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How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 16th 20, 07:52 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder[_9_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 416
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

Two fundamentally basic Windows icon-editing questions:
(A) How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?
https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg
(B) Do you know _why_ the icon *changed* when viewed as a "large icon"?
https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg
I was building a new shortcut for a multi-killswitch just now...
TARGET=%comspec% /c %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog1.exe" /t /f & %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog2.exe" /t /f

Where the icon I liked was inside the Windows system32 DLL:
%SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll

Only I wanted to overlay the classic angled red stripe across it.
o So I screenshotted it as a "large" icon so I could edit it as an ICO file

Lo and behold...
o https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg

The glove icon _changed_ right under my very own eyes!
o It was a "globe" when viewed as a small icon...
o It it _changed_ to a "dual-pane" when viewed as a larger icon.

Why?
o Has that ever happened to you?

Why does Windows do that?
o Have you noticed Windows _changes_ the icon depending on viewing size?

Anyway, I wasn't able to get the small icon large without it changing, so I
proceeded to use the large icon (which is a completely different icon!)
just to test the proof of concept of creating the icon from inside the DLL.
(1) I displayed the icon using "large icons" (which changed the icon!)
(2) I screenshotted it and opened it up in Irfanview freeware for edit
(3) In Irfanview I cropped with control+y & with control+shift+y
(4) In Irfanview I resized to 32x32 pixels as per the thread below
(5) I added a red stripe (which was the original goal)
(6) And I saved it as a *.ico icon file format from Irfanview
https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg

Notice, in a sense, I failed to edit the original icon, so, the question
remains apropos as to whether you can tell me, and the rest of us so that
all benefit, how you would change the original globe icon from inside the
Windows system DLL.
--
Icon editing based on instructions found in the permanent Usenet record:
o *Tutorial for creating custom Windows icons from screenshots*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/xm6aHzaC-D8/uD1PLfk6DAAJ
Ads
  #2  
Old June 16th 20, 09:04 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Ed Cryer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,621
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

Arlen Holder wrote:
Two fundamentally basic Windows icon-editing questions:
(A) How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?
https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg
(B) Do you know _why_ the icon *changed* when viewed as a "large icon"?
https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg
I was building a new shortcut for a multi-killswitch just now...
TARGET=%comspec% /c %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog1.exe" /t /f & %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog2.exe" /t /f

Where the icon I liked was inside the Windows system32 DLL:
%SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll

Only I wanted to overlay the classic angled red stripe across it.
o So I screenshotted it as a "large" icon so I could edit it as an ICO file

Lo and behold...
o https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg

The glove icon _changed_ right under my very own eyes!
o It was a "globe" when viewed as a small icon...
o It it _changed_ to a "dual-pane" when viewed as a larger icon.

Why?
o Has that ever happened to you?

Why does Windows do that?
o Have you noticed Windows _changes_ the icon depending on viewing size?

Anyway, I wasn't able to get the small icon large without it changing, so I
proceeded to use the large icon (which is a completely different icon!)
just to test the proof of concept of creating the icon from inside the DLL.
(1) I displayed the icon using "large icons" (which changed the icon!)
(2) I screenshotted it and opened it up in Irfanview freeware for edit
(3) In Irfanview I cropped with control+y & with control+shift+y
(4) In Irfanview I resized to 32x32 pixels as per the thread below
(5) I added a red stripe (which was the original goal)
(6) And I saved it as a *.ico icon file format from Irfanview
https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg

Notice, in a sense, I failed to edit the original icon, so, the question
remains apropos as to whether you can tell me, and the rest of us so that
all benefit, how you would change the original globe icon from inside the
Windows system DLL.


Windows 10 and icons! It must drive some poor programmer at Microsoft
into nightmares quite regularly!

Have you ever watched the WinExplorer output large size displays for a
folder containing many different file types? It slowly paints them
across the screen, as it builds them.

The difference you mention occurs with many icons from the OS dlls. The
library "Pictures", "Documents" and "Desktop" are typical. Usually a
yellow folder is added in the two higher formats.

BTW, have you ever wondered why "This PC" has to have its display
rebuilt each time you select it? Same basic reason!

