Customize the Start Menu Button

Well, many of you have asked for this one, but the solution is for advanced users only. The button on the Taskbar used to open the Start Menu consists of a small Windows logo and the word START. Here's how to edit the various aspects of the Start Menu button:

Change the word START:

1. Copy the file EXPLORER.EXE from your Windows directory to a temporary working directory.
2. Using a hex editor (like UltraEdit-32), open the copy of EXPLORER.EXE.
3. At the hex address 02DF0E, you will see 53 00 74 00 61 00 72 00 74, which are the letters in the word "Start," separated by null characters (#00). It's a good idea to search and replace all occurrences of Start in the file, as just editing this one doesn't seem to do it.
4. You can replace any of the five characters, but do not change the null characters. Although you can't use a word longer than five characters, you can have shorter words by including spaces (#32) for the remaining places.
5. Save the changes, and exit to DOS. Backup the original file, and then replace it with your modified version. When you restart Windows, the change should take effect.

Note: if you can't find START at the address above, do a search for it (make sure to include the interstitial null characters), as it may have been altered by another program.

Change the icon:

1. Copy the file USER.EXE from your Windows\System directory to a temporary working directory.
2. Using an icon editor that can read executables (like Microangelo), open the copy of USER.EXE.
3. The Start Menu uses the flag logo, the very first icon in this file. What you need to be aware of, is that there are several versions of this icon in the file, each a different size. Depending on what font size you have your Start Menu font configured (Control Panel -> Display Properties -> Appearance), the actual icon may be the 16x16 or the 22x22 variations. Your best bet is to edit them all, and save your changes when you're finished.
4. Next, exit to DOS, backup the original file, and then replace it with your modified version. When you restart Windows, the change should take effect.

Note: To change or remove any of the standard parts of the Start Menu itself, see Customize Start Menu Components.