How to Add Your Name in Desktop Context Menu in Windows XP?

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NOTE: This tutorial has been featured by Microsoft. AskVG.com was the first website posting this unique trick.

As you all know about my "How to enable “VIEW” Menu on Desktop in Windows XP" tutorial which teaches you how to enable View menu in Windows XP Desktop context menu just like Windows Vista:

Many people have asked me how did I add my name on top in Desktop context menu as shown in above screenshot? So today I decided to write a small tutorial about it.

So here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to add any desired string in Desktop context menu:

1. Open “%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll” file in resource hacker and go to:

Menu -> 215 -> 1033

2. Now add following line:

MENUITEM "xyz", 33333, MFT_STRING, MFS_GRAYED | MFS_DEFAULT

Just after the:

215 MENUEX
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
{
POPUP "", 0, MFT_STRING, MFS_ENABLED, 0
{

3. Replace "xyz" with any string which you want to add, e.g.

MENUITEM "!*~.VISHAL.~*!", 33333, MFT_STRING, MFS_GRAYED | MFS_DEFAULT

4. Click on "Compile Script" button.

5. Save the file and restart your Windows to see the affect.

BONUS TIP: You can remove "MFS_GRAYED" or "MFS_DEFAULT" or both to have some different look. "MFS_GRAYED" is used to disable the text, if you'll remove it, your name will look like an enabled item. "MFS_DEFAULT" is used to show the text in Bold, if you'll remove it, your name will be shown as normal text instead of Bold.

NOTE: If you are facing problems while saving a file after editing in resource hacker, then make sure you have disabled WFP (Windows File Protection) service using WFP Patcher.

Also if you are getting error "Can't create file...", that means you have edited and saved the same file in past and there is a backup file which needs to be deleted before saving this file again. Go to the folder containing this file and you'll see a similar file having "_original" in its name. Delete it and try to save the file in resource hacker.

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This article was posted by VG in following section: Resource Hacker, Windows XP.

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VG

^^ Not possible.
George

isn't there anyway that a custom program can be registered to windows to allow it to be identified
VG

^^ Not possible. But you can use following tutorial to add one application shortcut in Desktop context menu:

http://www.askvg.com/add-your-favorite-program-shortcut-in-desktop-context-menu-in-windows-xp/
Lam

Can you make this works on Vista?
I tried to open shell32.dll using ResourceHack but can not find your suggestion code to modify, it's completely difference.
charly

hey vishall thank you very much buddy.......for ur wonderfull tricks....
but hey bro i cannot say ma work yaar plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help me.......
when i try to save it says cannot create file C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help me yaar..plzzzzzzzzzz plzzzz
VG

^^ Please check the "NOTE" information given at top of the post. :)
charly

iight thank you vishal i got it thank you yaar thank you very much.....lolxxx
Ajeet Singh

Hi,
Vishal Bhaiya

Can u tell me how to remove Paste Shortcut in Desktop Context Menu In Windows Xp........Plz............
VG

^^ Sure. The "Paste" option also exists in the same place as mentioned in above tutorial, i.e. "Menu -> 215 -> 1033" in "Shell32.dll" file. Just delete the line having its entry and compile script.
Ajeet Singh

Thanx for the Reply