Windows 7 HOWTO: Remove Or Change The Start Button Balloon Tip

This will permanently remove or change the Start Button "Start" balloon tip.

I'm using Link Removed due to 404 Error for this tutorial.

GoTo C:\Windows\en-US and Take Ownership of and then copy the explorer.exe.mui to somewhere safe.
If you are running a 64 bit system you should also modify the explorer.exe.mui which is located in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\en-US

Now open your explorer.exe.mui(s) in ResHack and navigate to String Table 34, line 533. Modify / delete to your liking.

Before:
Code:
STRINGTABLE
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
{
530,     "Unable to run command.\nThe folder '%1' has been removed."
533,     "Start" [B][COLOR=red]<< Line to modify or delete[/COLOR][/B]
534,     "&Undo %s"
535,     "Cascade"
536,     "Show side by side"
537,     "Minimize all"
538,     "Show stacked"
542,     "Hide"
543,     "Show hidden icons"
}
After:
Code:
STRINGTABLE
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
{
530,     "Unable to run command.\nThe folder '%1' has been removed."
534,     "&Undo %s"
535,     "Cascade"
536,     "Show side by side"
537,     "Minimize all"
538,     "Show stacked"
542,     "Hide"
543,     "Show hidden icons"
}
Once you have modified or deleted the 533 entry click the compile script button. Then in the menu bar click File and in its drop-down menu click Save. Close ResHack.

Now go to your original folder(s) again and rename your original explorer.exe.mui(s) files (explorer0ld.exe.mui ?) then copy and paste your modified explorer.exe.mui file(s) into place.

After a re-boot your start button balloon tip will have changed / disappeared.

Link Removed due to 404 Error
 
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Are you using 32 or 64bit?
It took a couple of "shots" to get this to bite for me originally, but nw I can just change the text entry, re-boot, and it's taken.
 
Are you using 32 or 64bit?
It took a couple of "shots" to get this to bite for me originally, but nw I can just change the text entry, re-boot, and it's taken.

64 bit Home Premium. All other mods have worked including changing the start button logo. Strange . . .
 
If there is ever a change to the explorer.exe.mui file, which is a localization file in Windows, you will also end up with a checksum error probably a failed Windows Update. I would be careful making arbitrary changes. One way to get rid of the Start button baloon tip is not to leave your mouse hovering over it :D
 
Elmer, thanks so much for the tut and for correctly pointing at the right version of ResHacker to edit MUI files, but... you should update your method with the following infos.

First of all, on a 64bit Windows 7 OS, there are copies of explorer.exe.mui not only in

C:\Windows\en-US
and
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\en-US

(of course the en-US folder being pretty much interchangeable with the localization ID of the language the OS is in, e.g. it-IT)

but also in

C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-explorer.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_61e778c48d52d19b
and
C:\Windows\winsxs\wow64_microsoft-windows-explorer.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_6c3c2316c1b39396

(or something like that.
winsxs
is the components store folder,
and, again, the en-us you see in the path is interchangeable with your localization ID string).

So, on a 64 bit OS you should also edit those files.

That said, after you have edited all those MUIs, you need update the MUI cache too.

This is the way:

- Run a command prompt as Administrator
- Move to folder C:\Windows\System32 and type mcbuilder, then press ENTER
- Wait for the operation to be completed, then restart the PC
- Now you're really done!

Mike, i don't think there is a proper checksum, but maybe you know it best.


.
 
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