Solved Can't Remove Start Menu Pic & Frame- Tried All Methods I Could Find

[Magnakai]

Can't Remove Start Menu Pic & Frame- Tried All Methods I Could Find

hi i can't seem to remove my User Pic & Frame from Start Menu, have tried all the methods i could find on the net, including Windows 7 Start Menu User Picture Remover, using Restorator 2007 to change aero.mssytles, renaming suffix of user.bmp ...

strangely i have successfully removed user pic & frame with no bad side effects at Logon/Switch User, using the modded modded authui.dll method. i'm beginning to think it's my build or my hardware- i'm testing customization on an xps laptop, and when i first installed win 7 ultimate 64-bit sp1, my windows auto-selected some xps theme at Personalization. after my first attempt with win7 start menu user remover, that theme no longer shows up as a choice at Personalization. since then i have been using standard aero win7 theme.

i really don't want to use a start menu replacement, need help with this i can give you the descriptions of my results on my attempts so far :-

1. Windows 7 Start Menu User Picture Remover - after i click on apply, my entire aero theme reverts to win 7 basic non-aero theme (the one with the grey start menu). my user pic is still there, the xps one chosen for me upon initial win7 installation.

2. Using Restorator 2007 to change aero.mssytles - now under personalization, i do see a new theme under 'Installed Themes' called "Windows 7 No Start Menu User Picture", it's appearance looks like std. win aero 7 on the list, but clicking it sends my current theme back to basic win 7 non-aero as well. and i still have my xps picture in start menu lol.

3. Renaming suffixes of user.bmp and guest.bmp - completely no effect.

ps. not sure if this clashes with any of the methods i tried above- i am currently having TransBar active & have executed windows 7 start orb changer once.

 

[Magnakai]

hey yo i did it. well the User's Frame anyway. thanks to this guy's thread here on sevenforums :- (for removal of user frame tutorial - the start menu)

http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/276404-remove-aero-border-around-user-account-icon-2.html

i think it was the window start orb program, the same guy who made the 3rd party utility win user pic remover. his program must somehow reset explorer.exe after execution cos i had to do the start menu frame twice. it clashed with the modded exe in the tutorial above and i lost the black frame the first time

1. use his orb changer first, 2. remove frame/pic at logon, 3. activate transbar for transparent taskbar, 4. and finally do taskkill and replace the modded explorer.exe as above.

now all i need is a transparent .png for my user pic. would someone have one, or could someone show me a detailed tutorial to make one? i'm not too good with art stuff

***

it's ok, i did the last by gpedit. finally all acc pics & frames gone.

 

[Bongo]

Do you still need the picture removed?

I can make a custom theme that get rid of both the frame and the picture.

Jerry

 

[Magnakai]

hi thx bongo no it's fine, all 4 (Logon Frame/Logon Pic/StartM Frame/StartM Pic) of my elements have been deleted. i guess i was lucky in the sequence i did them too. since i am not really a modder/customizer, i documented my steps so that i could reproduce this again on a few other pcs. compared u techies on the site, i'm more of a carpenter. i did it through crude direct amendments to the various parts within the explorer shell.

from my testing so far, there is no negative side effect at all.

may i ask, that software you are using, is it a utility (can be removed from the system after implementation) or does it encompass an entire start menu alternative eg. like displayfusion/Start X? if it is the former, i might check it out. if the latter, my goal was to do everything keeping as close as possible to just using the explorer shell & reshack. Lightweight on a default template.

your guide using reshack was great; it's part of the reason how i succeeded so easily.

ps. once i am done cataloguing some self-notes, i will attach a pic of my logon & desktop (which is based on a bare, taskbar-less system) to show u what i have done this week.

i have also integrated a permanent invisible taskbar, which still auto-hides (thus allowing other panes to go full-screen instead of just maximized, and no more 2 pixels white line at bottom haha), yet which is still unresponsive to unintended right/left-click to it, and also a modified Start Orb necessary to counter the inherent flaw of all taskbar utilities such as this, during aeroflip.

***

 

[Bongo]

I use Ave's Windows7 Style Builder to edit the .msstyles

Jerry

 

[Magnakai]

ok thanks, will check that out.