TUTORIAL: All About Resource Hacker! A Brief Tutorial

[Vishal Gupta]

!!! WARNING !!!

Playing with system files using resource hacker can be Dangerous for your system and it can make your system not working.

So use it at your own risk!
​

Guys!

So many members hv asked me a lot of questions about Resource Hacker, like:

=> How to replace existing Resources ( Bitmaps, AVI, Icons, etc.) in a file?
=> How to add ur own resources?
=> How to change Menus/ Strings?

and so on...

So here I'll try to cover all such questions and many other tips-n-tricks.
So here we go.....

NOTE: I hv divided this tutorial in 2 parts:

PART1 : BASIC INFORMATION
PART2 : ADVANCED INFORMATION

Basic part contains Basic details, like viewing/replacing resources, etc.
Advanced part covers some advance information which is described for geeks. Like Adding ur own resources, using scripts with resource hacker, etc.

PART1 : BASIC INFORMATION​

What is Resource Hacker:

Resource Hacker is a Free s/w to edit 32-bit windows files (DLL, EXE, CPL, and many other). U can add/delete/view/rename/modify existing resources in a file using this gr8 piece of s/w.

Download Link:

U can d/l Resource Hacker from here.
U don't need to install it, simply extract the files and run the s/w. It also doesnt make any entry in Registry!

Using Resource Hacker:

When u open a file in Resource Hacker, it shows various directories in left-side pane, like:

AVI
Cursor
Bitmap
Icon
Menu
Dialog
String Table
Accelerators
Version Info

and so on...

*img86.imageshack.us/img86/2309/newpicturelr6.jpg

These directories vary from file to file!
Following is a small description of these directories:

AVI : This directory contains AVI files.
Cursor : This directory contains Cursor files.
Bitmap : This directory contains Bitmaps.
Icon : This directory contains Icons.
Menu : This directory contains various Menus.
Dialog : This directory contains various Dialog boxes.
String Table : This directory contains various Strings.
Accelerators : This directory contains Shortcut keys.
Version Info : This directory contains version information of the file.

Viewing Resources:

U can view any resource embedded in the file. Simply expand the directory and click on the name of the resource.
Actually each resource contains 3 parts:

Resource Type
Resource Name
Resource Language

Resource Type : Its indicate that the resource is an AVI/Bitmap/Menu/Cursor/Icon/String/etc.
Resource Name : It describes the name of a resource, no 2 resource can hv the same name.
Resource Language : Its the language used in the file. For ENGLISH its 1033.


Continue Here...

 

[aditya.shevade]

Hi

Great! Can you tell me how to save the changes? I tried to save the shell32.dll but it cannot be replaced. Is there any other way?

Aditya

 

[Vishal Gupta]

thnx.
U can't save a system file while running windows.
It happens bcoz of WFP (Windows File Protection) service running in background.
But there r several utilities to overcome this problem!
Either u can use replacer, which works well in such conditions. Simply run the utility and first drag-n-drop the original file in its window then it'll ask for the new one, thendrag-n-drop ur customized file and then press "Y" for confirmation.
It'll automatically replace the file at next system restart.
U can find such utilities here.

 

[rk]

nice tutorial vishal

 

[pranshu]

Good one Vishaal! Thanks a lot for all your effort, but why didnt you post all of them in one post rather than posting them in different posts. Increasing your post counts??? Even then it doesn't matter to me till the time good things are brought in.

 

[sudipbhowmick]

Plz.....Give Me A Brief Tutorial if possible on how to change the "system property box" & "run" dialog box & other windows dialogs & menus.

thanx to U very much for teaching .....plz keep it on.

 

[aditya.shevade]

Hi

I don't get it. I asked you a lot of questions by sending you the email. It was all related to this tutorial. Still you say it's the worst tutorial you ever made? It's great. Just give detailed info on how to do things exactly. And please tell me how to create a live windows cd.

Aditya

 

[Vishal Gupta]

thnx guys for ur kind support

Hacking System Properties Dialog Box (Sysdm.cpl file)

NOTE: Here I'll describe how to change the first tab "General" in System Properties dialog box. Following is a screenshot of the dialog box which will U get after following hack.

*img152.imageshack.us/img152/1538/newpicture9nf.jpg


Continue here:
Hacking System Properties Dialog Box in Windows XP

 

[Vishal Gupta]

I hv uploaded my Sysdm.cpl filehere.
But don't forget to take a backup of ur existing Sysdm.cpl file.
If u face ne problem like version problem, just replace my file with ur default file.

 

[aditya.shevade]

Hi

Nice thing that you are actually telling us how to do things. Not the usual use resource hacker line. Continue with this! You are helping people like me.

Aditya

 

[ayush_chh]

don't know that what i m goin to post has already been posted or not.
if yes then tell me i'll delete this.

after learning that using res hak one can edit so many files (thanks to vishal gupta for his superb tut on 'list of files to be hacked') i tried to edit logonui.exe and on searching i found that the logon and logoff screen can be changed.

how to do it.

open the 'logonui.exe' file with res hak.
now goto UIFILE/1000/1033

on the right side there is a large blank space but as u go down u will find the stuff.

all u have to do is to change the values where ever u see

rgb(0-256,0-256,0-256)

for respective shades

actually the screen is divided into many parts:

these can be editted in UIFILE
the main screen
top pannel
bottom pannel
these can be editted in BITMAP section
there are many seperating lines(BITMAP/124,125,126/1033)
the windows logo(BITMAP/123,127/1033)
one bitmap on left top corner(BITMAP/100/1033)
one behind user name(BITMAP/112/1033)

this is all part of my research. i hav not found it from any link

thank you

 

[aditya.shevade]

@ Ayush

Well I read this somewhere. But since you say you found it on your own it's good.

Aditya

 

[delivi]

thanx for this wonderful tutorial it was really helpful.

 

[ayush_chh]

@ Ayush

Well I read this somewhere.
Aditya

if it's not useful then as i said before i will delete it.

 

[__Virus__]

man o man.. trust me I like your helping nature to the max!! awesome dood.. just keep it comin.. wonderful helping nature!!!

 

[aditya.shevade]

@ Ayush

I am saying donot delete it. It's good that you found that out on your own.

Aditya

 

[knight17]

Nice tutorial...
Thanks for that...please add more....

 

[nitish_mythology]

Wow nice work Vishal...
Thanks!

 

[ayush_chh]

'VISTA' u r gettin FAMOUS. WE like YOU.

 

[wizrulz]

Hey hi vish

I was just doing something with help of ur tut ..but i wanna knwo how to replace the progres bar in SHELL32.dll....something like u have in one of ur screen shot (green one ).....u have not posted abt anything abt it.
Are any more tuts coming wrt to resource hack???