go ahead and make up a conspiracy if you like, but don’t say I didn’t set you straight!

PS- I’ll be one of seven barefoot bridesmaids, complete with an equal number of barefoot groomsmen, a barefooot groom, and a barefoot bride. I understand that a sandy beach wedding kind of calls for this sort of thing, but damn it if I don’t have the cutest red pumps that scream to be a part of this. I mean, really. Shoeless? By choice? Crazy times, man.

Pretty in Pink

Do not adjust your computer monitors... I've moved to TypePad! Why? Because Movable Type was testy, I was getting tired of my old blog layout, and it was time to start fresh and clean.

Two thumbs up for the import/export feature between MT and TP. All my archives have transitioned over seamlessly. It's possible to do this from another blog system into TypePad as well, but it'll take you a bit more work.

If you're viewing sarah.word. in Internet Explorer, you may notice that a couple of my borders look funky, and my header text is kinda ragged. I'm not sure what's up since everything looks breathtakingly perfect in Firefox. Just another reason why IE is no longer king, I guess. I've put in a help ticket request with TypePad, so let's see how the support team rates... (insert Jeopardy theme)

Anyway, while the new and improved sarah.word. is still a work in progress, choosing my layouts and styles have been nothing but smooth sailing! It's like Blogging for Dummies. My grandma could do this. Ok, my grandma couldn't do this. But your grandma might.

My only gripe is that TypePad Plus (8.95/month) won't allow me HTML access, so I'll probably be upgrading to TypePad Pro (14.95/month). Perhaps it's because I spent so much time tinkering with scripts in Moveable Type that I still feel the need to get my hands dirty. I also drive a stick shift in San Francisco, so maybe I just like to do things the hard way. HTML aside, TypePad's ease of use is impressive. Two clean thumbs up so far!

I'd love to get your initial feedback on the upgrade! Just don't complain about the pink. The pink stays.

:)
s