How To Change Text On Start Button

Want to edit your start button text then just follow these steps:

Step 1 – Editing Explorer.exe File

The file explorer.exe is located at C:\Windows\ needs to be edited first. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. To do this I have used Resource Hacker. Resource Hacker is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2000 and WinXP operating systems. Use this link to download Resource Hacker.

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe as shown in below Fig.

The category we are going to be using is String Table. Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable as shown in Fig. below. We’re going to modify item 578, which is currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used TechPatel.

Now click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.

Step 2 – Modifying the Registry

Now we have modified explorer.exe, but it’s also necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. Now go to Start>> Run and type “regedit” (without quotes) there. Now registry is open, Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

In the right pane (Above Fig.), double click the Shell entry to open the Edit String dialog box as shown in Fig. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and reboot the entire system. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the new text.