How to change Windows 7 startup sound

Thanks :) um, I found the problem... Lol... I used reshack to listen to the sound... I expected to hear the sound I placed in there but it played the same sound from before. Lol... I restarted my computer and -poof- there it was. My sound played and I was satisfied.

No worries, glad you got it working and thanks for posting back.

windrider said:

Here is tutorial a little neater I think

Startup Sound - Change in Windows 7

Change startup sound in windows 7

How to Change Start up sound in Windows 7 This assumes you are using American English versuion of W-7 Language type 1033
All Windows 7 allows is for you check or un-check play start up sound in Windows 7 you have to do the following to change the default sound of your choice

1) Use the following beta program Reshacker from
Download Resource Hacker 3.5.0.82 Beta / 3.4.0.79 - Analyze, change, add, erase or extract resources in EXE and DLL files - Softpedia

2) Locate the file "imageres.dll" in C:\ Windows\System32 folder. For instance, C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll. Copy that file into a different location, i.e. your desktop.

3) Download ResHacker .

4) Open ResHacker. Open the imageres.dll file in ResHacker.

5) Find the folder that reads "WAVE" and expand everything below that.

6) Right click 1033 (this could have a different name depending on your locale), and click Replace Resource. Click "Open file with new resource", and find the wave file you want to replace it with. Once you're done, in Resource Type, type "WAVE", in Resource Name type "5080", and under Resource Language type "1033" (or whatever number you have). Once done, click Replace.

7) Click File, then click Save. Now you can copy this file to Vista's System32 folder.

Keep the imageres_original.dll file ResHack left behind in case you want to revert back to the original sound.

8) For Windows 7 go back to C:\Windows\System32 directory rename the imageres.dll to Imageres.old then copy and paste the new hacked Imageres.dll into C:\windows\system32 directory

Now I used this reshacker instead as I am using Windows 7 Ultimate x64
http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/reshack_setup.exe

I also downloaded the 'Take Ownership' file from our forums here - Take Ownership Shortcut

I then took ownership of the imageres.dll in System32 folder, so I could change the extension to .old
That way I was able to copy the new imageres.dll file into that folder.

This worked perfectly for me then

Ok. I done all those steps and when I reboot the computer the sound doesn't change.

Why it doesn't change for you I don't really know. I used the reshacker under step 8, not the first link in step 1.

I found that made a difference for me. And the size of the replacement startup sound I believe makes a difference.

Read through some of the other posts, to see what worked for others.

windrider said:

Why it doesn't change for you I don't really know. I used the reshacker under step 8, not the first link in step 1.

I found that made a difference for me. And the size of the replacement startup sound I believe makes a difference.

Read through some of the other posts, to see what worked for others.

I did it exactly what you wrote and the sound still same.

Ok , try running the resource hacker in Admin mode, by right-clicking it, then choosing 'run as administrator.

That could be the issue, or there is something wrong with your wav file.

windrider said:

Ok , try running the resource hacker in Admin mode, by right-clicking it, then choosing 'run as administrator.

That could be the issue, or there is something wrong with your wav file.

No idea how do I go to the administratormode.

You just right-click on ResHacker.exe and then choose 'run as Administrator' like pictured below





If your creating your own, perhaps try this alienware startup sound that I used on my husbands Alienware pc with Windows 7 ultimate x64

YouTube - Alienware Computer Startup Sound

Rose1 said:

windrider said:

Here is tutorial a little neater I think

Startup Sound - Change in Windows 7

Change startup sound in windows 7

How to Change Start up sound in Windows 7 This assumes you are using American English versuion of W-7 Language type 1033
All Windows 7 allows is for you check or un-check play start up sound in Windows 7 you have to do the following to change the default sound of your choice

1) Use the following beta program Reshacker from
Download Resource Hacker 3.5.0.82 Beta / 3.4.0.79 - Analyze, change, add, erase or extract resources in EXE and DLL files - Softpedia

2) Locate the file "imageres.dll" in C:\ Windows\System32 folder. For instance, C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll. Copy that file into a different location, i.e. your desktop.

3) Download ResHacker .

4) Open ResHacker. Open the imageres.dll file in ResHacker.

5) Find the folder that reads "WAVE" and expand everything below that.

6) Right click 1033 (this could have a different name depending on your locale), and click Replace Resource. Click "Open file with new resource", and find the wave file you want to replace it with. Once you're done, in Resource Type, type "WAVE", in Resource Name type "5080", and under Resource Language type "1033" (or whatever number you have). Once done, click Replace.

7) Click File, then click Save. Now you can copy this file to Vista's System32 folder.

Keep the imageres_original.dll file ResHack left behind in case you want to revert back to the original sound.

8) For Windows 7 go back to C:\Windows\System32 directory rename the imageres.dll to Imageres.old then copy and paste the new hacked Imageres.dll into C:\windows\system32 directory

Now I used this reshacker instead as I am using Windows 7 Ultimate x64
http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/reshack_setup.exe

I also downloaded the 'Take Ownership' file from our forums here - Take Ownership Shortcut

I then took ownership of the imageres.dll in System32 folder, so I could change the extension to .old
That way I was able to copy the new imageres.dll file into that folder.

This worked perfectly for me then

Ok. I done all those steps and when I reboot the computer the sound doesn't change.

Where is the Vista's system 32 folder on windows 7 to save it?