Ed
  #3  
Old June 16th 20, 09:37 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Ed Cryer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,621
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

Ed Cryer wrote:
Arlen Holder wrote:
Two fundamentally basic Windows icon-editing questions:
(A) How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?
Â*Â*Â*Â* https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg
(B) Do you know _why_ the icon *changed* when viewed as a "large icon"?
Â*Â*Â*Â* https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg
I was building a new shortcut for a multi-killswitch just now...
TARGET=%comspec% /c %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog1.exe" /t
/f & %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog2.exe" /t /f

Where the icon I liked was inside the Windows system32 DLL:
%SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll

Only I wanted to overlay the classic angled red stripe across it.
o So I screenshotted it as a "large" icon so I could edit it as an ICO
file

Lo and behold...
o https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg

The glove icon _changed_ right under my very own eyes!
o It was a "globe" when viewed as a small icon...
o It it _changed_ to a "dual-pane" when viewed as a larger icon.

Why?
o Has that ever happened to you?

Why does Windows do that?
o Have you noticed Windows _changes_ the icon depending on viewing size?

Anyway, I wasn't able to get the small icon large without it changing,
so I
proceeded to use the large icon (which is a completely different icon!)
just to test the proof of concept of creating the icon from inside the
DLL.
(1) I displayed the icon using "large icons" (which changed the icon!)
(2) I screenshotted it and opened it up in Irfanview freeware for edit
(3) In Irfanview I cropped with control+y & with control+shift+y
(4) In Irfanview I resized to 32x32 pixels as per the thread below
(5) I added a red stripe (which was the original goal)
(6) And I saved it as a *.ico icon file format from Irfanview
Â*Â*Â*Â* https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg

Notice, in a sense, I failed to edit the original icon, so, the question
remains apropos as to whether you can tell me, and the rest of us so that
all benefit, how you would change the original globe icon from inside the
Windows system DLL.


Windows 10 and icons! It must drive some poor programmer at Microsoft
into nightmares quite regularly!

Have you ever watched the WinExplorer output large size displays for a
folder containing many different file types? It slowly paints them
across the screen, as it builds them.

The difference you mention occurs with many icons from the OS dlls. The
library "Pictures", "Documents" and "Desktop" are typical. Usually a
yellow folder is added in the two higher formats.

BTW, have you ever wondered why "This PC" has to have its display
rebuilt each time you select it? Same basic reason!

Ed


If you look at, eg, shell32.dll with Icon Explorer
(https://www.mitec.cz/iconex.html), and click on any icon, you'll see
that it stores several versions (often 8 or 9) for each one.
And therein lies the tale and explanation of the phenomena we've mentioned.

Ed

  #4  
Old June 16th 20, 10:12 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Big Al[_5_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,588
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

On 6/16/20 4:37 PM, this is what Ed Cryer wrote:
Ed Cryer wrote:
Arlen Holder wrote:
Two fundamentally basic Windows icon-editing questions:
(A) How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?
Â*Â*Â*Â* https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg
(B) Do you know _why_ the icon *changed* when viewed as a "large icon"?
Â*Â*Â*Â* https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg
I was building a new shortcut for a multi-killswitch just now...
TARGET=%comspec% /c %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog1.exe" /t /f & %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog2.exe" /t /f

Where the icon I liked was inside the Windows system32 DLL:
%SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll

Only I wanted to overlay the classic angled red stripe across it.
o So I screenshotted it as a "large" icon so I could edit it as an ICO file

Lo and behold...
o https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg

The glove icon _changed_ right under my very own eyes!
o It was a "globe" when viewed as a small icon...
o It it _changed_ to a "dual-pane" when viewed as a larger icon.

Why?
o Has that ever happened to you?

Why does Windows do that?
o Have you noticed Windows _changes_ the icon depending on viewing size?

