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

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.

Other similar articles that may interest you:

• Get Windows 7 Look-Like Desktop Context Menu in XP, Add “View”, “Screen Resolution”, “Gadgets” & “Personalize” Options
• Add Your Favorite Program Shortcut in Desktop Context Menu in Windows XP
• How to enable “VIEW” Menu in Desktop Context Menu in Windows XP?
• [AIO] Complete Tutorial to Customize Desktop Context Menu in Windows XP Using Resource Hacker
• Add “Show / Hide Checkbox” to Select Items Option in Desktop and Explorer Context Menu under Windows Vista and 7
• Add “Restart uxsms” Option in Desktop and Explorer Context Menu under Windows Vista and 7

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

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