I'd like to try editing imageres.dll. Experience with that file?

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  1. Posts : 843
    11 Pro 21H2 (22000.832)
       #1

    I'd like to try editing imageres.dll. Experience with that file?


    I'd like to substitute two icons of my choice for two of the icons in Imageres.dll. I think I know how to do it, and I think I have the software to accomplish the task, but I've read too many horror stories about this sort of thing to be comfortable with carrying out the process, even with a full image backup, a restore point, and a copy of the original file in another folder.

    If you have any experience with editing either imageres.dll or shell32.dll, I'd really like to hear about it, and I'd really appreciate getting some advice (other than, of course, don't do it!).

    Dan

    Pro 21H1
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 16,712
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #2

    Dan,

    imageres.dll and the other icon "holders" do not contain icons anymore. They are merely silent redirectors to the files that do. Windows is gradually moving its icons into
    C:\Windows\SystemResources\*.dll.mun
    for example, C:\Windows\SystemResources\imageres.dll.mun

    Any changes you make to a *.dll or a *.dll.mun are liable to be overwritten by the next Cumulative update or Version update. If you really want to customize a .dll then make a copy of an existing .dll [or .dll.mun renamed as .dll], edit that and put the changed file in a folder of your own so updates are not interested in it.
    Extract icon from file -TenForumsTutorials

    Personally, I just leave any icons I have on their own as .ico files within a protected folder [so they cannot be tampered with by hackers to contain active, malicious components] and I browse to that folder if I want to use them.
    - I put them in the same folder group that I use for my scripts Set up my Tools folder ditty - TenForums


    Denis
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 22,923
    Win 10 Home ♦♦♦19045.4170 (x64) [22H2]
       #3

    Wisewiz said:
    I'd like to substitute two icons of my choice for two of the icons in Imageres.dll. I think I know how to do it, and I think I have the software to accomplish the task, but I've read too many horror stories about this sort of thing to be comfortable with carrying out the process, even with a full image backup, a restore point, and a copy of the original file in another folder.

    If you have any experience with editing either imageres.dll or shell32.dll, I'd really like to hear about it, and I'd really appreciate getting some advice (other than, of course, don't do it!).

    Dan

    Pro 21H1


    Custom Icons for Windows 11 Thread (Folders, Dropbox, Google Drive, Podcasts, NVME Drive, + More) | Windows 11 Forum
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 16,712
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #4

    Ghot said:
    Custom Icons for Windows 11 Thread ...
    Ghot,

    How is Windows11 behaving in this respect?

    In Windows 10,
    C:\Windows\System32\SHELL32.dll is now only 3KB {and contains no icons}
    whilst
    C:\Windows\SystemResources\shell32.dll.mun is 14MB {and contains umpteen icons}


    All the best,
    Denis

    PS I've just resurrected an old computer as my Windows 11 test platform. I'll update it to Windows 11 at the first main release so I can investigate issues that matter for my computer use such as Taskbar Toolbars. I monitor & contribute to several ElevenForum threads [such as ones concerning Taskbar Toolbars] but have not tried the OS myself yet.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 22,923
    Win 10 Home ♦♦♦19045.4170 (x64) [22H2]
       #5

    @Try3

    I'm on Win 10 atm. I have this list someone posted a while back for Win 10 icons...

    ICONS in dll files list.txt


    I'll switch to Win 11 and check that for you.
    It takes me about 2 mins to switch.





    /edit

    On Win 11, I have a SHELL32.dll at 7.89 KB with a ton of icons.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 16,712
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #6

    Ghot,

    That .dll list [of mine, I think] is now a list of redirectors to .dll.mun files.
    - Some of the original files might still contain some icons [the changeover was gradual] whilst some will contain none.

    Ghot said:
    On Win 11, I have a SHELL32.dll at 7.89 KB with a ton of icons.
    I suggest to you that, since it is only 7KB, it contains no icons.
    What about C:\Windows\SystemResources\shell32.dll.mun?