Anyway, I wasn't able to get the small icon large without it changing, so I
proceeded to use the large icon (which is a completely different icon!)
just to test the proof of concept of creating the icon from inside the DLL.
(1) I displayed the icon using "large icons" (which changed the icon!)
(2) I screenshotted it and opened it up in Irfanview freeware for edit
(3) In Irfanview I cropped with control+y & with control+shift+y
(4) In Irfanview I resized to 32x32 pixels as per the thread below
(5) I added a red stripe (which was the original goal)
(6) And I saved it as a *.ico icon file format from Irfanview
Â*Â*Â*Â* https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg

Notice, in a sense, I failed to edit the original icon, so, the question
remains apropos as to whether you can tell me, and the rest of us so that
all benefit, how you would change the original globe icon from inside the
Windows system DLL.


Windows 10 and icons! It must drive some poor programmer at Microsoft into nightmares quite regularly!

Have you ever watched the WinExplorer output large size displays for a folder containing many different file types? It slowly paints them
across the screen, as it builds them.

The difference you mention occurs with many icons from the OS dlls. The library "Pictures", "Documents" and "Desktop" are typical. Usually
a yellow folder is added in the two higher formats.

BTW, have you ever wondered why "This PC" has to have its display rebuilt each time you select it? Same basic reason!

Ed


If you look at, eg,Â* shell32.dll with Icon Explorer (https://www.mitec.cz/iconex.html), and click on any icon, you'll see that it stores
several versions (often 8 or 9) for each one.
And therein lies the tale and explanation of the phenomena we've mentioned.

Ed

Windows uses ICO files and an ico can contain many different sizes, resolutions, or images in that one file. If you had an icon editor like
Greenfish Icon Editor Pro,(free), you could make your own, and it would show that you can make 32bit color, 8bit color etc. and sizes 8x8 up
to 256x256. Most icons come in several sizes so toolbars can use the small, the desktop can use various sizes as well as explorer using
several sizes.

To Arlen, I have used Resource Hacker to edit icons in program before, but it so long ago, I could never explain how if you paid me.

Al.
  #5  
Old June 16th 20, 11:49 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder[_9_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 416
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

On Tue, 16 Jun 2020 21:04:56 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:

The difference you mention occurs with many icons from the OS dlls.


Hi Ed Cryer,

Thanks for purposefully helpfully explaining that the system DLL icons
comprise more than a half dozen "versions" of each icon.

The problem is how the heck does Windows know _when_ to switch them?
o And how does Windows know _what_ to switch them to?

Apparently, in my case:
o View Small Icons = shows the globe icon version
o View Large Icons = switched to the two-screens icon version instead
o View Extra Large Icons = again switched to the two-screens icon instead

Moving forward, I installed the suggested IconExplorer freeware and
"opened" %SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll and then selected the
"globe" icon, which, as you had foretold, contains multiple icons itself.
https://i.postimg.cc/76ZvXJdf/icon03.jpg

That freeware keeper shows that what I've been calling the "globe" icon is
actually named "shell32_13", which itself has 9 images, presumably called
versions [0], [1],...[8], which, as you suggested would happen, are
different icons in some cases (although none are the two-screen icon).

Interestingly, when I found the two-screen icon, which itself is named
"shell32_89", and it has 8 versions, the first of which is a PNG file of
size 256x256 pixels (which may explain why it shows up in large view).
https://i.postimg.cc/NFhjn4cd/icon04.jpg

Anyway, this kind of sort of explains _how_ Windows can switch from one
icon for "view small icons" to another icon for "view large icons"; but
it doesn't really explain it in this case simply they're different icons.
https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg

Nonetheless, I'm not going to worry about it because IconExplorer freeware
solved my problem of being able to edit the "globe" icon; so it doesn't
matter anymore why Windows is doing the crazy icon switching.

