Develop Bugs

Start Menu Customisation

Hi all,
I've built a .dll file with icons for customising the programs folder of the start menu. I've attached this file with an example of how it can be used in a .zip archive.
For those not used to working with shortcuts (.ink) and/or .dll files instructions are as follows:
1) Unpack "Start Menu.zip" to a folder of your choice on your computer.
2) Copy "Start Menu.dll" to "\Windows\" on your device, using Active Sync.
3) Again using active sync go to "\Windows\Start Menu\" on your device.
4) Back up your programs folder by copying the folder entitled "Programs" and pasting it to a folder of your choice on your computer.
5) Open the Programs folder on you device using ActiveSync.
6) Open each program group folder here (e.g. "Games") in turn, cutting the program shortcuts (e.g Notes.lnk) out of the folders into the main "Programs" folder on the device then delete the folder.
(N.B. You should not cut any shortcuts called "ICON.lnk" out of the individual program group folders. These will be in "Office Mobile" and "Games" folders, and possibly some others, which display their own icon already.)
7) Open the "Programs" folder that you extracted from the "Start Menu.zip" archive.
8) Select all the folders present and copy them to the Programs folder (\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\) on your phone, using ActiveSync.
9) Copy your program shortcuts into the program group folders as required.
To undo simply delete the entire contents of "\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\" and then copy the contents of the folder that you copied over from your phone in step 4) above.
Have fun!

screenshot please thank you

Thanks for posting, works a treat. Any chance of a Microsoft folder icon?
Haven,t time to finish it all now but will post screen shots when i have time. Thanks again.

Screenshot
Hi,
I've attached a screenshot.
Cheers,
andrew-in-woking

i think he meant in the thread! lol... we appreciate your work thank you very much
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Looks pretty cool! Thanks!

Hi,
thanks for this, I was trying to do the same but got stuck at the links creation.
What do you use to create the .link files?
I have found a little .vbs script that creates .lnk files on my desktop but always appends "C:\" to the path I define so I can not use them on the device.
many thanks for your answer.

bump!
Are you still developing on this customisation? Are you able to provide a cab file? ... having some trouble with access permissions when moving the files as described in step 6-8

Total Commander
jleung87 said:
bump!
Are you still developing on this customisation? Are you able to provide a cab file? ... having some trouble with access permissions when moving the files as described in step 6-8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi jleung87
You need to use a program called Total Commander. It's free, search for it.
Cheers
andrew-in-woking

hpsmartyz said:
Hi,
thanks for this, I was trying to do the same but got stuck at the links creation.
What do you use to create the .link files?
I have found a little .vbs script that creates .lnk files on my desktop but always appends "C:\" to the path I define so I can not use them on the device.
many thanks for your answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi hpsmartz
Copy an existing link on your phone and paste it to a different location. Then rename the lnk file and edit it using a program called Total Commander. After this you can cut and paste it back into the desired location.
Cheers
andrew-in-woking

andrew-in-woking said:
Hi hpsmartz
Copy an existing link on your phone and paste it to a different location. Then rename the lnk file and edit it using a program called Total Commander. After this you can cut and paste it back into the desired location.
Cheers
andrew-in-woking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you probably take advantage of this tool
nueShortcutMaker
cu
nosedive

Hi,
Worked real nice on my MotoQ Smartphone
Thanks much.

