Solved User Tile Border

[lehnerus2000]

Do you know of an easy way to change the colour of the User Tile border?

​

 

[Butters]

I take it you mean on the login screen? I've wanted to change that for so long, but it's picky with the transparency and such. I guess you'd need to find a way to patch authui.dll, and then reshack it. If only I knew of a good patch or hex edit or something.

 

[Slartybart]

does this help?

http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/22593-blue-border-around-user-picture.html

 

[Duzzy]

You can also check out this program - Download Logon WorkShop R2 Free - A powerful logon screen customizable tool for Windows 7 - Softpedia

You still need to manually edit the bitmap to the colour you want but it gives a nice GUI to work with.

The most important thing is to back up "C:\Windows\System32\authui.dll" and "C:\Windows\Branding\Basebrd\basebrd.dll" before you do anything and learn how to replace these files in case of not being able to boot into Windows after modding, this applies to anyway you choose to mod these files.

I can't remember what changes affect the basebrd.dll but I would back that up just in case although it may not be necessary.

Using this program you can create a new Logon, make your changes, Save & Apply and when your finished and checked you can still boot you can copy the 2 new .dll files above to a different backup location for if you ever need to reformat and wish to replace the originals again.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Thanks

Thanks for those links Slartybart & Duzzy.

I used a program called "ChangeWindows7LogOnScreen" to change my log on screen picture.

The picture is darker and is purple behind the user tile.
As you can probably imagine, the light blue border clashes with the picture.

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I'm a bit wary of editing dlls, however I've got VMs I can use to try it out.

 

[Duzzy]

If you need any help with Logon Workshop just ask and I can take a look.
VM's are the best for testing, have fun.

 

[lehnerus2000]

sfc /scannow

If you need any help with Logon Workshop just ask and I can take a look.
VM's are the best for testing, have fun.

Thanks Duzzy.

VMs are great for testing.

One question:
If I alter a system dll, won't that cause "sfc /scannow" to flag it as broken/corrupted?

 

[Duzzy]

One question:
If I alter a system dll, won't that cause "sfc /scannow" to flag it as broken/corrupted?

Yes I believe it does and it auto repairs it or marks it to be repaired on reboot. Also without searching the CBS.log you won't know if other files are broken/corrupted.

If it's a problem then there's one way I can think of avoiding this and that's to use a batch file to replace the modded file with the original file any time you need to run "sfc /scannow". The only problem is you have to remember to run the batch file first. If it's not a problem you can run a batch file after running "sfc /scannow" and rebooting just to replace the repaired one.

Here's a simple batch file if it is a problem. Just replace the paths to where you wish to store the files.

@echo off

taskkill /F /IM Explorer.exe

echo 1. Original
echo 2. Modded

set /p OPT= ? 

if %OPT%==1 (
xcopy /vqy "C:\Modded Logon\Original\authui.dll" "C:\Windows\System32\*.*"
xcopy /vqy "C:\Modded Logon\Original\basebrd.dll" "C:\Windows\Branding\Basebrd\*.*"
start "" explorer.exe
exit
)

if %OPT%==2 (
xcopy /vqy "C:\Modded Logon\Modded\authui.dll" "C:\Windows\System32\*.*"
xcopy /vqy "C:\Modded Logon\Modded\basebrd.dll" "C:\Windows\Branding\Basebrd\*.*"
start "" explorer.exe
exit
)

And I forgot to mention if you manually edit these dll's you will need to take ownership of them. If your only changing the user tile border I don't believe the basebrd.dll is required after helping in this other thread which may also intrest you, post #5 and #7 in particular - http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/276404-remove-aero-border-around-user-account-icon.html and another post - http://www.sevenforums.com/themes-s...working-my-account-picture-2.html#post1867323

In the second link to remove both user tile and boarder I think you just change the Overlay size to 0 as shown in my screenshot.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Thanks Duzzy (Again)

Thanks for those new links and that batch file code .

Now I just have to find the time to try it all out.

I can just append the "sfc /scannow" command to the end of the batch file code and name the batch file appropriately.

 

[Duzzy]

Yes appending "sfc /scannow" to the batch file would be perfect but add it into option ones if statement just before the exit command or before starting Explorer and add a pause before exit as well so you can read the scans output.

I would also create a shortcut to it and place the shortcut in the start menu for easier access but that's up to you.

 

[lehnerus2000]

How do I install "Logon Workshop".

When I run it (extracted from the rar file) and I attempt to do anything (e.g. convert a bmp and export it as a png to GIMP for editing) I get a stream of error messages about missing folders and non-existent files.

I can't make any changes, except to replace the logon screen with one of the supplied ones (or copies of them).

In short, I can't figure out how to use it.

 

[Duzzy]

Just extract it, there's no need to install it, and run "Logon WorkShop.exe". You should be able to click New down the bottom right, give it a name then click edit to start with the default logon.

I could not open an image with Paint from within Logon WorkShop but I could open it with Photoshop. The error opening with Paint was produced by Paint's exe stating Logon.png was not found. First Logon.png is not the correct filename and second the path did not point to the bitmap folder and from this I realised that there were spaces in the path leading to the bitmap folder so I removed the spaces from the folders and it opened in Paint. Strange that Photoshop was able to open them though.

Try that and if your getting a different error take a screenshot and try to explain the steps you take to get the error so I can see if I can reproduce it.

One last thing don't directly modify any bitmaps in the Bitmap Folder copy/save to a new location and use the replace button in Logon Workshop.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Spaces in the Path

Paint wouldn't be able to do what I want.

GIMP might be baulking at the path (although it has no problems with spaces in path names as a rule).
Logon WorkShop seems to be sending the wrong path.