Thanks for your purposefully helpful advice, which solved my problem.
o I will write up a solution separately for how to edit a system DLL icon.
--
Together, purposefully helpful people make Usenet a useful public helpdesk.
  #6  
Old June 16th 20, 11:49 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder[_9_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 416
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

On Tue, 16 Jun 2020 21:37:25 +0100, Ed Cryer wrote:

If you look at, eg, shell32.dll with Icon Explorer
(https://www.mitec.cz/iconex.html), and click on any icon, you'll see
that it stores several versions (often 8 or 9) for each one.
And therein lies the tale and explanation of the phenomena we've mentioned


Hi Ed Cryer,

That freeware suggestion almost instantly solved the stated problem!
o People like you are what make Usenet a wonderful helpful helpdesk!
https://i.postimg.cc/8kBqrHYN/icon06.jpg

Thanks for purposefully helpfully suggesting IconExplorer freeware, which
worked just fine to edit what I've been calling the "globe" icon, but which
is actually named the %SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll "shell32_13" icon.
https://i.postimg.cc/76ZvXJdf/icon03.jpg

What I've been calling the "two screen" icon is actually named
"shell32_89", whose [0] version is a PNG file of size 256x256 pixels
https://i.postimg.cc/NFhjn4cd/icon04.jpg

If I right click on the 256x256 pixel icon, I have three choices:
o Save to Icon...
o Save to Bitmap...
o Save to PNG...
https://i.postimg.cc/SNJgdfKB/icon05.jpg

Aha!

That solves the problem set of _how_ to edit the "globe" system DLL icon!

(1) Point IconExplorer freeware to "%SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll"
(2) Click on the largest "globe" icon (aka "shell32_13") in view
(3) Save as whatever format {png, bmp, ico} you can edit most easily
(4) I chose to save the largest globe as globe.bmp (IV can edit ICO files)
(5) Edit that file in any editor (e.g., I added the red circle & slash)
https://i.postimg.cc/DwWj5dxW/globe.gif (upload can't handle bmp)
(6) Save a black background & a white background version if desired
https://i.postimg.cc/prxJHKQB/world-black.png (upload converted it)
https://i.postimg.cc/9f7dwLJp/world-white.png (upload converted it)
(7) In Irfanview, control+shift+y to auto-crop exactly to the image borders
(8) In Irfanview, set to 32x32 pixels & save as an ico file
(9) In my case, I saved to "world_black.ico" & "world_white.ico"
(10) Right click your shortcut & set the icon to the desired *.ico above
https://i.postimg.cc/8kBqrHYN/icon06.jpg

The only remaining question is that of "transparent background"...
o Can a ICO file have a transparent background?
--
Usenet is a public helpdesk where people purposefully help each other.
  #7  
Old June 17th 20, 01:11 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder[_9_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 416
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

On Tue, 16 Jun 2020 17:12:19 -0400, Big Al wrote:

Windows uses ICO files and an ico can contain many different sizes, resolutions, or images in that one file. If you had an icon editor like
Greenfish Icon Editor Pro,(free), you could make your own, and it would show that you can make 32bit color, 8bit color etc. and sizes 8x8 up
to 256x256. Most icons come in several sizes so toolbars can use the small, the desktop can use various sizes as well as explorer using
several sizes.

To Arlen, I have used Resource Hacker to edit icons in program before, but it so long ago, I could never explain how if you paid me.


Hi Big Al,

What I _love_ about Usenet, is that people are purposefully helpful!
o Thanks to folks like you, the original problem is solved with freeware!
https://i.postimg.cc/hPTCzbtc/icon08.jpg

The problem was how to add this red circle+slash to the globe icon:
https://i.postimg.cc/HnrdTvww/icon07.jpg

Essentially, the 3-step solution was the following:
(A) Use IconEditor to view & save the desired icon as a {BMP,PNG,ICO} file
(B) Use any image editor to modify & save the result as a 32x32 ICO file
(C) Set the shortcut to point to that newly crafted ICO image.

In my case, the shortcut target was to kill a given set of programs, e.g.,
o TARGET=%comspec% /c taskkill /im "prog1.exe" /t /f & taskkill /im "prog2.exe" /t /f

Regarding Greenfish Icon Editor freeware... I found mention of it he
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/QH1BR7SbrHg
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/BHNpgphC1R8

In hindsight, I also found it in some of my own threads from the past:
o *Can Irfanview alone make a transparent background of a multi-color background?*
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/KCk4FpM9vZM

In that thread, for example, the following are mentioned:
o greenfish icon editor http://www.greenfishsoftware.org/gfie.php
o icofx (v1.6.4 is best) https://www.icofx.ro/downloads.html
o icoconvert online converter https://icoconvert.com/
o foldermarker http://foldermarker.com/FolderMarker_Free.exe
o downloadable icon packages
o the 16 main locations for icons in the Windows folders
o online icon creation web pages
etc.

