Get Windows 7 Desktop Context Menu in XP, Add “View”, “Display Settings”, “Gadgets” & Other Options

This tutorial will help you in getting the same Windows 7 Desktop context menu under Windows XP.

As you can see in the above image, we have mentioned both default as well as the modified Desktop context menu. So you can get an idea what kind of output you are going to have after following this guide.

Windows 7 Desktop context menu is much different than XP one. Following are a few things which are new in Windows 7 menu and we are going to have them in XP:

"View" menu visible in Desktop context menu
"Arrange Icons By" renamed to "Sort By"
"Properties" renamed to "Personalize"
"Auto Arrange" and "Align to Grid" options moved to "View" menu from "Sort By" menu
2 new options "Display Settings" and "Gadgets" added to the menu

So above are a few changes which are new in Windows 7 but we can get them in XP using our favorite tool "Resource Hacker".

Prerequisites:

To modify Desktop context menu, we'll need to edit "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker. If you are new to Resource Hacker, we'll advise you to go through following tutorial to learn about it:

All About Resource Hacker in a brief Tutorial

Once you become familiar with Resource Hacker, make sure you have run WFP Patcher in Windows. WFP Patcher disables WFP (Windows File Protection) service. WFP service protects editing of system files and you'll not be able to edit "Shell32.dll" file until you disable it using WFP patcher. You can find it in our "Downloads" section.

If you don't want to disable WFP, you can save the modified file at some other location and then replace default Shell32.dll file with your new modified one using Replacer. This tool can also be found in our "Downloads" section.

Getting Started:

1. Open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and go to:

Menu -> 215

2. Select the whole code given in right-side pane and replace it with the following code:

215 MENUEX
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
{
POPUP "", 0, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED, 0
{
POPUP "&View", 0, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED, 0
{
MENUITEM "Filmstri&p", 28719, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "T&humbnails", 28717, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "Tile&s", 28718, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "Ico&ns", 28713, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "&List", 28715, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "&Details", 28716, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "", 30208, MFT_SEPARATOR, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "Show in &Groups", 30209, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "&Auto Arrange Icons", 28753, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "A&lign Icons to Grid", 28756, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "", 30208, MFT_SEPARATOR, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "Show &Desktop Items", 29698, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
}
POPUP "S&ort By", 28673, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED, 0
{
MENUITEM "", 30208, MFT_SEPARATOR, MFS_ENABLED
}
MENUITEM "R&efresh", 28931, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "", 65535, MFT_SEPARATOR, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "Customize This &Folder...", 28722, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "", 65535, MFT_SEPARATOR, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "&Paste", 28698, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "Paste &Shortcut", 28700, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "&Undo", 28699, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
}
}

3. Click on "Compile Script" button.

4. Now go to:

Menu -> 220

5. Again select the whole code given in right-side pane and replace it with the following code:

220 MENUEX
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
{
POPUP "", 0, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED, 0
{
MENUITEM "Display Settings", 0, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "Gadgets", 0, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
MENUITEM "P&ersonalize", 0, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED
}
}

6. Click on "Compile Script" button.

7. That's it. Now save the file. Restart your system and get ready to have the Windows 7 Desktop context menu in your XP.

PS: "Display Settings" and "Gadgets" options will open Desktop Properties. Its a limitation in XP. We can't do anything.

NOTE: If you get "Can't create file…" error message when you try to save the file, it means you have edited and saved the file recently and there is a backup file which needs to be deleted before saving the file again. Go to the "System32" folder and look for a file "Shell32_original.dll". Delete it and try to save the file again.

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This article was posted in Resource Hacker, Windows XP.

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23 Comments

MuthusrinivasaN

Hi vishal

Your Tutorials are really good.

Expecting how to create theme tutorial for Win XP & Vista. If it's already posted let me know.

Thanks.

Regards
MuthusrinivasaN
Carlos

I've replaced scripts as per tutorial, the modified one shows in resource hack but when I attempt to right click an empty space in a folder the default XP one comes up?
TechNald

i can't get this working... please help
poolsharkzz

VG,

What's up bro?

I tried this out and it worked great - I even omitted "Personalize" and "Gadgets" options and just left "Display Settings"...

There is one problem that needs to come to your attention:

This somehow "broke" seach - the puppy.

I had to do a system restore to fix.

Is there any way around this?

What did I do wrong?

poolsharkzz

XP Home SP3
VG

^^ Thats strange. The above hack has nothing to do with the Search thing. It should be just a co-incidence.
poolsharkzz

Okay - I got it to work and everything seems to be in order...

Question: How do I get rid of "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard" off the "Sort By" Menu?

Is it a Registry Entry? Seems silly to have it there when I disabled it long ago...

Thanks!

poolsharkzz
VG

^^ Try this but I'm not sure whether it'll work or not:

Open regedit and goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\CleanupWiz

In right-side pane, create new DWORD value "NoRun" and set its value to 1
poolsharkzz

No, that only disables it.

I went into Menu 218 and deleted the correct menu item and ta-da - it's no longer there!

Check it out - you may want to add this as an optional third step.

poolsharkzz
VG

^^ Yep. Thats the best way.
poolsharkzz

If you right-click on a blank area in My Computer and select "Display Settings" you will get the System Properties page as per the Control Panel Applet.

Is this possible to fix?

poolsharkzz