There is finally an easy way (easier than before) to change your Windows Vista boot screen and use any high-resolution photo as your boot screen. Using a great tool written by Dan Smith it is now possible to automatically generate the replacement language MUI file that contains your boot image files. All you need is two photos at 800x600 and 1024x768 saved as 24-bit Windows bitmaps. Then follow these steps:
- Download Dan Smith's Vista Boot Logo Generator.
- Install and then run from the link in the Start Menu.
- Hit Browse for image and select both the 800x600 and 1024x768 resolution bitmap files for your boot screen.
- Click on File and select Save Boot Screen File as and save your file.
- Next, you will need to replace the winload.exe.mui file in c:\Windows\System32\en-us with the one you just created. Before you copy in your new file, make a backup of the original. You will need to take ownership of all files in en-us as well as give your account file permissions to replace the file as well in order to copy the new winload.exe.mui file in.
- The last step is to enable the alternative boot screen setting as shown in this tweak.
The next time you reboot you should see your new boot screen. If you have problems with Windows not booting properly, boot up with the Windows Vista install CD and replace the winload.exe.mui file with your backup.
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