To which I need to add "iconexplorer"
o https://www.mitec.cz/iconex.html

As shown in my current software flash drive:
o https://i.postimg.cc/hPTCzbtc/icon08.jpg

Since every thread to Usenet should add general purpose value that we can
use now, and in the future (found by the public web-searchable archives):
o http://tinyurl.com/rec-photo-digital
o http://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-freeware
o http://alt.comp.os.windows-10.narkive.com

This new solution will add value to the previous solution found over he
o *Tutorial for creating custom Windows icons from screenshots*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/xm6aHzaC-D8/uD1PLfk6DAAJ

That first tutorial is creating icons from screenshots; whereas this new
tutorial is for modifying existing Windows system icons found in DLLs.
o *How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?*
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/lAJV8OZdZjg
--
As always, please improve with your purposefully helpful suggestions.
  #8  
Old June 17th 20, 01:27 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Mayayana
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,438
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

"Big Al" wrote

| Windows uses ICO files and an ico can contain many different sizes,
resolutions, or images in that one file. If you had an icon editor like
| Greenfish Icon Editor Pro,(free), you could make your own, and it would
show that you can make 32bit color, 8bit color etc. and sizes 8x8 up
| to 256x256. Most icons come in several sizes so toolbars can use the
small, the desktop can use various sizes as well as explorer using
| several sizes.
|
I think that it can also be a PNG in newer Windows versions,
but I don't know the details of how that works.

| To Arlen, I have used Resource Hacker to edit icons in program before, but
it so long ago, I could never explain how if you paid me.
|

It wouldn't be possible to edit an icon in a system file
due to permissions. What one can do is to make an
icon and then assign that to a shortcut. In addition
to Greenfish, there's IcoFX that I use. I don't know
whether it's still free. IcoFX can also make a multi-image
ICO file. I like to take an image and then paste that into
an icon editor and work from there. It's much easier to
start with something like a reduced-size face than to draw
a face using one pixel at a time.


  #9  
Old June 17th 20, 02:01 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder[_9_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 416
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

UPDATE:

Usenet is a wonderful public web-searchable archive of useful tutorials.
o As always, please improve such that all benefit from every thread.

The main thing left is to make icons with a transparent background
so that they show up well no matter what the screen color may be.

o *Tutorial for modifying icons inside common Windows system DLLs*
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/lAJV8OZdZjg
o https://i.postimg.cc/hPTCzbtc/icon08.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/HnrdTvww/icon07.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/SNJgdfKB/icon05.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/NFhjn4cd/icon04.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/76ZvXJdf/icon03.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/X7VKMQGM/icon02.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg

o *Tutorial for creating custom Windows icons from screenshots*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/xm6aHzaC-D8/uD1PLfk6DAAJ
o https://i.postimg.cc/cHVqvPPb/icon03.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/3N7ZdRSb/icon02.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/vHc2THz3/icon01.jpg

o *Tutorial with details to properly set {batch,shortcut,target} icons*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.msdos.batch/ndNW-4oDewY/iQzDf15OBQAJ

o *Tutorial to find all icons hidden inside common Windows executables & DLLs*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/-1nQdP8E_Yc/VILrouTSBAAJ

o *Where to find thousands of free open source mobile device related icons*
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/0lQELGmVc0U

o *Examples of custom icons used for various Windows shutdown shortcuts*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.msdos.batch/ndNW-4oDewY/siPvrsBVBQAJ

o *Tutorial to get batch command shortcuts working perfectly on Windows*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/1PzeGP4KMTU/tTbcd9zxAAAJ

o *Here are over 250 Win+R Run commands to set your shortcut TARGET to*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/cc1lGn3ty0E/DH_FxVCjAAAJ

o *The unintuitive syntax to set a shortcut TARGET line to multiple commands*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.msdos.batch/azQbz6D_v0Y/zwvOqeCmEAAJ

