Windows 7 Modify welcome message on login

Cardinal System

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I am trying to customize the "Welcome" message displayed after login in windows 7, I already have a message that displays on startup, which I made by opening regedit.exe and changing files in this dir HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System, but I am not sure where to find the file in which the value of "Welcome" is stored.

Thank you for your time and answers!
 
The strings are in winlogon.exe.mui. You will need to take ownership of the file, copy it to your desktop. Open it with resource hacker and edit the strings you want under the string section. Save it and copy it back to C:\Windows\System32\en-US. Open an elevated command prompt and type mcbuilder reboot and your done.
 
Hello, @bignose956! I hope you're having a great day!

Here is how to do it:
Since your already know all about opening run and getting into REGEDIT.exe, go to where you went,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Now, find the file that says "legalnoticecaption" and click "Modify", now on the bottom you'll see "Value Data", change that to what you want and restart the PC, easy as that!
Extras:
You can also have a Subtitle to "Welcome", change the "legalnoticetext" to whatever and you should see
Welcome
Welcome

of course "Welcome" is gonna be whatever you wrote!

Thanks, MinecraftKid45
 
Hello, @bignose956! I hope you're having a great day!

Here is how to do it:
Since your already know all about opening run and getting into REGEDIT.exe, go to where you went,
Now, find the file that says "legalnoticecaption" and click "Modify", now on the bottom you'll see "Value Data", change that to what you want and restart the PC, easy as that!
Extras:
You can also have a Subtitle to "Welcome", change the "legalnoticetext" to whatever and you should see
Welcome
Welcome

of course "Welcome" is gonna be whatever you wrote!

Thanks, MinecraftKid45
I don't mean
The strings are in winlogon.exe.mui. You will need to take ownership of the file, copy it to your desktop. Open it with resource hacker and edit the strings you want under the string section. Save it and copy it back to C:\Windows\System32\en-US. Open an elevated command prompt and type mcbuilder reboot and your done.
Apparently, winlogon.exe.mui is running, so I can't replace it. Do you think explorer.exe is using it? Because I could shut it down from Task Manager...
 
winlogon.exe.mui should not be in use, but you could verify that with procexp
 
Did you make sure to give yourself permission to the file after taking ownership?
 
Hello, @bignose956! I hope you're having a great day!

Here is how to do it:
Since your already know all about opening run and getting into REGEDIT.exe, go to where you went,
Now, find the file that says "legalnoticecaption" and click "Modify", now on the bottom you'll see "Value Data", change that to what you want and restart the PC, easy as that!
Extras:
You can also have a Subtitle to "Welcome", change the "legalnoticetext" to whatever and you should see
Welcome
Welcome

of course "Welcome" is gonna be whatever you wrote!

Thanks, MinecraftKid45
You have the wrong thing in mind, I am trying to edit the logon welcome message, not the startup message.
 
  • Open explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\en-US
  • Right click winlogon.exe.mui and select properties
  • Click on the security tab and click advanced
  • Click on the Owner tab and make yourself the owner and apply
  • Back on the Security tab click edit and give yourself full access to the file
  • Copy winlogon.exe.mui to your desktop
  • Open the copy in resource hacker
  • Open the String Table section and edit the strings
  • Compile the changes and save it to back to your desktop
  • Rename the original to winlogon.exe.mui.bak
  • Copy the desktop mui file into the orginal location
  • Open an elevated command prompt and type mcbuilder
  • Reboot
 
Alternative:

Intended for Windows 7 32 bit or 64 bit computers with Service Pack 1 installed, the following can be done with or without User Account Control active. You will also need a copy of Resource Hacker, a free tool designed to enable you to modify, add, rename, delete and view resources in Windows EXE files.


While this is downloading, open C:\Windows\System32\en-US\ (note that non-English versions of Windows will have a different folder name, such as \es-ES\ for Spanish) and find winlogon.exe.mui.

muo-w7logon1.png


Right-click this file and select Properties > Security > Advanced > Owner – in this window, click Edit and then under Change owner to, select your own logon name and click Apply. Click OK to proceed, and select OK to exit these windows and the original Properties box.

muo-w7logon3.png


Once done, return to Properties > Security andselect Edit. In the following box, click Add and search for your logon name; it should resolve asPCNAME\USERNAME. Select this, click OK to add and you will be returned to the Security tab. From here, click Advanced > Permissions > Change Permissions, and under Permission Entries:, select the newly added entry and click Edit. Select the Full Control checkbox in the Allow column, then click OKand Apply to exit back to the Properties box.

