Changing Any Windows XP System Icon: The Second Way

To change the Windows XP system icons using this method, we will be editing a file called shell32.dll with a program called Resource Hacker.

Here We Go:

1. Download Resource Hacker here, this is a small program used for editing .exe, dll and other Win32 resource files.

2. While it is downloading (it is pretty much an instantaneous, very small download, but oh well) we need to make a backup of one important system file called shell32.dll. It can be found in c:\windows\system32\shell32.dll. To see this file you may have to turn off ‘Hide protected operating system files’ and ‘Show hidden files and folders’ in the view tab of folder options (under tools in my computer). Just drag a copy of shell32.dll from system32 to your desktop.

3.Open resource hacker and select file - open. Open the copy of shell32.dll on your desktop.

4. There will be a number of expandable folders in the left colum. We need the bitmap and icon folders. (There is also an AVI movie folder you may want to edit).

5. Expand one of these folders. Inside will be many smaller numbered folders, open each of these and there will be a file called 1033. Click on this once and an image will be displayed in the right colum, this is the icon.

6. Right click on the 1033 file and select replace resource. Select open file with new bitmap and navigate to the icon you wish to replace it with. (The new file should be the same size as the old one or results may be strange) To find the size of the old file, right click on the picture and select copy, you can use paint or adobe photoshop or whatever to find the size).

7. Look through all of the icons in the Bitmap and Icon folders, and change the desired icons.

8. Select file - save. Resource Hacker will also automatically create a backup on your desktop, you can just delete this. (The file we are editing is already a backup).

9. Now download the tiny and simple program called replacer from here. This is a program which makes it easy to replace system files, which you need to do to replace the original shell32.dll file with your edited one.

10. Now open Replacer, a DOS window will come up, follow the instructions on screen. You will have to drag the original system file and then the replacement system file (your backup shell32.dll file on the desktop which was edited). Once completed restart.

11. Voila! Your new system icons will be showing!

12. You can repeat this process for almost any icon you want to change, its just a matter of finding the appropriate file to edit (google searches work best). Try the .cpl files in System32, these are the control panel files.

Enjoy Your Newly Edited And Personalized XP System Icons!