Changing Boot & Login Screens

[bigandy]

Well, after looking around at ThemeXP, and seeing some of the cool boot screens and login screens, I decided I would play around with it and switch them to something a little more personal (and cool of course :D).

Since I am going to be messing around with some pretty important system files here, I want to make sure I do everything correctly.

Here is the Tutorial for changing the two things, from ThemeXP:

Boot Screen
1. Backup (copy) the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (most likely C:\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe - the boot screen)
2. Download the .zip to your computer
3. Extract ntoskrnl.exe to a directory other than %windir%\system32 (most likely C:\windows\system32)
4. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode (hit F8 before the boot screen) or into true DOS (from a boot disk)
5. Overwrite the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (which should have been backed up) with the extracted exe
6. Reboot your computer as you normally would

Login Screen
1. Backup (copy) the file %windir%\system32\logonui.exe (most likely C:\windows\system32\logonui.exe - the logon)
2. Download the .zip to your computer
3. Extract logonui.exe to a directory other than %windir%\system32 (most likely C:\windows\system32)
4. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode (hit F8 before the boot screen) or into true DOS (from a boot disk)
5. Overwrite the file %windir%\system32\logonui.exe (which should have been backed up) with the extracted exe
6. Reboot your computer as you normally would

Alright. So I'm just going to talk about the first one here. I copy the original ntoskrnl.exe to Folder X. Then I reboot into safe mode, and move the ntoskrnl.exe file from the downloaded boot screen, into Windows\System32 and reboot. Correct?

TIA

[pillainp]

Yes, but best make a restore checkpoint before you do it, just in case something goes wrong.

[Shepherd1000]

I was once interested in changing boot screens and almost decided to do so. Then I saw how many people were writing posts complaining that they couldn't boot at all after modifying their boot screens, and asking how to fix the problem that they created. I therefore decided that it wasn't worth the risk. For what it's worth, that's my word of warning to you.

[tyoung]

If you want to change your boot screens easily try this progam, it works well for me with no problems.

http://www.bootxp.net/

[bigandy]

Originally posted by Shepherd1000
I was once interested in changing boot screens and almost decided to do so. Then I saw how many people were writing posts complaining that they couldn't boot at all after modifying their boot screens, and asking how to fix the problem that they created. I therefore decided that it wasn't worth the risk. For what it's worth, that's my word of warning to you.

Thank you for your input Sheperd. Now, when you say people couldn't boot, does that mean that they couldn't boot period, or just boot normally into Windows (meaning, could they get into safe mode)?

TIA.

[Shepherd1000]

It means they could do nada, nothing, no boot no how. that's the risk you take. Supposedly these boot problems are correctable. But you have to ask yourself the following question: "Are ya feelin' lucky?" No, wrong question. You have to ask yourself if the potential hassle and down time is worth it for something of no value other than esthetic. That answer for me was quite clear: No.

[completeandutterNEWB]

i have tried this once and have not been able to boot so i had to reinstall windows

also you dont have to reboot to change your login screens
i forget the program but they have a guide at extrememhz (www.extrememhz.com) which has a link to the program

they also have a link to a program you can use to change your windows GUI theme (free ones!)

they also have a link to a program that can change your entire windows shell which will completely change how you navigate thorugh windows