


   ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   MODIFYING YOUR WINDOWS 3.0 STARTUP SCREEN -- REALLY!
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   by Mike Mezaros
   
   Updated 1/27/90 To Include Simplified & Corrected Instructions, Bug
   Reports, And A Better Explanation Of How This Method Works.
   

   First of all I'd like to say THANK YOU.  So many people have sent me
   E-mail offering me praise I just have to give a universal "thanks!" to
   everyone who has written.  I was SHOCKED to discover that STARTUP.ZIP,
   and several example startup screens I have created, generated over 1000
   downloads on GEnie and CompuServe in little over a DAY.  STARTUP.ZIP
   alone has well over 800 downloads on both services combined as I write
   this (downloads of WinGif, the shareware program you'll need to use my
   nethod, have also skyrocketed).  I really shouldn't be this surprised,
   though.  After all, what Windows user in his or her right mind WOULDN'T
   want to know how to change the startup screen?  If you took that feature
   away from Mac fanatics, they'd be frantic.  
    
   As readers of the original STARTUP.ZIP know, after many hours of work,
   and days and days of fiddling with all sorts of controls and settings, I
   have finally done what several people (INCLUDING a number of people at
   Microsoft) said was IMPOSSIBLE:  I've figured out how to change the
   Windows 3.0 startup screen.  Of course, I managed to do it quite by
   accident (more on that later).
    
   So, I've released this information into the public domain so that
   everyone who uses Windows 3.0 can take advantage of it.  Of course, I
   can't take any responsibility if it zaps your system.  All I can say is,
   it's working for me and hundreds of others.  Apparently it works fine on
   CGA, EGA, VGA, and SuperVGA systems.  (There may be a few snags,
   however.  For that information, see the section titled "BUG REPORTS.") 
   My method is so simple, anyone should be able to do it in just seconds.
   

   SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
   ---------------------------
    
   1) Disabling the startup screen -- does it work?
    
   There are a number of methods for simply disabling your startup screen. 
   One of the more popular methods is in a text file floating around with
   some instructions on how to use DEBUG to accomplish this.  Myself and
   others have found, however, that simply using the command "Win :" to
   load Windows works just as well. 
   
   But "works just as well" is a very relative statement, because disabling
   your startup screen won't save you any time, it'll just free you from
   the agony of looking at Microsoft's brag screen.  I don't know about
   you, but I didn't want my PC to become an advertisement for Microsoft --
   Bill Gates has enough money already. <grin>
   
   MANY, MANY people have timed this -- and the results vary... It seems
   that diabling your startup screen on a 386SX or better with a decent
   hard disk will save you, MAYBE, a fraction of a second.  286 users with
   slower hard disks have posted better results, along the lines of a
   second. Wow. 
   
   So, disabling your startup screen is not the proper solution.  What you
   REALLY want to do is make your OWN startup screen, just like the Mac
   users. (Well, that's what I want, anyway.)
   
   2) hDC FirstApps custom startup screen -- does it work?
   
   Basically, no.  FirstApps doesn't allow you to customize your startup
   screen, despite what it may say on the box!  All it does is DISABLE the
   Microsoft startup screen, and then it loads its own application, which
   has its own, customizable startup screen.  Did someone say "kludge?" 
   Well, that's all it is.  A kludge.  Using this method to customize your
   startup screen is not a good idea... You'll wait 3-7 seconds LONGER for
   Windows to boot-up, and the results are often VERY DISAPPOINTING! 
   (Don't get me wrong, hDC makes a number of fine products.  I use hDC
   Windows Express every day.  But in the case of FirstApps, the
   advertising is misleading.)
   
   3) My Method -- does it work? 
   
   It's working for me as I type.  There have been some problems
   reported... for that information, see the section titled "BUG REPORTS." 
   But there's one thing you need first, a shareware program called WinGif
   (available on CIS, GEnie, and the Win*Net).  Basically, any program that
   will save a picture in RLE4 format will work... WinGif is the only one I
   know of.  (A program called Paint Shop claims to do this, but when it
   comes down to it, it doesn't do it.  It'll view them, but it won't save
   them.)  [Ed. note: Paint Shop Pro does, however.  There are many others
   now, too.]
   

   LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS: The Revised Instructions
   ----------------------------------------------------
   
   I hope these instructions aren't too simplified for you.  I've made them
   easier to understand and more explicit...  I've also removed one step of
   the process that turned out not to be necessary.
   
   1) Create your new startup screen, using any method you like.  Just make
   sure that it's the proper resolution.  If you're using VGA, that would
   be 640x480.  You CANNOT use a picture with more than 16 colors,
   apparently this is true on SuperVGA systems as well.  Perfect candidates
   for startup screens:  Anything you can draw with Windows Paintbrush, and
   any of the hundreds of .BMP "wallpaper" files people upload to GEnie and
   CompuServe.
   
   Your startup screen can be in .BMP or .GIF format, although some may be
   too large for this purpose (see the section titled "BUG REPORTS").
   
   2) In your Windows\System directory you'll find a file named
   XXXXLOGO.RLE (where XXXX is VGA, EGA, CGA, or HERC -- use VGA even if
   you have a SuperVGA system).  Rename this file to BACKUP.RLE.  (You can
   get to your Windows\System directory by typing CD\WINDOWS\SYSTEM at the
   DOS command line.  You can also use the Windows File Manager.)
   
   3) Load WinGif.  Load the startup screen you'd like to use into WinGif;
   WinGif will load .BMP Bitmap files or .GIF files.  Now, you want to save
   your picture in your Windows\System directory as XXXXLOGO.RLE (where
   XXXX is VGA, EGA, CGA, or HERC).  Before saving, click on the "Format"
   button in the Save dialog box, and choose "RLE4."  Now save it.  
   
   4) Now EXIT WINDOWS.  Run SETUP from the DOS prompt in your Windows
   directory by typing "SETUP" and hitting return.
   
   5) Press the cursor keys until your video card driver option (EGA, VGA,
   or whatever driver you're using) is highlighted.  Now hit RETURN (or
   ENTER if that's what your keyboard says), and use the cursor keys to
   scroll through the list of video card drivers.  NOW, CHOOSE THE SAME
   VIDEO CARD DRIVER YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN USING BY HIGHLIGHTING THAT ONE ON
   THE LIST, and hit RETURN.
   
   6) You're almost there now.  Now, "ACCEPT THE CONFIGURATION SHOWN ABOVE"
   should be highlighted.  Hit RETURN.  
   
   7) SETUP will ask you if it can make any changes to your CONFIG.SYS
   file.  It doesn't really matter if you let SETUP make any changes.  Now,
   wait for SETUP to do what it does, and then you'll be back at the DOS
   prompt.
   
   8) Now you can load Windows, as usual, and you'll see your NEW startup
   screen instead of Microsoft's!
   
   (Special thanks to Mr. Paul Weissler for letting me know that you only
   need to run SETUP once.  This speeds up the process!)

     [Ed. note:  Steps 5 thru 7.  This didn't work exactly that way
     for me, using Windows 3.1.  Apparently, there is a difference
     between Win3.0 and 3.1 in this regard, though I don't have a
     copy of 3.0 for comparison to test it for proof.  My experience
     was that I had to change drivers, to any other driver, first, in
     order to force Windows 3.1 to process through this far enough to
     reconfigure WIN.COM with the new screen file.  Then, I could go
     back and put it all together the way I wanted it.

     I think Win3.1 must check for a _change_ in drivers before it
     will actually rebuild WIN.COM.  Which means, au contrare, I did
     have to run SETUP twice to get the job done -- once to get my
     new startup screen incorporated into WIN.COM, and once to get
     the video driver I want to work with reconfigured along with 
     it.  :(  -- N.F.]

     [Ed. note:  Step 7.  With my version of Windows, nothing was
     said about my CONFIG.SYS file.  But SETUP did give me a choice
     between keeping or deleting my "old" video driver.  Press ENTER
     (to keep your driver), or it won't be there for you the second
     time around, when you want to put it all together sweet and
     proper.  -- N.F.]

