Change Windows 7 Startup Sound?
Has anyone found a foolproof way to change the Windows startup sound (imageres.dll)? I've tried a few methods and none of them let me complete the processs, even in Safe Mode.
November 27th, 2009 6:01pm

HI go to control panel < click on hardware and sound < click sound < on newly opened sound window click on sounds tab you can change start up sound and can change many more windows sounds of your wish hope it helpsNikhil
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November 27th, 2009 6:27pm

Sorry, that doesn't work in Windows 7. The startup sound is separate below that sound chart. It can't be changed unless you can modify the imageres.dll file. So far I can't do it.
November 27th, 2009 9:26pm

Oh sorry my apologies.. OKfollow this select an audio file of your choice and make sure you convert it to a wave file not just wav rename it 5080 if you are using English version of windows 7 united states language,so your audio file should be 5080.wave .(DON'T MAKE YOUR WAVE FILE MORE THEN 330 KB AS I'M NOT SURE HOW BIG IT CAN BE ) copy (imageres.dll ) file you will find this c/windows/system32 and save to desktop also make a copy of it and put it in a safe place just in-case things don't go right for you. download XN resource Editor Open the imageres.dll file in XN resource editor that you have saved to your desktop find the folder that reads wave and expand it below it is a file named 5080 expand that and right click delete resource on the file named English (United States) select resource in XN Resource Editor then select import user resource find your file we made named 5080 and save and then exit now replace the imageres.dll file that you have made into c/windows/system32 and your good to go reboot enjoy. i have tried other ways and they didn't work for me i just played around with things and this is what worked for me YOU MUST DO THIS IN SAFE MODE OR IF YOU HAVE A DUAL BOOT USING XP IT WILL MAKE THINGS EASY also make sure you un check the Play Windows start up sound before you try to change it .... Note: we provide third party links for your convinence it may change without notice Microsoft doesn't give guaranty on provided links. Nikhil
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November 28th, 2009 6:42am

HalloLook forhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproui/thread/2981e886-9401-49fc-84b4-466505a0506bmbklrh
November 28th, 2009 1:29pm

Hi i wanted to change startup sound but dint find in control panel, thanks Nikhil it worked for me. i did not try from above link hope it also helps. thanks anyway
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November 29th, 2009 7:27am

Hi all, This cracked method is not support by Microsoft. Please fully backup your computer before modifying it. An incorrect modification may cause computer crash.Thanks.
December 1st, 2009 4:32am

Perhaps Microsoft could restore the capability of changing the Windows startup sound to it's previous safe technique?Several of us would like to change that.Why remove such a simple capability?Fastwilly
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December 9th, 2009 6:57am

I followed this procedure, but ran into trouble when I tried to save the edited imageres.dll. I came up with an error both in regular mode and safe more. In safe more it was error 50 (if that helps). Did anyone else get this? And if so, how can I get around it? Oh yea, by the way my wav file was 110 KB . Or, should I just wait till windows comes out with an update that will allow the user to change these sounds? Thank you for any help
December 19th, 2009 2:56am

I am having same problem get error 50 wave file is 43 kb, I even renamed the file to 5080.wave that did not work the original name was Oper.wav which I renamed oper.wave. I just hate the startup wave file I want to replace like we could once upon a time. MS made an error in not allowing the user this function
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December 29th, 2009 8:39am

HalloI can't understand, why you don't follow the method described inhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproui/thread/2981e886-9401-49fc-84b4-466505a0506bas I proposed on Saturday, November 28, 2009 10:29 AM,at least to give it a trial.Worked for me without any problems.Servusmbklrh
December 29th, 2009 9:16pm

I tried the following, but when I Use res hacker and open the dll file nothing appears in the windows nothing everything is blank in the program period. I do not think you can change the Sound from Control Panel, but there are ways one can use [Use it at your own risk] 1) For best results, boot out of Window 7 and into an alternative OS, such as XP. (This is assuming you dual boot.) 2) Locate the file "imageres.dll" in Vista's System32 folder. For instance, C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll. Copy that file into a different location, i.e. your desktop. 3) Download ResHacker . 4) Open ResHacker. Open the imageres.dll file in ResHacker. 5) Find the folder that reads "WAVE" and expand everything below that. 6) Right click 1033 (this could have a different name depending on your locale), and click Replace Resource. Click "Open file with new resource", and find the wave file you want to replace it with. Once you're done, in Resource Type, type "WAVE", in Resource Name type "5051", and under Resource Language type "1033" (or whatever number you have). Once done, click Replace. 7) Click File, then click Save. Now you can copy this file to Vista's System32 folder. Keep the imageres_original.dll file ResHack left behind in case you want to revert back to the original sound. 8) You might have some Permission issues while replacing the old file, if you have linux live cd handy, copy the new dll to a thumb drive & boot off from it and replace the file.
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December 30th, 2009 2:15am

