Mechling/Mechcom
Support Group
How
do I replace the start-up/shut-down screens?
No one seems to like those screens
in Windows 95, 98, or ME. The pictures that tell you to "Please wait while
Windows is shutting down" and that "It is now safe to turn off your
computer" seem to get uglier with ever successive version of Windows.
Here's how to replace these with your own designs:
- Make duplicates of the files LOGOS.SYS
and LOGOW.SYS in a temporary folder. These files are located
initially in your Windows folder. LOGOW.SYS is the one that
reads "Please wait while...," and LOGOS.SYS is the one that
reads "It is now safe to...,"
- These files are just standard bitmaps, so
rename the extensions of these duplicates to .BMP.
- You can use any graphics editor to edit
these files, such as MSPaint, Photoshop, or Paint Shop Pro.
- The files are 256-color windows bitmaps (RGB-encoded,
but not RGB color), 320 x 400.
- Since the aspect ratio (width / height) of
these files are not standard 4:3, like most computer screens, the bitmaps
will appear vertically elongated.
- To make your new design conform to this
aspect ratio, resize the bitmap to 534 x 400 while you're working on it.
Make sure to resize them back to 320 x 400 when you're done.
- Save your changes, and rename the
extensions of your new files back to .SYS.
- Last, copy the new files back into your Windows
folder. It might be smart to back up your original files.
- While you're at it, you can create a
startup screen as well (using the above method).
- Just call the file LOGO.SYS, and
place it in the root directory of your boot drive (usually C:\).
There's no file to replace here; the default logo, imbedded in IO.SYS, is
used if no LOGO.SYS file is found. Note: If you're using disk
compression, like Doublespace, you'll need to put the file in the original
boot drive (sometimes H:\).
- To remove the startup logo altogether, edit
the file C:\MSDOS.SYS, and add the line LOGO=0 to the Options
section. Note: This will only work, for some reason, if you have a custom
startup screen in your root directory.
- Note: If you delete LOGOW.SYS and
LOGOS.SYS altogether, Windows will exit to DOS instead of shutting down.
- Note: Some users have reported that the
machine reboots instead of shutting down when these logos are replaced. If
this happens to you, make sure the bitmaps are not corrupted, and using no
more than 256 colors.
- Note: If you're using DriveSpace or
another disk compression utility, and want to create your own startup screen
(as described above), make sure you put LOGO.SYS in the root
directory of your host drive (which may not be drive C:\).