o *What useful Windows shortcuts would you like to share with users?*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/80ZHKKFom0c/RN3V0Av6BQAJ

o *Quick tutorial for creating easy (Start Run) access to lookup files on Windows*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/5LxGOixwwWs/q8wVoJ3mBAAJ

o *Tutorial for setting up a well-organized consistent efficient Windows menu system*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/eWU-jOkFRtU/lkVU8yolBQAJ

o *Shortcuts with special icons to shutdown & reboot Windows on command*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.msdos.batch/ndNW-4oDewY/siPvrsBVBQAJ
etc.
--
Every thread to Usenet archives should help someone now & in the future.
  #10  
Old June 17th 20, 02:18 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder[_9_]
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Posts: 416
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

On Tue, 16 Jun 2020 20:27:36 -0400, Mayayana wrote:

I think that it can also be a PNG in newer Windows versions,
but I don't know the details of how that works.


Notice this is apparently a PNG file in Windows 10 Pro, version 1909:
https://i.postimg.cc/NFhjn4cd/icon04.jpg

It wouldn't be possible to edit an icon in a system file
due to permissions. What one can do is to make an
icon and then assign that to a shortcut. In addition
to Greenfish, there's IcoFX that I use. I don't know
whether it's still free. IcoFX can also make a multi-image
ICO file.


Notice we covered these as the best freeware for this purpose:
https://i.postimg.cc/hPTCzbtc/icon08.jpg

I like to take an image and then paste that into
an icon editor and work from there. It's much easier to
start with something like a reduced-size face than to draw
a face using one pixel at a time.


Notice we covered that topic in gory detail over he
o *Tutorial for creating custom Windows icons from screenshots*
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/xm6aHzaC-D8/uD1PLfk6DAAJ
o https://i.postimg.cc/cHVqvPPb/icon03.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/3N7ZdRSb/icon02.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/vHc2THz3/icon01.jpg
--
People who filter out facts are always the ones most immune to them.
  #11  
Old June 17th 20, 02:27 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Paul[_32_]
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Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

Mayayana wrote:

It wouldn't be possible to edit an icon in a system file
due to permissions.


Think how much an OS hates it when you do that :-)
Windows File Protection, signed system files (loader
can detect that the signing is invalid). Trying to
do that while Windows Defender is watching. It'll be
the HAL9000 all over again.

People have been trying to do this since uxtheme.dll
in Windows XP.

But if you need a hobby...

If you succeed, you'll be famous. You might even
end up with your own wanted poster.

Paul
  #12  
Old June 17th 20, 03:05 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Paul in Houston TX[_2_]
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Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

Arlen Holder wrote:
Two fundamentally basic Windows icon-editing questions:
(A) How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?
https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg
(B) Do you know _why_ the icon *changed* when viewed as a "large icon"?
https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg
I was building a new shortcut for a multi-killswitch just now...
TARGET=%comspec% /c %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog1.exe" /t /f & %Windir%\System32\taskkill.exe /im "prog2.exe" /t /f

Where the icon I liked was inside the Windows system32 DLL:
%SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll

Only I wanted to overlay the classic angled red stripe across it.
o So I screenshotted it as a "large" icon so I could edit it as an ICO file

Lo and behold...
o https://i.postimg.cc/43GKMY2Z/icon01.jpg

The glove icon _changed_ right under my very own eyes!
o It was a "globe" when viewed as a small icon...
o It it _changed_ to a "dual-pane" when viewed as a larger icon.

Why?
o Has that ever happened to you?

Why does Windows do that?
o Have you noticed Windows _changes_ the icon depending on viewing size?

Anyway, I wasn't able to get the small icon large without it changing, so I
proceeded to use the large icon (which is a completely different icon!)
just to test the proof of concept of creating the icon from inside the DLL.
(1) I displayed the icon using "large icons" (which changed the icon!)
(2) I screenshotted it and opened it up in Irfanview freeware for edit
(3) In Irfanview I cropped with control+y & with control+shift+y
(4) In Irfanview I resized to 32x32 pixels as per the thread below
(5) I added a red stripe (which was the original goal)
(6) And I saved it as a *.ico icon file format from Irfanview
https://i.postimg.cc/mrVr58FN/icon-ico.jpg

Notice, in a sense, I failed to edit the original icon, so, the question
remains apropos as to whether you can tell me, and the rest of us so that
all benefit, how you would change the original globe icon from inside the
Windows system DLL.


