Windows 7: How to change Windows 7 startup sound

HOW TO CHANGE WINDOWS 7 STARTUP SOUND

Startup Sound - Change in Windows 7

1.select an audio file of your choice and make sure you convert it to a wave file not just wav
2.rename it 5080 if you are uesing english version of windows 7 united statse language,so your audio
file should be 5080.wave .(DONT MAKE YOUR WAVE FILE MORE THEN 330 KB AS I'M NOT SURE HOW BIG IT CAN BE)
3.copy (imageres.dll) file you will find this c/windows/system32 and save to desktop allso make a
copy of it and put it in a safe place just incace things dont go right for you.
4.download XN resource Editor Open the imageres.dll file in XN resource editor that you have saved
to your desktop find the folder that reads wave and expand it below it is a file named 5080 expand
that and right click delete resorse on the file named English (United States)
5.select resourse in XN Resourse Editor then select import ueser resourse find your file
we made named 5080 and save and then exit now replace the imageres.dll file that you have made
into c/windows/system32 and your good to go reboot enjoy. i have tryed other ways and they
didnt work for me i just played around with things and this is what worked for me
YOU MUST DO THIS IN SAFE MODE OR IF YOU HAVE A DUAL BOOT UESING XP IT WILL MAKE THINGS EASY
i was able to use a 3.6 MB file but as i said earlyer i dont know how big the audio file can be . and also make sure you uncheck the Play Windows start up sound before you try to change it ....

Thanks for the tip!!

Welcome to SevenForums! +rep

That doesn't work. When trying to save it, I get a code 50, the request is not supported error.

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

thanks and welcome

Hi, Anyone getting error codes when trying to change/replace the imageres.dll file in ResHacker or XN ResEditor, should try the following:

If you have access to a Win XP computer then use that to make the changes to your Win 7 imageres.dll,(in safe mode) transferring it from/to pcs using a usb stick. Once you've replaced the sound with the one you want on the XP machine, boot up your Win 7 pc using an Ubuntu live cd and replace the altered dll into the windows system 32 folder. This worked for me.
Best to use ResHacker to make the changes, I found XN resEditor did not work in Win 7 or XP

Maybe because I've only had two cups of coffee, so far, but I'm lost.
Why is changing a sound so difficult on W-7 when it's so ridiculously easy on XP?

I've used the same startup sound on every computer of mine for the last ten years.
It's a wave file (.wav) that originally came from a Windows (something) install CD.
It's beautiful and goes great with wallpapers of mountains, lakes, seascapes, etc.

I guess I'm going to have to reboot into Windows 7 and see what all the fuss is about.

Laters!


OK, it's already later and I see in the \Windows\Media folder there is a file "Windows Startup.wav" , but that's not what windows plays when booting up. ???

In the Sounds section of the control panel, there is NO Windows Startup sound to select. Is that another one of those Windows 7 better ideas?
Why did they have to screw around with something that's worked so good for so long?

Likewise.....I wonder if it's because my version of Win-7 is 64 bit.
I was totally unable to get that file changed with my own music file in it.

Now going to try the alternate Hacker program for the 64 bit.....

Later: I finally got it using the second Resource Hacker program. But even then it was not smooth sailing. I don't think I'll be doing that exercise again, any time soon.

Thanks for all the help.
The Doctor

I too use Windows 7 x64 and had no troubles following the tutorial I posted, and just download the proper Resource Hacker program.

The 'Take Ownership' link in my post above will help with being able to change/replace the file.

Its not too bad, but yes I don't want to change it too often.

Since I may have to reinstall Windows 7 someday, I'm going to archive that imagesres.dll file for future use.

I found it much easier to replace that file, when running Windows XP and accessing the Win-7 drive through Windows Explorer.

Thanks for the tutorial and the Resource hacker program. I'm sure I'll find uses for that later on.