    Do note that the old dlls redirect silently. If you reference them they appear to be normal but they are not.

    You can confirm that by copying shell32.dll to another location, such as your Desktop, then try to assign an icon from it to a test shortcut. You'll get the error message that it contains no icons.

    Denis
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 22,923
    Win 10 Home ♦♦♦19045.4170 (x64) [22H2]
       #7

    Try3 said:
    Ghot,

    That .dll list [of mine, I think] is now a list of redirectors to .dll.mun files.
    - Some of the original files might still contain some icons [the changeover was gradual] whilst some will contain none.


    I suggest to you that, since it is only 7KB, it contains no icons.
    What about C:\Windows\SystemResources\shell32.dll.mun?

    Denis


    C:\Windows\System32\SHELL32.dll is now only 8KB {contains ton of icons}

    C:\Windows\SystemResources\shell32.dll.mun is 18MB {contains same icons}

    C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll is 12KB {contains the usual system icon}

    C:\Windows\SystemResources\imageres.dll.mun is 21.5 KB {looks like the same icons}



    When I do Properties > change icon, and browse... the System32 folder's .dll files come right up.
    But... for the .dll.mun files I have to browse for "All Files", instead of .ico files.



    I seem to have all the files on your list, just like in Windows 10.
    I "upgraded" from Win 10.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 843
    11 Pro 21H2 (22000.832)
    Thread Starter
       #8

    @Ghot @Try3 @Brink

    Try3 said:
    I've just resurrected an old computer as my Windows 11 test platform. I'll update it to Windows 11 at the first main release so I can investigate issues that matter for my computer use such as Taskbar Toolbars. I monitor & contribute to several ElevenForum threads [such as ones concerning Taskbar Toolbars] but have not tried the OS myself yet.
    Okay, now that we've turned to the subject of toolbars, more or less, here's the thing: Windows is particular about the Recycle Bin icons (full and empty). You can't just change them by right-clicking somewhere, as with a shortcut. The little Desktop icons settings panel lets you change them, and it writes the changes to the reg key
    Computer\HKEY_USERS\...\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon

    If you choose custom icons and change them in that panel, you have to go back into the reg and add ",0" (comma zero) to each icon path, or the change won't work reliably.

    Now, I've followed Brink's tutorial to put my Recycle Bin in a toolbar on my taskbar (and experimented with that with great satisfaction), and I've put that toolbar inside another toolbar on my taskbar, and I've got the whole thing working perfectly, except for the fact that I can't customize the Recycle Bin icons. Period. Everything I've tried breaks the working alternation between empty and full, and nothing I've tried actually takes.

    But SO, I figured, ... if I can just switch out the system's icons with my own (in imageres -- though I now know that I was in the wrong ballpark there -- so that when the system goes for those icons, it finds MY icons in the icon .dll file, I'll have it successfully tweaked.

    Or so I figured. I've read through the 11F thread and benefitted from that experience, but I'm still at the point of questioning whether I can successfully edit a system icon file and succeed in booting afterwards.

    I see that Ghot has posted again in this thread, so I'll stop here.
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 16,712
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #9

    Ghot,

    Ghot said:
    … contains ton of icons ...
    What makes you think that it contains any icons?
    Try the test I suggested and I think you'll see that it doesn't contain any.


    Ghot said:
    …C:\Windows\SystemResources\shell32.dll.mun is 18MB {contains same icons}
    It contains icons. This is where C:\Windows\System32\SHELL32.dll silently redirects you when you use it to assign icons.


    Denis
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 843
    11 Pro 21H2 (22000.832)
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Try3 said:
    You can confirm that by copying shell32.dll to another location, such as your Desktop, then try to assign an icon from it to a test shortcut. You'll get the error message that it contains no icons.
    Exactly. In order to be safe, I started out on my "substituting" effort by copying imageres.dll to another folder and trying to edit the copy to see how it would go with the editing software. Zero icons. But if I open imageres.dll in situ, the original, I get all of the icons I know to be available through that file.
      My Computers


 

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