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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Modify the Windows XP System Properties logo

To invoke the system properties dialog, click the Start button, right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties".
 
This will open up your general system information dialog.
 
If you want to put your own graphic in there, you should create your image in a .bmp graphic file. It's also a good idea to create this bitmap image with the same background shade of gray (RGB: 192, 192, 192) used in the Properties dialog. Otherwise, you risk letting Windows make its own judgments regarding color contrast and background shading.
 
The next thing to consider is the image size. The system properties dialog only offers enough real estate for an image of about 180 (wide) x120 (high) pixels. Make sure that you can fit your logo in this area.
 
Once you have created your logo and saved it as a .bmp file, copy it over to the system32 subfolder of your Windows system folder. If you don't know where your system folder is :
 
    * Click the Start button and select "Run"
    * In the "open" field, enter "cmd" (without the quotes) and click ok
    * Windows will open up a dos command window
    * In the command window, type "set system" (without the quotes)
    * Look for the line that contains "SystemRoot", this is where your system directory is (generally, the Windows XP system folder is c:\windows)
 
Now that you know where your system folder is, copy your logo image file over to the system32 subfolder of your system folder. Then rename your logo image file to oemlogo.bmp
 
Additionally you can create a new file in this same folder and name the new file oeminfo.ini
 
In this file you can enter your contact information like in the example below :
 
[General]
Manufacturer=SUPPORT U NEED
Model=Your Model
 
[Support Information]
Line1=" "
Line2=" For support,"
Line3=""
Line4=" "
Line5="  "
Line6=" Support U Need"
Line7=""
Line8=" 07X-XXX-XXXX (voice)"
Line9=" 011X XXX XXX (fax)"
Line10=""
Line11=""
Line12="
http://supportuneed.blogspot.com/"
 
Save and close the file and you are ready. From now on, if someone opens up the system properties dialog, your own Windows XP System Properties logo is in there.