I copied the "Default" logon files to a new name.
It doesn't matter anyway, as I am running in a VM (I created a snapshot of it before I started).
If it breaks something I'll just restart from the snapshot.

I have thought of an alternative plan, so I might try that out too.

I'll play around some more and see if I can "flay it into shape".

Update

Thanks Duzzy.

Your tip about spaces in the path name let me fix the problem (I renamed the program directory to "LogonWorkShop").

Unfortunately, I can't Rep you again.

VMware isn't showing the full screen view correctly for some reason.

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It's not quite correct.
It says Professional instead of Ultimate.

 

[Duzzy]

Well that really sucks.
I had a look and yes LogonWS only contains the Professional image which is actually in the "C:\Windows\Branding\Basebrd\basebrd.dll" and I didn't think it replaced that file unless you modified stuff that it contains. In this case backup basebrd.dll it will be necessary.

Oh well you have 2 options I see,

Option 1 - Replace the image with one of your own. In LogonWS it's under "Options Bar" > "Windows branding image".

Option 2 - Apply your logon then restore only the basebrd.dll backup.

Once you have it working then you won't need to apply the logon in LogonWS you will only need to replace authui.dll with your modded version. To backup the modded version copy it from the System32 folder after applying it.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I normally don't run my VMs full screen, so the black bar at the bottom doesn't matter.
Now that I have an idea of the procedure, I'll experiment with different picture sizes (I used 1920x1080) to see if that deals with that issue.

Just checking, to create a backup of my NEW logon screen, I need to copy the NEW "authui.dll" and the OLD "basebrd.dll" to my backup folder, is that correct?

Also, can't I just extract the appropriate image (W7 Ultimate) from the OLD "basebrd.dll" file using Resource Hacker?

 

[Duzzy]

I normally don't run my VMs full screen, so the black bar at the bottom doesn't matter.
Now that I have an idea of the procedure, I'll experiment with different picture sizes (I used 1920x1080) to see if that deals with that issue.

Actually I didn't notice that but I've tested a 1920x1080 background on my PC and it works ok so I wouldn't worry about that untill your finished and tried it on your PC not in VMware.

Just checking, to create a backup of my NEW logon screen, I need to copy the NEW "authui.dll" and the OLD "basebrd.dll" to my backup folder, is that correct?

Yes the NEW "authui.dll" from the System32 folder and the original untouched "basebrd.dll".

Also, can't I just extract the appropriate image (W7 Ultimate) from the OLD "basebrd.dll" file using Resource Hacker?

You can, I had a play but the problem is it's a bmp with a white background so you need to remove the white background to make it transparent. Also the height and width is different which seemed to give me an error so I had to resize it as well.

Just for fun I jumped on Google and found a similar image to the original one, modded it a little and added a drop shadow, which won't really show up on a dark background anyway. I've attached it here if you want it.

If you do use it or your own then when it comes to backing up your NEW logon screen you will need both the NEW "authui.dll" and the NEW "basebrd.dll".

Here is a couple of screenshots of the branding bar as well as the png. I used Virtual PC which displayed my background correctly as well so it must be a VMware thing.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Victory!

Replacing "basebrd.dll" fixed the name problem.

I noticed that LogonWorkShop automatically created a backup of "authui.dll", but it didn't create one for "basebrd.dll".

I assume that I should be able to copy the NEW "authui.dll" from my VM, to my actual PC, to "install" my new logon screen.

Actually I didn't notice that but I've tested a 1920x1080 background on my PC and it works ok so I wouldn't worry about that untill your finished and tried it on your PC not in VMware.

The auto-scaler sometimes "freaks out" in VMware Workstation 7.
For example, when I "cold booted" the VM, the logon screen looked different again.
The height was correct, but the width had been compressed.

Here is a couple of screenshots of the branding bar as well as the png. I used Virtual PC which displayed my background correctly as well so it must be a VMware thing.

I've grabbed a copy of that picture and stored it with Logon WorkShop.
Thanks Duzzy.

Update

I just copied the NEW "authui.dll" from my VM, to the backup folder on my actual PC.
I had to use my Linux Mint 14 MATE to copy it from my backup folder to System32, as Windows wouldn't allow it.
I didn't have that problem in the VM (weird).

It seems to be working correctly (picture size and tile borders).

Once again, thanks for all of your help Duzzy.

 

[Duzzy]

I assume that I should be able to copy the NEW "authui.dll" from my VM, to my actual PC, to "install" my new logon screen.

Kind of a mute point now but for anybody else, yes as long as they are the same architecture (32bit, 64bit) and I would recommend the same version (Pro, Ultimate, etc...).

I had to use my Linux Mint 14 MATE to copy it from my backup folder to System32, as Windows wouldn't allow it.
I didn't have that problem in the VM (weird).

That is weird. You obviously know how to do it as you done it the VM but maybe you forgot to take ownership of it first or forgot to close Explorer if you manually replaced it as the batch file I posted closes Explorer first but doesn't take ownership.

And just for reference you shouldn't need to close Explorer just to replace "basebrd.dll".

Anyway I'm glad I could help and I'm happy you have it working without any real problems.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Weird

That is weird. You obviously know how to do it as you done it the VM but maybe you forgot to take ownership of it first or forgot to close Explorer if you manually replaced it as the batch file I posted closes Explorer first but doesn't take ownership.

It is strange.
I didn't have to do anything special in the VM.
I just opened Windows Explorer and used it to copy the dll to the appropriate location.

Maybe I changed some of the permissions on that VM previously (I don't recall changing any permissions on that VM).

I prefer to use a Live Linux CD/DVD (or installed version) to copy files to special locations, rather than fiddling with the Windows permissions (some changes can't be undone).
As far as I'm concerned, there is less chance of something going wrong.