Hi,
Use this for creating Shortcuts:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=575272
Thanks,

This shortcut maker is pretty cool:
http://www.nuerom.com/BlogEngine/page/nueShortcutMaker.aspx

[TUT] Editing Resources .dll etc

How to edit resources:
I have attached the software needed File Editor Suite, also you can get a 30 day free trial of PE Explorer Here
It's all very simple to do just follow the guide any questions feel free to ask.
Also take a look @ Making custom icons to replace the standard icons
Step 1:
Unsign the .dll .dla with File Editor Suites UnSigner.exe, just drag the .dll over the Unsign.exe as show in the picture you wont see much maybe just a CMD "black box" quickly pop up.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Step 2: Open with ResHacker\PE In PE you have to click the circled item and you will see the resources.
Step 3: Find the resource you want to edit, remebering that the file you will be replacing needs to be same size and bit
Step 4: Save your resource and in File Editor Suite you have siggner.exe click it locate the .dll and press start the process, the .txt file out put will say "Warning: This file is signed, but not timestamped.
Succeeded"
That's it your done
Now use the appropriate software whether it be File Changer or just using Resco File Explorer/Total Commander to replace, if you have a file that can not be overwriten go into the phone find the file change the extension to .bak example: bronzeres.bak

Nice job bud! I like the look of the PE Explorer R5
lets keep the [TUT] going!
PS. for all, make sure to keep the same pixel size on the icons for better quality when displaying on device, for panels not as much, since the .cpr adjusts the size of the panels on the homescreen.

roloracer said:
Nice job bud! I like the look of the PE Explorer R5
lets keep the [TUT] going!
PS. for all, make sure to keep the same pixel size on the icons for better quality when displaying on device, for panels not as much, since the .cpr adjusts the size of the panels on the homescreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks bruv

isn't this all covered in jdshifflets [TUT] ?

Kemekill Products said:
yeah but he deleted it when stylez pissed him off. then he got banned...
And to fianlize what happened he broke the rules with reagrds to direcspect to members no more needed to be said... If anyone has a problem PM me directly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And then jdshifflets went on and created a new Sock Puppet account using his own address so we'd easily find out he's actually Kemekill.
And if that wasn't enough he didn't do a good enough job covering his IP address.
So until further notice Kemekill will Join jdshifflets in his/their split personality, until this is discussed and investigated.
To add to the Tute.
Sometimes when a file has only one Icon file (like for instance some .cpl files)
You can actually get away by using a bigger .icon file to replace it.
But best practice is to always use the same size and resolution to replace these.
Another Good Resource editor is CFF explorer http://www.ntcore.com/products.php
Or the Classic ResourceHacker.
Also until now i got away without unsigning files just fine, but i always sign them with new cert.
Yes I also wrote a Tute like this , but that has nothing to do with me stepping in here.
I'm just following up and the policy for creating Sock Puppet Accounts after a Ban.
Kemekill won't be back ever, and we (The Moderation Team) are not sure yet how this affects jdshifflets ban.

I've gotten this to work pretty good except for one slight hiccup... the "signer" gives me an error that the signature has expired... any thoughts on how to correct this?

New signer with certs, i'll change the full download when got time.
Edit: Updated File Editor Suite

stylez said:
New signer with certs, i'll change the full download when got time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet... thanks alot!!

I see a new Avatar there, cool.
Also when using PExplorer or CFF explorer sometimes you will need to rebuild the header for the file not to break.
At least i know that was the only way of removing \Noui from the first Marketplace exe (and also replacing it with my icon.
So with DLL files i don't expect this to be needed, but if you edit an .exe file and quickly see the .exe icon being replace by a blank icon you know you need to redo it with recompile header.

Thank you wanted to go back to my ninja but he disappeared..
Yeah i had this happening when tried to change everything in start menu to gray Good to know about header

Anyone having challenegs in copying tapres.dll? I can copy bronzeres.dll and open it using PE or Resource Hacker but can't seem to copy the tapres.dll (wchich containts the start menu icon) to my PC for modifying..=(

tapres.dll is a ROM file so you will have to use ROM Extractor and this is not easy as made for PPC, but can be done
In Top Box type\Windows\tapres.dll
In box bellow type tapres.dll
Click Extract.
This will extract it to root of phone memory.

hi folks,
i tried to unsign and open MMAppLauncherCore.dll (after copying to my workstation) which maximus.mobile has made but after the unsign step res.hacker opens a empty file, i do not know why.
can anybody try to open the file too to find out the mistake?
thx