I got it to work, I had to download the latest Beta Version of ResHacker at http://www.softpedia.com/get/Programming/File-Editors/Resource-Hacker.shtml to get the procedure to work.After I hacked the DLL I went to C:\Windows\System32 and renamed the imageres.dll to Imageres.Old then Copied and pasted the hacked imageres.dll to the C:\Windows\system32 directory
December 30th, 2009 2:47am

I also got this Error code 50 "The request is not supported". Both safe mode and regular windows. I followed Nikhil's post carefully, got this error when I tried "save". I tried both "save" and "save as..." NO JOY
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January 19th, 2010 4:13am

The problem is that the enabling/disabling the startup sound is a flip flop type (ie. either on or off) switch and you need to clearly communicate to Windows 7 that the switch is off. Do this as follows: 1. Goto Control Panel Sounds page and make sure the checkbox for startup sound is checked and, if it is highlighted, click on Apply button at lower right of page. 2. Shutdown computer.3. Restart computer and goto Contron Panel Sounds again. This time uncheck the startup sound checkbox then be sure to click on the Apply button.4. Shutdown your computer again and restart and you will find that the windows 7 startup sound has been disabled.I know this all sounds rather silly but it works.
January 23rd, 2010 11:06pm

I just got through making this work on Windows 7. I followed the instructions as proposed, execpt for two changes: The "resource Name" in Windows 7 (for me at least was/is 5080, not 5051, and, as I didn't have a dual-boot machine, I used Bart PE to totally bypass the security of Windows 7. I tried as Admin, no work. I tried totally giving myself admin and control of the file, no work. So I modified a copy of the imageres.dll on my desktop, copied it to a thumb drive, and then botted into Bart, which then allowed me to copy the adjusted file into the system32 folder. The longer it took me to find this solution, the more intent I was on doing so! Thanks Nikhi! Chuck Billow
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April 13th, 2010 2:44am

Hi, Can anyone explain why some of us get "System Error. Code 50. The request is not Supported".
July 10th, 2010 7:47pm

How to Change Start up sound in Windows 7 This assumes you are using American English versuion of W-7 Language type 1033 All Windows 7 allows is for you check or un-check play start up sound in Windows 7 you have to do the following to change the default sound of your choice 1) Use the following beta program Reshacker from Download Resource Hacker 3.5.0.82 Beta / 3.4.0.79 - Analyze, change, add, erase or extract resources in EXE and DLL files - Softpedia 2) Locate the file "imageres.dll" in C:\ Windows\System32 folder. For instance, C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll. Copy that file into a different location, i.e. your desktop. 3) Download ResHacker . 4) Open ResHacker. Open the imageres.dll file in ResHacker. 5) Find the folder that reads "WAVE" and expand everything below that. 6) Right click 1033 (this could have a different name depending on your locale), and click Replace Resource. Click "Open file with new resource", and find the wave file you want to replace it with. Once you're done, in Resource Type, type "WAVE", in Resource Name type "5080", and under Resource Language type "1033" (or whatever number you have). Once done, click Replace. 7) Click File, then click Save. Now you can copy this file to Vista's System32 folder. Keep the imageres_original.dll file ResHack left behind in case you want to revert back to the original sound. 8) For Windows 7 go back to C:\Windows\System32 directory rename the imageres.dll to Imageres.old then copy and paste the new hacked Imageres.dll into C:\windows\system32 directory
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July 12th, 2010 8:29am

How to Change Start up sound in Windows 7 This assumes you are using American English versuion of W-7 Language type 1033 All Windows 7 allows is for you check or un-check play start up sound in Windows 7 you have to do the following to change the default sound of your choice 1) Use the following beta program Reshacker from Download Resource Hacker 3.5.0.82 Beta / 3.4.0.79 - Analyze, change, add, erase or extract resources in EXE and DLL files - Softpedia 2) Locate the file "imageres.dll" in C:\ Windows\System32 folder. For instance, C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll. Copy that file into a different location, i.e. your desktop. 3) Download ResHacker . 4) Open ResHacker. Open the imageres.dll file in ResHacker. 5) Find the folder that reads "WAVE" and expand everything below that. 6) Right click 1033 (this could have a different name depending on your locale), and click Replace Resource. Click "Open file with new resource", and find the wave file you want to replace it with. Once you're done, in Resource Type, type "WAVE", in Resource Name type "5080", and under Resource Language type "1033" (or whatever number you have). Once done, click Replace. 7) Click File, then click Save. Now you can copy this file to Vista's System32 folder. Keep the imageres_original.dll file ResHack left behind in case you want to revert back to the original sound. 8) For Windows 7 go back to C:\Windows\System32 directory rename the imageres.dll to Imageres.old then copy and paste the new hacked Imageres.dll into C:\windows\system32 directory
July 12th, 2010 8:29am