You should then copy the winlogon.exe.mui to anew location, preferably your desktop.

muo-w7logon4.png


Next, install Resource Hacker and launch the software from the Windows Start menu by right-clicking and selecting Run as Administrator. Agree to the UAC notice and when the application has loaded open File > Open and in the Files of type box select All files (*.*). Browse to the desktop and load winlogon.exe.muiinto Resource Hacker.

muo-w7logon5.png


You will see that the tool has a similar interface to the Windows Registry Editor, so expand String Table > 63 > 1033 and in the right pane update the entries in quotes on lines 1002 and 1005 – this will be your new Windows 7 logon screen message!

muo-w7logon6.png


Ensure the quotes remain in place, and click Compile Script and then File > Save to complete the process.

muo-w7logon7.png


Close Resource Hacker and copy the winlogon.exe.mui file back toC:\Windows\System32\en-US\ (choosing Copy and Replace) and then openStart and type CMD, right-clicking the resulting command prompt icon and selecting Run as administrator. Type mcbuilder and tap Enter, and wait until the process is complete (the cursor will flash on a new line) before entering Exit to close the command prompt.

Restart Windows to complete the process and confirm your changes.

To undo this and restore the original message, simply start the process again, replacing your custom message with “Welcome”. Alternatively, deletewinlogon.exe.mui and replace it with the winlogon.exe_original.mui file created by Resource Hacker, renaming it appropriately.

Change the Logon Screen Font
While changing the logon screen message might take a while, changing the font is much quicker.

Open Start and type regedit, tapping Enter to launch the utility and agreeing to any UAC prompts (before proceeding use File > Export to make a backup of your Windows Registry – useful if an error is made).

muo-w7logon8.png


Expand the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes and find MS Shell Dlg in the right pane – right click on this and select Modify. In the resulting box, input the name of the font you wish to use (check C:\Windows\Fonts for a list of currently installed choices), and repeat for the entry MS Shell Dlg 2 (note that the default option is Tahoma).

Once this is done, close the Windows registry and restart your computer to apply the changes (note that you can also logoff and logon, although locking your computer will not display the changes).

The Text Is Too Light/Dark! Can I Change the Colour?
Changing the colour of the Windows logon screen font isn’t possible but you can change the weight of the text – that is, how prominent it appears in front of your chosen background.

To do this, return to the Windows Registry Editor and expand the pathHKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI; in the right pane right-click and select New > DWORD, naming it ButtonSet.

muo-w7logon9.png


Once this is done, double click to edit the value, clicking OK when you’re done. You have a choice of the following:

0 – This gives lighter text shadows, darker buttons and is the default choice.

1 – Suitable for lighter backgrounds, this option offers darker text shadows and lighter buttons.

2 – Intended for a darker background, text shadows are removed and buttons are opaque.

When your choice is made, close Registry Editor and restart Windows to check the results!
 
  • Open explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\en-US
  • Right click winlogon.exe.mui and select properties
  • Click on the security tab and click advanced
  • Click on the Owner tab and make yourself the owner and apply
  • Back on the Security tab click edit and give yourself full access to the file
  • Copy winlogon.exe.mui to your desktop
  • Open the copy in resource hacker
  • Open the String Table section and edit the strings
  • Compile the changes and save it to back to your desktop
  • Rename the original to winlogon.exe.mui.bak
  • Copy the desktop mui file into the orginal location
  • Open an elevated command prompt and type mcbuilder
  • Reboot
When I go to copy winlogon.exe.mui back to C:\Windows\System32\en-US it says I don't have permission to do it. I did grant myself full ownership though...
 
You need ownership AND Full access there is a difference between access and ownership
 
The strings are in winlogon.exe.mui. You will need to take ownership of the file, copy it to your desktop. Open it with resource hacker and edit the strings you want under the string section. Save it and copy it back to C:\Windows\System32\en-US. Open an elevated command prompt and type mcbuilder reboot and your done.
Could you suggest a resource hacker to me? I am not sure which one to use.
 
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