Resource Hacker, system32.dll, icon group 200, the biggest one
is 48x48, Ordinal name 2317 and 2320. So now you know the names.
Go up to Icon and open 2317 or 2320 and save as icon.
I used to replace them on XP. Have not tried on 7 or 10.

  #13  
Old June 17th 20, 03:39 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder[_9_]
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Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

On Tue, 16 Jun 2020 22:49:31 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

The only remaining question is that of "transparent background"...


SOLVED:
By experimentation, I was able to easily transparize icon backgrounds.

All you have to do is tell Irfanview to save the ico file with a
transparent background and that's it (the PNG transparent background didn't
work).

Your main freeware photo editor has to handle ico files with a transparent
background, where mine didn't, but that was ok because Irfanview can pretty
much read anything & then save that as an ico with transparent background.

The icon I chose to edit & then transparize is the "magnifying glass" icon:
o %SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll {shell32_22_4.ico}

It was so easy, I'll just show the screenshots to illustrate the steps:
o https://i.postimg.cc/K8Rj3yYs/icon09.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/YSFS8fY6/icon10.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/cHMLGxD6/icon11.jpg
o https://i.postimg.cc/Df6wCzJM/icon12.jpg
--
Note, since this was a test, I didn't bother matching the sizes of the old
to new icon, which changed slightly in size between before & after editing.
  #14  
Old June 17th 20, 04:03 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder[_9_]
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Posts: 416
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

On Tue, 16 Jun 2020 21:05:39 -0500, Paul in Houston TX wrote:

Resource Hacker, system32.dll, icon group 200, the biggest one
is 48x48, Ordinal name 2317 and 2320. So now you know the names.
Go up to Icon and open 2317 or 2320 and save as icon.
I used to replace them on XP. Have not tried on 7 or 10.


Thanks for the advice to try resource hacker freewa
o http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/

The high cost of freeware is in two things:
a. Finding the best (which takes advice from helpful folks like you)
b. Testing them out (which is kind of sort of what I like to do)

On their web site, they document the same (or similar) icon as mine:
http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/rh_icon.png
http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/rh_main_menu.png

So others can just click, the version 5.1.7 exe is apparently he
o http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/reshacker_setup.exe

And the ZIP file apparently he
o http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/resource_hacker.zip

From just skimming the web page, this seems like a powerful tool.
o With uses far beyond editing of icon ico files.

However, apparently, with Resource Hacker, we can export the icon files out
of the system DLLs, which we also did with the tested Icon Explorer.

Hence, I think, if I understood correctly in my skim of the resource hacker
web page, the related added value is we can likely use it to IMPORT our
modified icon back into the Windows system DLL, although that may cause
permission issues (which Paul and others mentioned M$ might not like).

I installed Resource Manager, and clicked about, and opened up the file
%SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll but was unsuccessful and gave up after a
minute or two as about the only thing that I can't (yet) do is _add_ the
newly modified icon to the original Windows system DLL, which might not
work anyway.
--
The extremly high cost of freeware is in effort needed to find the best!
  #15  
Old June 17th 20, 09:57 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
wasbit[_4_]
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Posts: 229
Default How do you edit an icon in one of the Windows system DLLs?

"Mayayana" wrote in message
...
"Big Al" wrote
snip


It wouldn't be possible to edit an icon in a system file
due to permissions. What one can do is to make an
icon and then assign that to a shortcut. In addition
to Greenfish, there's IcoFX that I use. I don't know
whether it's still free. IcoFX can also make a multi-image
ICO file. I like to take an image and then paste that into
an icon editor and work from there. It's much easier to
start with something like a reduced-size face than to draw
a face using one pixel at a time.


Icofx last freeware version 1.6.4
- http://www.321download.com/LastFreew...e40.html#IcoFX

Regards
wasbit

 




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