Member Avatar for gdrori

I found a way to change my Start Menut name on TheElderGeek.com They Have an easy Toturial here. It does not make problems! :)

NOTE: It's only for windows XP

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Brief summary and practical context: the change described by is possible because the Start label lives inside the shell binary, and a number of members here tried that approach with mixed results. Reports range from a clean visual change to a non-booting system () or a broken Start search (). Several useful recovery/workaround notes appear in the thread (, , ), which highlights that this is a low‑level edit—consequences vary by XP build and by how the replacement is done.

Why it fails for some installs: the Windows shell is not just a picture — it contains resource tables and behavior tied to a specific build. Small edits, wrong offsets, or replacing the wrong file version can break lookups and features that other components expect. OEM or service‑pack differences make a binary edited on one machine incompatible with another, so the same tutorial won’t be universally safe.

Safer approach and practical workflow (non‑destructive): never experiment on a production machine. Make a full disk image or snapshot first and test any edit inside a virtual machine. Use a resource‑aware editor (resource‑only modifications, not raw hex hacks), keep a bit‑for‑bit copy of the original binary offline, and verify the edited file on the same XP build before letting the live system use it. For most users the low‑risk alternative is a Start‑menu replacer or shell customizer that achieves the same cosmetic result without touching core system executables.

Recovery notes and final take: if the shell becomes unstable, boot to Safe Mode or use XP repair/restore tools to revert the original binary (thread posts show several ad‑hoc recoveries). The community tips here are helpful for troubleshooting, but the safest path remains testing in a VM or using a non‑invasive customizer rather than editing the live shell.

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Member Avatar for The Geeky Kid

Huh? Can't you do that just by changing your name in Control Panel?
-edit-
Ohhhh...I see what you mean now, why does Microsoft have to be so difficult?

Member Avatar for Linuxblazer

That's Great to listen But Not so to do. When I rebooted after doing all stuff, Windows Xp Didn't ever booted to my desktop with the "changed
Start menu". I had to do a repair on my WinXp and Now everything is fine. Will never try this sort of stuff dude !!!! Anyway waiting for your next "Useful Tip."

Member Avatar for gdrori

One more tip,
don't reboot your Windows XP just log off and then log back on

Member Avatar for cyfm

lol this happened to me, thankfully I just went into exploerer and delete the file I created. I wont be trying that again ;)

Member Avatar for gdrori

I don't know the problem because i did it and it worked.... :(

Member Avatar for Dortz

I posted this along with a full alternate method in this thread:

but as far as everybody's problems: if you attempt to re-compile your original explorer.exe, you run the risk of messing everything up. the best thing to do, is when you open explorer.exe in your editor program, save it immediatly under a different name.

make absolutely sure that this file is stored in the windows directory, and also be sure that you type the correct filename when you edit the registry. either of these things will result in the file not being found. not having explorer.exe will usually be a 'BAD' thing.

hope this helps your problems guys.

Member Avatar for tejs

tejs

Member Avatar for gdrori

doesn't work on Vista and 7...

Member Avatar for brayan

si it really true?how can i do this?
i mean what is the procedure? i visit the site but i can't understand.

Member Avatar for crunchie

si it really true?how can i do this?
i mean what is the procedure? i visit the site but i can't understand.

Do you have XP? If not, it's not for you. The instructions there are clearer than we can give you.

Member Avatar for The Dude

doesn't work on Vista and 7...

Works on Win98se :)

I changed "Start" to "Menu" :icon_cheesygrin:

I changed it back though for now!! (But its kewl!!)

Member Avatar for PseFrank

I found a way to change my Start Menut name on TheElderGeek.com They Have an easy Toturial here. It does not make problems! :)

NOTE: It's only for windows XP

I'm new here so I have hesitated before adding to this thread... But changing the start button text using the method outlined by the ElderGeek WILL lead to problems.

The main problem being that the start button menu search function will not work properly.

The tutorial given is almost correct...but with these differences:

1. The modified explorer.exe file must be named explorer.exe again.

2. The modified file must then be saved in another folder within the Windows folder. This folder being the inf folder.

C:\Windows\inf

3. After saving the edited file in the inf folder. In the value data section of the Edit String dialogue box type inf/explorer.exe.

By doing this the shell will now point towards the edited explorer.exe file instead of the original explorer.exe file, which will still be safely tucked away in the Windows folder.

Hope this helps out....

Member Avatar for The Dude

1. The modified explorer.exe file must be named explorer.exe again.

Yes this is very true! (I failed to mention how i did this)

I just created a new file called "explorer2.exe" and then used take manager to "END TASK" on explorer.exe,then i changed the filename to "explorer.exe.ORIG" (Original) then i changed "explorer2.exe" to "explorer.exe" and re-started the process and all was well :)

(When i was done i just did everything in reverse and all was well :))

I should have listed this important fact before,THANK YOU FOR DOING IT!!

Welcome to Daniweb :)

Edited by The Dude because: n/a
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