Logo Windows Files

Startup and Shutdown Splash Screens

 

This Help files explains how to make your own custom Windows logo screens (sometimes called "splash screens"), and also explains how to disable the startup splash screen if desired.

WinXP and 2000

Unlike the simple methods of creating custom splash screens for Win98, WinXP is much more complex.  The splash screens for startup and shutdown are bitmap resources of ntoskrnl.exe and logonui.exe.  You can only replace ntoskrnl.exe by booting into safe mode, or another boot partition if you have dual-boot !!

The startup boot screen is only 16 colors and is 640x480 !!!!  Not only is it embedded into the kernel, but it is made up of several images, all layered on each other. And to top things off, it relies on a "system" 16 color palette. This is where I have heard the most complaints. It is not really any different to change the boot screen in XP than in Win2000, but in Win2000 you could at least optimize the color palette of the image. In WinXP, you are stuck using the palette built into the kernel. Not anymore!  The image must be saved without compression as a BMP-File. The resulting File-Size should be 153.718 Bytes.

A Warning:

Changing the boot screen palette in Windows XP involves getting in and making changes to the kernel of your system. If you screw things up, you can REALLY screw things up!

 

Edit the Startup Logo

A simple program for Boot logo only is an $8 utility called "XPboot", found at:

http://www.bootxp.net 

 

Edit the Startup and Shutdown Logo

A freeware version is called "Resource Hacker" found at:  http://www.users.on.net/johnson/resourcehacker/  - very complex and not user-friendly, but at least it will edit logonui.exe for the shutdown screen, which most users do not care about.  For instruction goto:  http://www.thetechguide.com/howto/xpbootlogo/ 

 

 

A great forum discusses this in detail and has links to many resources, at http://www.xrx.ca/msgboard.mv  - you can also download other peopls Startup images stored in their own custom ntoskrnl.exe (it goes in the windows\system32 folder).

 

 


Win98

 

The three filenames associated with these screens are:

In Win95, 98, and ME, the default images for LOGO.SYS is contained in IO.SYS, and no file is needed unless you want a custom one. (However, some versions of Win95 may have a default file existing also. If it is removed, the version in IO.SYS is used.) To add a custom one, just create the file according to the parameters above, name it as indicated, and place it in the \WINDOWS folder (for LOGOW.SYS or LOGOS.SYS) or the root folder in C: (for LOGO.SYS).


REMOVING THE STARTUP SPLASH SCREEN

Method 1) use TweakUI, goto the "Boot Tab", and uncheck "Display Splash Screen while booting"

Method 2) change the attributes of MSDOS (in command prompt, type "attrib msdod.sys -r -h -s), open the file in notepad, change the Logo=1 to Logo=0, save the file, and type "attrib msdod.sys +r +h +s"



CREATING YOUR OWN SPLASH SCREENS

1) create a 256-color bmp image at a high res, preferably 1024x768 - this is because you will have to resize it to a low res picture, and high-res to low-res resizing gives much better results that low-res to low-res. BUT - no matter what the image you use as the original source, IT MUST BE A 4:3 ASPECT RATIO !! So, use either 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, or 1600x1200. Later we will resize it to an odd, pinched size of 320x400, which will be discussed later.

NOTE: you can create or use anexisting image in millions of colors,
but stay away from gradients and gradually changing colors,
since the final image will be converted to 256 color, and will look 
slightly grainy that way. 

If you have an exisiting picture you want to use, you must get it into the same 256 color pallette used by the Windows system :
a) open in Photoshop
b) Image/Mode/Indexed Color
c) use Pallete: Adaptive Colors:256 Forced:Primaries Dither:Diffusion Amount:100%

NOTE: The Windows System same Color table, windows.act, is included with 
Photoshop and is in "photoshop\Adobe Photoshop 5.5 Settings\Color Table", but
can be easily loaded by "Image/Mode/Color Table . ." and selecting Windows(System)
from the drop-down box. You can only load color tables with Indexed Mode images


2) resize the image to 320 width x400 Height - it will look squinched, but that is normal, since upon startup, Windows will display it stretched back out to a 4:3 ratio image

3) you can now save it as a 256 color bmp file, as c:\logo.bmp, and then rename it to one of three types of Splash screens :

c:\logo.sys (the "Startup Logo" - Windows 98 actually doesn't have a separate 
logo.sys file like Win95 does. The logo you see when Windows 98 is 
starting up is embedded in another file (IO.SYS) that you should never touch. 
Just copy your new logo to your root directory and the new image should be shown.
Normally c:\logo.sys is not there, and when you place it there, it
supercedes the imbedded image in io.sys

c:\windows\logow.sys (the "windows is shutting down" logo) - backup the original !!
or 
c:\windows\logos.sys (the "it is now safe to turn off your computer" logo) - backup the original !!

4) Reboot and watch the logo splash on your screen !!!