Replace Explorer with ExplorerXP

[saugatak]

Is it possible to replace Explorer.exe with ExplorerXP, similar to Oleg's method of replacing Notepad.

[Oleg_II]

Most likely not. There is a note about it (explorer replacement) somewhere on fdv's site if I'm not mistaken.

[fdv]

as Oleg_II notes, it's not possible that i've seen.

(now, before a new arrival to the forum posts that you can "use" this other software, let me say that saugatak and everyone else here means "use instead of, as in totally replace" )

the prob is that the shell makes calls to explorer.exe. there was a guy who went to some extreme lengths and got a shell to work on windows that totally replaced the windows default shell... i cannot recall at all where i posted this note! he even got the desktop to work, which had always been a total impossibility with shell replacements previously. maybe i posted the link in nlite forum, maybe in the original HFSLIP thread... anyway, if anyone wants to run an advanced search that'd be great, it was a post by me and had "internet explorer" and "shell" in it and that's all i recall (sorry, sorry...) i'd like to check back on that guy's project, because this was a few months ago and i bet he's come a long way with his work. shoot now i gotta go looking for a needle in a haystack of my 390 odd posts

Edited October 14, 2005 by fdv

[tain]

Unless of course you are Ubercool like me and use an alternative shell

http://beyondconvention.net/ohussain/lsinstaller/

Edited October 15, 2005 by TAiN

[saugatak]

How about replacing "Taskmanage.exe" with sysinternal's ProcessExplorer?

[Crash&Burn]

Hmm that worked easier than I thought. I renamed taskmgr.exe -> taskmgr.exe.old

and copied a process viewer I used to use for Win98 to system32, renamed to taskmgr.exe

and ctrl-alt-del + [Task Manager] opened up the program w/o complaint.

[saugatak]

thanks Crash.

Based on that info, here's what I did.

1. Change name of procexp.exe to taskmgr.exe and procexp.chm to taskmgr.chm

2. Run ModifyPE taskmgr.exe (ModifyPE not necessary on .chm file)

3. Run Makecab taskmgr.exe

4. Run Makecab taskmgr.chm

5. Stick taskmgr.ex_ and taskmgr.ch_ in the FIX folder.

6. Open up TEXTSETUP and LAYOUT and comment out "taskmgr.hlp" in FDV fileset (example taken from TXTSETUP, numbers diferent in LAYOUT) :

[sourceDisksFiles]

;taskmgr.hlp = 1,,13266,,,,,21,0,0

Run HFSLIP. This should replace taskmgr with procexp on install.

[tommyp]

@saugatak - Thanks for bringing this up with the repacking of other exe files. That is the coolest thing ever!!!! Watch out for when the next HFSLIP strikes.

[saugatak]

@tommyp

Thanks. It's so cool to be able to tweak Windows the way you want it BEFORE install and replace the built in system tools with good ones.

Heads up, before running modifype and makecab on Process Explorer, uncheck the replace taksmanager box in options.

Otherwise, Process Explorer will replace itself and never open!

[fdv]

saugatak veeerrry slick. i like that. as far as i am aware, you probably don't need to run modifype on the file because you have not actually modified the binary. just makecab alone.

TAiN - you can use an alternate shell like litestep, but 1) you won't have a desktop where you can actually move icons and 2) you still cannot completely delete EXPLORER.EXE. this post of mine has a link to a technique a guy used to take care of both #1 and #2.

[tommyp]

For the minimalist... BBLEAN.

[Oleg_II]

Have a question about Explorer patching. Here is the method of patching Windows Explorer so that 256 colors icon could be available in the tray.

Is it worth using? Does it have some side effects?

Edited December 24, 2005 by Oleg_II

[tommyp]

I tried that program out, saw a different systray icon, and didn't see anything worth writing home about.

[tain]

TAiN - you can use an alternate shell like litestep, but 1) you won't have a desktop where you can actually move icons and 2) you still cannot completely delete EXPLORER.EXE. this post of mine has a link to a technique a guy used to take care of both #1 and #2.

There are modules that will give you back desktop functionality...many themes have this feature. For my part, I always liked having a clean desktop anyway so I don't put ANYTHING on my desktop other than a background.