   BUG REPORTS: Problems with SuperVGA and Large RLE Files
   -------------------------------------------------------
   
   A Mr. George Lamson (CompuServe 73760,2135) wrote me to let me know of a
   problem he was having.  Mr. Lamson is using an ATI 1024 video card at
   800x600 resolution in his 25 Mhz 386.  It seems that after changing his
   startup screen (using my included example .RLE file) he had initial good
   results:  The new startup screen comes up, and then his wallpaper.  But
   then he gets a UAE (Unrecoverable Application Error).  If anyone has had
   a similar problem, or even better -- A FIX, please let Mr. Lamson and I
   know.  Apparently, this is directly related to the ATI card (or driver),
   since other 800x600 and 1024x768 users haven't had any problems.  But I
   wouldn't surprised if ATI was the ONLY video card affected, if indeed
   George's problems are related to the card... 
   
   Another problem has been brought to my attention by a few people out
   there.  If you use an unusually LARGE picture (large in terms of bytes),
   it MAY not work as a startup screen.  The example shown to me was a
   320x200 256-color GIF that was dithered down to 16-colors, stretched out
   to 640x480 resolution, and saved in RLE4 format.  This beautiful picture
   was over 170 K.  With it installed as a startup screen, Windows wouldn't
   even run -- DOS would complain about a lack of memory.  Since the
   original VGALOGO.RLE file is smaller than 20K, it appears that there is
   SOME sort of size limitation.  If anyone has any information on EXACTLY
   how small or large these startup screens can be, please let me know. 
   Until then, experiment.  Most pictures work great.
   
   A number of people wrote to me with this simple problem, so if you've
   followed the instructions and STILL can't get your new startup screen to
   work, make sure that your new XXXXLOGO.RLE file is in your
   Windows\System directory.
   

   HOW IT WORKS: Win.Com, Setup, and XXXXLogo.Rle - The Three Startup
   Stooges 
   ------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   Thanks to Kevin Bachus (CompuServe 70120,355) for letting me know a bit
   more about how this method works.  It turns out that I had a pretty good
   grip on how it worked last time around, but Mr. Bachus's information
   certainly makes it a bit clearer.  I knew that the XXXXLOGO.RLE file was
   "compiled" in some way into one of the Windows 3.0 executables, making
   the XXXXLOGO.RLE files on your hard disk little more than a waste of
   disk space after Windows is setup (you could always copy them back from
   the floppies if you ever needed them, but luckily Microsoft didn't think
   of this or I would have never noticed them...  You can delete
   XXXXLOGO.RLE from your disk to save space, if you like, because it does
   nothing until you change video drivers.  When you change video drivers,
   and SETUP can't find the file on your hard drive, it'll instruct you to
   insert one of the Windows 3.0 floppies).  What I didn't know was that
   SETUP actually creates one of the executables. 
   
   Mr. Bachus explains that SETUP creates the file WIN.COM (the file you
   load Windows with by typing WIN), which not only handles "important
   housekeeping chores like locating the base directory, checking for the
   existence of HIMEM.SYS or Expanded Memory Managers in memory, and, of
   course, displaying Microsoft's corporate banner."  The XXXXLOGO.RLE file
   that corresponds to your video card is somehow incorporated into the
   WIN.COM file when SETUP is run.  Therefore, if you change the
   XXXXLOGO.RLE file, the old Microsoft logo will still remain, UNTIL a new
   WIN.COM is built by SETUP.  Pretty neat trick.
   
   The only way to trick Windows SETUP into doing this without having to
   re-install Windows from scratch is to CHANGE VIDEO DRIVERS!  I
   discovered this totally by accident when I HAD to change video drivers
   (I was installing video drivers that come with OSFrame from Playroom
   Software, a greate program that allows you to customize the Windows
   GUI).  But you can trick SETUP into thinking that you're changing video
   drivers by just re-selecting the same one you've always used.
   