[TUT] Making custom icons to replace the standard icons

Warning: if you do not follow the steps to the letter....you can brick your phone and have to hard reset
You can make your own custom icons for your phone by following these steps:
(I will use the start menu icon as an example)
1) find an image you want to use
2) use an image editing program (included in post) to make it the proper size and format (for the start menu icon it has to be a .ico 25x25 32-bit graphic). Most programs have a resize option...the one I included in this post allows you to resize, and save in a variety of formats (instructions on how to install the icon plugin for the program are in the icocur.zip file...just unzip both archives , and install the program to use). Just go to the image tab, select "resize" and put in the desired pixel size. Next, go to the file tab and select "save as", and select the desired file format. If you are replacing another icon on the phone you can always look at the resolution and file format using your resource editor to assure you have the right size and format.
3) use the instructions in this thread to put the icon into the .dll resource file (for the start menu icon it is #18 in tapres.dll found in the /windows directory...just copy to desktop and edit)
4) DO NOT FORGET TO DIGITALLY SIGN THE FILE USING THE SIGNER IN THE THREAD LINKED ABOVE
5) copy the revised file back to the windows directory (either using activesync, or resco, or total commander)
6) reboot...and you have a new icon
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

Cool added to sticky and linkback on Editing Resources.

great job, another good piece of info for all to use!

wonderful job mate!!!

Question folks...what other DLL files contain icons that can be changed? thanks in advance!

Just from what I have tinkered with...i think cmhomeres.dll has something (but that may only be txt, not pix)....but for sure bronzeres.dll...venture around the windows folder...some DLL's may have images, i don't know all of them

didn' work with WM 6.1, cant replace file.dll. what can I do?

try using resco explorer...just copy it to your storage card, and then use resco to move it to the windows directory.

thanks. iwll try it one more time.

hi.. if i want to change the menu icons, which DLL should i edit? thanks.

bramprasetyo said:
hi.. if i want to change the menu icons, which DLL should i edit? thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's a bit of info http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=562505&highlight=change+menu+icons will depend what ROM you have?

thanks stylez for quick replay..

I can't seem to copy tapres.dll to my pc so I could modify it using PE Explorer..it does not seem to even rename it..=(

popoy_23 said:
I can't seem to copy tapres.dll to my pc so I could modify it using PE Explorer..it does not seem to even rename it..=(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have been answered in [TUT] Editing Resources .dll etc
Please don't double post and check for answers to posts.

Sorry, and thank you for the heads up. Forgot the topics are linked together.

Which dll file contents d startmenu list icons??? and how do i copy dll files from the device to sd card???

somecuitears said:
Which dll file contents d startmenu list icons??? and how do i copy dll files from the device to sd card???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they are custom just look @ the .lnk with notepad and it will show the resorce .dll, regards extracting from ROM check link about 2 posts above.

ok well I followed the tutorial to the letter and bricked twice now. I'm using a T-Mobile Dash 3G/winmo 6.5 official rom. Is there a way to do this WITHOUT bricking? Thank you.

neocorpse said:
ok well I followed the tutorial to the letter and bricked twice now. I'm using a T-Mobile Dash 3G/winmo 6.5 official rom. Is there a way to do this WITHOUT bricking? Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May need to install sdkcert. *not sure about the 3G*

