OEM LOGO CHANGE

By default, the General tab (right-click My Computer, or double-click System in Control Panel, or press the ÿ  +BREAK keys on your keyboard) contains information on the Windows version, processor, memory, registered user and registration identity.

Optional items include the manufacturer and model, a small picture, and a button leading to a separate page of support information.

The information is not held in the registry, but in an old-style .INI file, which can be created in any plain-text editor including Windows Notepad.

This file can have two sections:

The first section, has a section header called [General], and within that section -  two entries:

  • Manufacturer=<text>

  • Model=<text>

The second section, headed [Support Information], is optional, but it presents a button with that label to the page. The entries after that heading should be in the form:

  • Line1=<some text>

  • Line2=<more text>

  • Line3=<more text>

and so on. The limit on the number and length of lines seems limited only by the 64 KB general limit on .INI files.

The file should be saved in the %systemroot%\system folder (for Windows 98/ME computers) or in c:windows\system32 folder (for W2K/XP/2003 computers) as OEMINFO.INI.

The picture is a 256-colour-Windows bitmap (.BMP) file.

Microsoft states that the size should be 96 pixels square when using small fonts in Display Property settings, or 120 square with large fonts.

The file should be saved in the %systemroot%\system folder (for Windows 98/ME computers) or in c:\windows\system32 folder (for W2K/XP/2003 computers) as OEMLOGO.BMP.

No other entry in the .INI file is required, but the latter must exist and have a populated [General] section for the bitmap to be visible in Display Properties.

No reboot is necessary in order for the hack to take place. Press the ÿ  +BREAK keys and see for yourself.

For example, using this OEMINFO.INI file:

[General]
Manufacturer=Self made Computer
Model=Zelda K12

[Support Information]
Line1=Visit my home page at
Line2=
Line3=http://www.domain.com
Line4=
Line5=For hundreds of tips, tricks, knowledge base articles and much more!
Line6=
Line7=You can also contact me by using the following e-mail address:
Line8=
Line9=andy@domain.com

If you don't have an OEMINFO.INI, just create it in notepad and rename it to OEMINFO.INI and make sure the extension is .INI or COPY and paste THIS OEMINFO.INI file (unzip the file first) into the C:\windows\ststem32 directory and see how it looks. Just RIGHT click on the My Computer icon, scroll down to Properties and you will see a support Information button with your information. To change the information for something that you would like, simply open the oeminfo.ini file and change anything you would like.

THAT'S ALL

ADDITIONAL INFORMAITON

 What OEMs Know

The two files OEMs use to customize System Properties are OEMLOGO.BMP and OEMINFO.INI and they need to be in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder. In the general release, the files won't be found at all. If you simply want to remove all of the OEM information from the System Properties screen, then you can delete these two files. If you want to leave the OEM support information, but don't feel like advertising their logo every time you open this screen, you might want to delete the logo file.

Time to Get Artistic

OEMLOGO.BMP needs to be no larger than 180 x 114 pixels. Any size larger than that will crop at that size. The color depth can be up to 24 bits but is limited by what your display driver can handle. You can create the image in whatever utility is convenient for you. Microsoft Paint will allow you to create the image from scratch.

[Start]–Programs–Accessories–Paint.

Click File–New. Click Image–Attributes.

Enter the Width and Height as 180 and 114. Select Pels as Units. Click OK.

Create your image.

If you want to resize another image without cropping, you'll need to use another application such as Paint Shop Pro or Microsoft Photo Editor. Save the image as a Windows bitmap file (BMP extension) to the WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder. The next time you open System Properties this image will appear at the bottom of the General screen.

Putting it all together

Create the OEMINFO.INI file in notepad. It is a standard ASCII file. Figure 3 shows a sample file. There should be a [General] label and a [Support Information] label. There may also be an [OEMSpecific] label if you're editing an existing OEM information file. If you have an [OEMSpecific] section, the information does not print anywhere and should remain. It may be useful when contacting the OEM. The [General] section has two values, Manufacturer= and Model=. The information you type after the equal signs displays on the System Properties screen to the right of the OEM logo.

The information in the [Support Information] section displays when you click the Support Information button at the bottom of the System Properties screen. Each line of text is preceded by a Line#= value (Line1=, Line2=, Line3=, etc.). The line numbers go up in sequence. If a number is missing, then no lines after that will display. (For example Line8= followed by Line10= will display lines 1 through 8 only.) Text on these lines will not wrap and any preceding spaces after the equal sign are ignored. Text that does not fit within the size of the Support Information Screen can be viewed via scroll bars.

Use the Support Information section for any purpose that suits you. You can provide the end-user your local help desk or MIS support numbers. You could also describe specific steps you wish the end-user to take before calling support. If you're editing the OEM's file, you may want to leave their support information in the file as a last resort option for the end-user.

When finished, save the file as OEMINFO.INI in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder. The next time you open System Properties, the Manufacturer and Model information will appear on the screen to the right of the OEM logo and the Support Information button will appear. You do not need to reset the computer.

This will get information into the hands of you users at the click of a button. Pushing the files out to everyone is easy, and an e-mail is all that is necessary to explain where to find the new information (Alt–Double-Click My Computer). You can change the attributes of these files to Hidden and Read-Only, if you want to keep the end-user from altering or deleting them by accident or malice.