   Mr. Bachus also makes some other observations:  "I'm not surprised that
   no one at Microsoft was able to help you figure out how to replace the
   VGALOGO.RLE -- I don't know if they really DIDN'T know how to do
   it or if they were just being understandably tight-lipped about it. They
   put a lot of effort into coming up with the program; they want to milk
   it for all the advertising they can get.  I imagine the latter to be the
   case.  This is, as you found, a pretty simple fix."
    

   AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD: Using DEBUG To Change The Startup Screen
   ---------------------------------------------------------------
   
   A Mr. Charles Kistler (CompuServe 72137,775) wrote me to let me know of
   another way to modify the startup screen.  I haven't yet had a chance to
   try it out yet, but even if I did, I can't take any responibility if it
   fries your PC or Windows (I'm sure that Mr. Kistler can't, either).  It
   seems to me that it is more complicated than my method, but if you'd
   like to give it go, here's the info you'll need.
   
   This method uses DEBUG, and is explained here by Mr. Kistler himself:
   
   1. Get into your directory that has WIN.COM.
   
   2. Copy WIN.COM to WINSTUB.COM
   
   3. Load WINSTUB.COM into DEBUG : DEBUG WINSTUB.COM [ENTER]
   
   4. Type RCX [ENTER]
   
   5. Type 11E0 [ENTER]   (VERY IMPORTANT!)
   
   6. Type W [ENTER]
   
   7. Type Q [ENTER]
   
   8. Now, you have a file named WINSTUB.COM.
   
   9. Create your new startup screen, saving it in the RLE format as you
      described in STARTUP.ZIP, but you DO NOT have to save it with the    
      name VGALOGO.RLE. You can use any name you want.
   
   10. Put the new startup screen file in the same directory as     
       WINSTUB.COM.
   
   11. I'll assume the new startup screen's name is NEWSCRN.RLE.
   
   12. Type COPY WIN.COM WIN.BAK [ENTER]   (for safety!)
   
   13. Type COPY /B WINSTUB.COM + NEWSCRN.RLE WIN.COM [ENTER]
   
   14. Start Windows.
   

   PROBLEMS?  QUESTIONS?  PRAISE?  NEW CARS?  FREE BABES?
   ------------------------------------------------------
    
   I realize that my discovering this method was nothing more than a happy
   accident.  But please keep in mind that I am your typical starving
   college student (I go to Rutgers University in NJ), so I'd GREATLY
   appreciate anything you'd like to send my way.  Maybe a free
   subscription to your magazine, demo copies of your Win3 software,
   whatever.  I'd appreciate anything you'd care to send along.  I'd also
   be interested in beta-testing any new Windows software (or even hardware
   if you're that kind). <grin>  But of course, this method is totally free
   and you're not under any sort of 'shareware'-like obligation.  
   
   My U.S. Mail Address here at school is:
   
   Mike Mezaros
   Care of Rutgers - The State University
   L.P.O. 16062
   P.O. Box 5064
   New Brunswick, NJ 08903
   
   You can also contact me on GENIE, my address is M.MEZAROS (my first name
   is Mike), and on CompuServe at 75500,655.
   
   
   **Light A Candle For Peace And A Swift Victory In The Gulf**
   
   

   [Editor's Note:  Many things have changed since 1990.  Most paint
   programs are now capable of preparing and saving RLE4 files, but you
   undoubtedly know that already if you're into "grunt level" details like
   this.  So I will spare you the verbage on what works in that regard and
   where to find it.  As to where Mike is now or what his snail mail
   address is, I have no idea.  I never met him and know only of this
   document of his.  Obviously, Rutgers has probably long since tired of
   him.  Try one of the electronic addresses above or do a people search on
   the Net for current contact info.]

   [My only changes to Mike's document were to correct some typos and a
   misspelling, drop in a couple signed notes, and to reformat it in pure
   ASCII DOS for improved (universal) readability.  Since the document
   continues to live on Calmira Online, it seemed useful to tweek it for
   future readers.]

                           --Norm Finch, 03/29/2000
   