holy crap I thought this thread was dead, and WHAM a ninja appears!! Thank you styles I appreciate the quick response. I'm not really sure how to install the certs. Are those what came in the file editor suite?
Has it got to do with color info possibly? I don't mind fooling with the files provided all that happens is a hard reset is needed.
I've been going insane wanting to do global skinning for winmo 6.5 but with things like highlight it's not an image but a defined color bar. Plus I can't even begin to find the taskbar images to alter so....
PS. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful and petulant if I did in my earlier post. I was a bit angry at my phone...lol.
If you ever want to do some collaborative work let me know, I have years of skinning experience with several different devices and such.
EDIT: Ok, I think I know what you mean. There's a WM SDK Certs.cab that came with SmartToolKit rc09, will that work or should I try to find a newer one?
EDIT 2: Well I installed the certs from the file editor suite you provided, (both sdk and the certificate.cab and even switched from pe explorer to reshacker and it still bricked. Basically what the phone is doing is upon reboot it gets to the windows bootscreen and won't display the homescreen. I can hear the phone doing something when I scroll so I know it's not locked up completely but I can't access my homescreen and the PC fails to recognize it. Dunno what I am doing wrong but it's annoying none the less...lol.

Resizing HDPI Skins To MDPI

here is a brief visual tutorial on porting skins from hdpi to mdpi
had a few people ask for my help so i thought i would do a tutorial
firstly you need to decompile the apk you want to theme/resize using Apk Manager
1) Download apkmanager ( http://www.apkmultitool.com/?q=node/5 ) and install it.
2) Put the apk you want to decompile in 'place-apk-here-for-modding' folder.
3)Copy com.htc.resources.apk from /system/framework with Root Explorer to your sd card
copy to pc and put in APK Manager/other folder
4) Double click on 'script'
5) Type 22 i.e. 'set current project' and press enter.
6) Type 1 and press enter
7) Type 9 and press enter to decompile apk.
8) Wait until the decompilation finishes.
9) Minimize command line and go to projects -> filename.apk -> make the required changes (see attached images)
10) Switch back to command-line, type 11 and press enter.
11) After sometime you'll get a message 'is this a system apk?', type n and press enter.
12) Then type 12 to sign apk
13) Go to 'place-apk-here-for-modding' folder, your new file will be signedfilename.apk
14)Copy the file to SD card
15)Copy the file to system/app with Root Explorer
16)Change permissions to RW-R-R
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
this is a side by side comparison of mdpi and hdpi images
the quickest way of resizing is with Faststone Photo Resizer
Remember to add all images from drawable-hdpi and drawable-port-hdpi
most images will come out the right size give or take 1 or 2 pixels
normal PNG's will be ok,it's those pesky .9PNG's that need editing the most
after resizing .9PNG's will either need patching with draw9patch.bat included in Android SDK
or you can copy and paste minus the 1 pixel border in photo editing software aka Photoshop
I prefer to use Photoshop method
after you've finished editing your images goto point 10) type 11 to recompile
use a base skin such as slate
if you want to edit colors.xml for volume bars etc i will upload ColorEdit.exe
most skins only need 60-70 of the images to be edited,mostly the main ones you can see ie. rosie buttons widget headers and footers etc
Time and Patience needed Happy Editing
PS if you're porting somebody else's theme/skin don't forget to seek their permission first
Any Queries PM me

Wow!!! Nice work bro!!!!

opposedtmessia
Hey Bro,
Having a problem. I am unable to post images in my threads as you've done now with Adobe CS GUI Screen Shots.
All those images I upload can only be seen as attached thumbnails not as part of the page
Any help would be appreciated
Thank you

|BIA|Jason said:
Hey Bro,
Having a problem. I am unable to post images in my threads as you've done now with Adobe CS GUI Screen Shots.
All those images I upload can only be seen as attached thumbnails not as part of the page
Any help would be appreciated
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you post ,in the box that you type in,above that is a button INSERT IMAGE,you have to type in the box the URL of your image,so you need to upload it to an image hosting site

Can i use this method to resize mdpi apps to ldpi?
Sent from my E10i using xda app-developers app

pongnamu said:
Can i use this method to resize mdpi apps to ldpi?
Sent from my E10i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can.....but you may have to change the sizes accordingly

hey dude.....thats what i was searching for..........just 1 quest....will this method work for cm7 themes...? basically i want to port some hdpi themes to ldpi/mdpi.......If it works then could you please pm me the details.....thnx