Hi, Have followed the recommended instructions in safe mode both with the most recent available ResHacker and XN ResEditor to no avail. With ResHacker I get the following error when I try to copy & paste the altered imageres.dll file: Error 0x800704C8 The requested operation cannot be performed on a file with a user-mapped section opened. With XN ResEditor when I try to save the changes I get: System Error. Code 50. The request is not supported. I even tried it with Win Defender and my F-secure antivirus disabled, with no joy. Has anyone out there had these same issues using Win 7 and managed to overcome them?
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July 12th, 2010 4:12pm

Hi, Managed to change Win 7 startup sound eventually but had to use my laptop which runs XP to do it, here's how I did it. I copied my imageres.dll and the wave file I wanted to use as my Win 7 startup sound from my PC transferring it to my laptop with a usb stick. I then booted my laptop in safe mode and followed the instructions for using ResHacker, (see one of the responses above). I booted up my PC using a Ubuntu live cd, (as suggested by Super Sarge, above), tranferred the altered imageres.dll file from my laptop back to my Win 7 PC via the usb stick, replaced the altered dll back into the Win System 32 Folder, and hey presto, it worked. Neither ResHacker or XN ResEditor would work for me in a Windows 7 environment, in fact XN ResEditor would not work on my XP machine either. I hope this is of some use to anyone who may have thought about giving up and just living with Win 7 startup sound. It can be changed.
July 14th, 2010 1:58am

You can disable the startup sound and add a registry command to hklm\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run to play a sound file. You can also use group policy or the task scheduler.
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July 14th, 2010 9:53am

You can disable the startup sound and add a registry command to hklm\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run to play a sound file. You can also use group policy or the task scheduler.
July 14th, 2010 9:53am

You can disable the startup sound and add a registry command to hklm\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run to play a sound file. This opens Media Player and leaves it open.
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August 20th, 2010 6:19pm

OK, Use the command below to play a '.wav' file. Replace ringout and chooose your path and '.wav'. sndrec32.exe /embedding /PLAY /CLOSE "C:\Documents and Settings\David\Desktop\ringout.wav"
August 20th, 2010 8:27pm

OK, Use the command below to play a '.wav' file. Replace ringout and chooose your path and '.wav'. sndrec32.exe /embedding /PLAY /CLOSE "C:\Documents and Settings\David\Desktop\ringout.wav"
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August 20th, 2010 8:27pm

It appears that a lot of you are having file permission issues when trying to modify the imageres.dll file! One thing i can suggest is to use the hidden "system" accont! it has much higher priviliges then the administrator account and you'll be able to edit anything without a problem! just be warned...if you don't know what you're doing you will need to reinstall your entire operating system which is a real bummer! for instructions on how to access the hidden system account just google it!
October 24th, 2010 12:26pm

This is my first post on the net but it's a good one. i was able to get around the permission issue and the error 50 by using a program i had on my pc for awhile now. i used winbubble which is a handy little freeware program that is great for win7. run winbubble and on the first tab there is a box to add functions to your right click menu. check the box for "take ownership of this file" and then click the apply button. restart your system. now right click the imagres.dll file you saved earlier. on the right click menu you will see the take ownership of this file option. click it. that's all there is to it. now when you save the file there is no more error. also remember to do the same thing in the system 32 imageres and no more hassles changing the file name.
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November 5th, 2010 10:47am

Reshacker has command line options so I could write a GUI program. that changes the startup wav.
November 5th, 2010 11:17am

Reshacker has command line options so I could write a GUI program. that changes the startup wav.
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November 5th, 2010 6:16pm

I have to agree with all those who have asked why Microsoft felt it necessary to prevent users from customizing their start up sound in the first place ...and isn't it strange that nobody can answer that? Is there any chance that an update will be released to change that?
November 14th, 2010 9:20am

Sorry, that doesn't work in Windows 7. The startup sound is separate below that sound chart. It can't be changed unless you can modify the imageres.dll file. So far I can't do it. It worked for me, I went to control panel>sound>sounds> and I changed the color scheme and clicked apply. Thanks! Windows 7 Professional
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November 26th, 2010 1:20am

Hi, Can anyone explain why some of us get "System Error. Code 50. The request is not Supported". You must click View > Options and change parser to use XN Resource Editor internal ...
November 27th, 2010 6:14pm

I did everything you said and it mest up my computer! It wouldnt log in at all so luckuly i knew how to do a system restore and it got fixd .
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December 15th, 2010 6:41pm

that would be very nice. when and if you get it done could you send me a link to radioactivev8@gmail.com.
December 18th, 2010 11:36am

Hey, could you upload a copy of ur imageres.dll to megaupload.com and send me the link, I have accidentally deleted mine completely. I am running off of my ubuntu live cd now.
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December 18th, 2010 12:12pm

i follow ur instruction ...it works for me... TQ... for method to replace imageres.dll file with a new file.. try to use http://www.xptsp.com/fixit/replacer.php Windows Se7en File Replacer... . :)
June 26th, 2011 4:56am

I did all this step by step but when I am done with everything the computer would not let me save it.
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June 30th, 2011 1:41am

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