How can I change the Windows XP or Windows 2000 boot screen?

A. First, a disclaimer: Microsoft doesn't support modifying core system files. Every time a service pack or hotfix replaces one of these files, you must perform the following procedure again. This procedure is provided as is and works as shown; please don't email me to ask for specific assistance. Please post all questions to the Windows & .NET Magazine forums.

When Windows starts, a progress bar indicating the status of the boot process appears on top of a Windows logo background. You can't use the registry or a configuration file (e.g., .ini file) to modify this background. However, you can modify the bitmap resource, which stores the background image, in the ntoskrnl.exe (the Windows kernel) file that's active during the boot process. You'll need to copy the ntoskrnl.exe file and replace the bitmap resource with the bitmap you want to use. If you want to modify an XP boot screen but you're not up to the challenge of manually modifying ntoskrnl.exe, you might want to try BootXP.

You'll need two applications to modify the ntoskrnl.exe file:

The boot screen bitmap must consist of 16 colors. When you modify an XP boot screen, you'll need to download a 16-color Windows palette and 16-color viewable palette from the Windows 2000 FAQ Web site. Otherwise, the bitmap image that you create for your boot screen will appear as just a black image.

When Win2K displays the boot screen bitmap image, it loads the colors from the actual bitmap. When XP displays the bitmap image, it loads the colors from a standard palette, which complicates the process of replacing the bitmap image for the XP boot screen. The general steps for replacing the boot screen image in both XP and Win2K are as follows:

After you're happy with your modified boot screen, you can change the boot.ini file to include only the modified boot entry with the /kernel option. For example,

  [boot loader]  timeout=5  default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS  [operating systems]  multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP  Professional Modified Start Screen" /fastdetect /kernel=ntoskrmd.exe

Be aware that if you apply a service pack or a hotfix and you continue to use the modified ntoskrnl.exe file, the fixes you apply won't go into effect and you might experience compatibility problems. Should this happen, you can manually replace the standard ntoskrnl.exe file with the modified version by booting into the Recovery Console or by pressing F8 during the boot process to boot into "Safe mode command prompt." If you use either method, you'll boot to a command prompt where you can overwrite the standard ntoskrnl.exe. If a service pack or hotfix replaces ntoskrnl.exe, you'll need to modify the new ntoskrnl.exe file supplied with the fix to restore your modified boot screen.

You can use Resource Hacker to explore the other bitmaps you can change. Just be sure you always have an alternative boot option and that you don't change the original ntoskrnl.exe while experimenting. For example, bitmap 8 for XP is the three progress bars that scroll across the screen during the boot process (you can change this bitmap by following the steps I outlined above and substituting bitmap 1 for bitmap 8).

A few words of warning. I've noticed that when I edit a bitmap in Paint Shop Pro and save the image under a different name, the new picture is a different size. As a result, when I insert the image into ntoskrnl.exe and attempt to boot the system, the boot process fails and displays an error message indicating that the system can't find ntoskrnl.exe. You must save the bitmap image over the existing file that you used Resource Hacker to export.