Thanks for good info +1
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda premium

anishsood said:
hey dude.....thats what i was searching for..........just 1 quest....will this method work for cm7 themes...? basically i want to port some hdpi themes to ldpi/mdpi.......If it works then could you please pm me the details.....thnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
should work for cm7 themes,not tried it myself though, will have a look
check out this threadhttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=964391

Interesting, could be helpful for Project Llama

[APP] ThisPCFolder - Customize Computer or This PC folder with custom folders

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"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Hi, this is my newest program: ThisPCFolder
With this tool you can customize your “Computer” (Windows 8 and backwards) or “this pc” (in Windows 8.1) folder
You can’t add your customized folder (next release), but you can select for 12 System folder
In Windows 8.1 you can remove the 6 folders that appears after installation
It functions on every Windows, but some links will not function
Link to my website: "ThisPCFolder – Customize and choose folders that appear in Computer or This PC folder"
Direct download
This version: 1.0 4/7/2013

I know it's BETA version. Idea is great. But as long as a user-guide doesn't exist, this prog is totally unusable: it is not self-describing. Obviously no drag and drop operations possible, no file selection dialogs pop up, etcetera ... If I click "Add" in the background seems to open a DOS-box window, which immediately disappears. If I click "Remove" or "Run" an error message pops up ...
FYI: My laptop is running Vista HP SP3

Hi, I'm releasing a new version in next days, this version function correctly only With Windows 8.1
Have you read the "readme" text file in zip folder, there are some informations in it
However, can you post a screenshot of the error? Thanks

Pasquiindustry said:
Hi, I'm releasing a new version in next days, this version function correctly only With Windows 8.1
Have you read the "readme" text file in zip folder, there are some informations in it
However, can you post a screenshot of the error? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Inbetween understood how ThisPCFolder works. This UI simply is nothing else than a comfortable folder object creator: If in form-element "Desktop" you select "Add" it simply creates in folder "Computer" and/or "This PC" a subfolder named "Desktop", if in form-element "Documents" you select "Add" it simply creates in folder "Computer" and/or "This PC" a subfolder named "Documents", and so on.
Technically spoken it creates subfolders (folder objects) using their shell class, as for example shell:::{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641} for folder "Desktop".
2. The only well working -> Add -> Run are ControlPanel (All items) , Network, RecycleBin, and Search
3. Some error message examples:
Desktop
___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Mouse Event for Left Released
for object obj_desktop:
Cannot execute shell:::{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}
Documents
___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Mouse Event for Left Released
for object obj_documents:
Cannot execute shell:::{A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0}
Music
___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Mouse Event for Left Released
for object obj_music:
Cannot execute shell:::{1CF1260C-4DD0-4ebb-811F-33C572699FDE}
Pictures
___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Mouse Event for Left Released
for object obj_img:
Cannot execute shell:::{3ADD1653-EB32-4cb0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA}

That's because you're running Windows Vista, Witch don't have Documents, Pictures etc... "known folder" id, only Windows 8.1 have it (and the error appear)
You can't add files and folders in Computer or ThisPC folder by Drag&drop and you can't remove this system folders in Windows 8.1 (Which has this by default)
This tool allows user to do it

Pasquiindustry said:
That's because you're running Windows Vista, Witch don't have Documents, Pictures etc... "known folder" id, only Windows 8.1 have it (and the error appear)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course these KnownFolderIDs also since Vista are present:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd378457(v=vs.85).aspx

Yes, but they don't identify folders (so explorer get error)

Great application, very useful on Windows 8.1. I would like to be able to my Libraries in either the "Folders" section or can you make it so "Libraries" shows up in ThisPC?

dragon_76 said:
Great application, very useful on Windows 8.1. I would like to be able to my Libraries in either the "Folders" section or can you make it so "Libraries" shows up in ThisPC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm working for that and any other folder