How to change the start button in Windows 7. The article also has a video and a pack of 250 different icons for Windows Startup 7
IN using Windows, it just so happens that sooner or later you always want to change something. Some people want to change the welcome screen, while others just want to change the start button. Let's get started!
To begin with, you will need an archive containing the program itself and 200 launcher icons, which we download. You can download more different pictures for the start button
Now we need to set administrator rights to explorer.exe. To do this, open the Windows directory (usually C:/Windows) and find the explorer.exe file there. Click on it right click mouse -> Properties -> Security -> Edit -> Select “Administrators”-> Check all the boxes or select "Full access"-> Apply


Now run the program as administrator ( right key mouse -> Run as administrator


Now select Select & Change Start Button, indicate the picture you want to change to and click Open


To make Windows 7 more original, you can change not only the theme and design, but also the icons standard folders, Recycle Bin, Startup and Files. The easiest way is to use the capabilities of the system itself, but if you wish, you can install programs and unique icons from the Internet.

How to change the start icon on Windows 7?

For the sake of variety, sometimes you want to change the Windows start icon, because standard image It's boring every day. How to do this for seven?

To change the start button, use Windows program 7 Start Button Changer. It can be downloaded for free.

The simplest option

If you have downloaded the program to your computer, all you need to do is run it. But be sure to do this as an administrator. Then all you have to do is select the icon you like, replace it and enjoy the new button.

If everything worked for you, you can stop there. However, sometimes things get complicated, so it requires a little more steps and a file called explorer.exe.

Option to change the explorer.exe file

Go to system disk C. Find Windows folder, open it and find the file we need there. It will be called explorer.exe.

Click the mouse (with its right button) so that a list with items appears. There we select “Properties”.


Open the “Properties” item, tabs will appear there. We need "Safety". A list of users will appear in the window. Select the group called “Administrators” and click on the “Edit” button.


In the next window, in the permissions for the group, you need to check the vertical column “Allow” opposite all the items in the box. Be sure to apply the changes and agree to the new permissions.


Now we return to the “Security” tab, we need to additionally set permissions for changes. The button is called “Advanced” and changing this parameter will enable special permissions for the Administrator group.


In the tab that opens, select the line “Administrators” with one click of the mouse. Click on the function to change permissions.

If you did everything correctly, in the “Permission” column opposite the “Administrators” group you will have “Full Control” rights. IN normal mode By default, permissions are displayed at the Read and Execute level.


In the window that appears, you will need to change the permission details and to do this you need to click on the “Change” button. The next window will be called "Resolution Element". In the “Allow” column, check all the boxes. We agree with the changes.


Please note that the Owner tab should display the name of your account or the name of the Administrator.


Now we have all the rights to make changes at the system level. Launch Windows 7 Start Button Changer, first download and install it. Right-click on the icon and run as administrator.


There you need to select an item called “Change Start Button”. We will need the "Sample Orbs" folder. This is a special archive with a set of buttons. Choose which one you like best and click “Open”.


To cancel the changes, just click on the button called “Restore Original Explorer Backup” and the start icon will return to its original appearance.


How to change a file icon in Windows 7?

For those who want to change the personal computer settings for themselves and make file icons different, this step-by-step instruction- the most accurate.

Having completed all the steps, you can now always change the icons at your discretion. Moreover, you won’t need third party applications or additional programs, as in the case of replacing the start icon, here you can get by standard means sevens.

The icons themselves can be downloaded from the Internet or even ordered from a designer if you want something truly unique.



After making changes, do not forget to save the data by clicking “Apply” and “OK”.

How to change folder icons in Windows 7

Changing a folder's icon will allow you to make it unique by making it stand out from the crowd. The steps are quite simple, so even if you are a beginner, you can easily figure out the procedure.


.

If for some reason you don’t like the result, then you can return everything by opening the same path: Properties - Settings - Change icon. On last tab There is a “Restore defaults” function. By clicking on it, you will restore the icons that are present in the system by default.

Installing icons using IconPackager

There is another way to change folder icons to any others. To do this, you can use the convenient IconPackager utility.


If your collection does not contain icons for certain types of files or programs, the icons for these objects will remain the same - without changes.


It happens that you need to return the icons back. In this case, in the same program, click on “Windows Default Icons By: Microsoft” at the bottom of the screen from the available icons and apply the rule by clicking on “Apply icon package”.

Other programs for changing icons

To install icons, the tools suggested above are not always enough. For example, you liked an icon, but it is presented only in the PNG extension, while installing new icons requires the ICO extension. In this case, two programs will be useful:
  • AveIcon 2 is a small program that can convert icon files from PNG and ICO.
  • IrfanView is a utility that comes in handy if you need to convert an entire collection of icons at once.
Another program is IconTo. Its capabilities lie in the fact that you can assign specific picrograms to individual system objects. For example, you replaced the folder icons, but for one very important one you want to use a unique icon. This is where IconTo can help.

How to change the trash icon in Windows 7?

Changing the trash icon requires other steps. You won't be able to access it through Properties.

Video on replacing standard icons in the seven

Watch the visual video instructions on how to change standard icons on your own:


Thus, if you want to change the icons of folders, files and other objects in Windows 7, you can use the capabilities of the most operating system. It is enough to download the pictograms from the Internet as individual icons or as a whole collection. Installing icons will only take a few minutes, even if you use third party programs.

In Windows, you can change the design, themes, desktop background, screensavers and shortcuts. But you cannot change the design of the Start button through standard settings. It displays the Win logo by default. And what if you want to see a different image on the main menu? The only option is to use third-party programs, since the OS itself does not provide the right tools. Find out how to change the Start button in Windows 7, what utilities are suitable for this, and how to use them.

The main menu picture is tied to the “Explorer.exe” system service (do not confuse it with the name of the browser). The new icon should not affect the operation of Win. But still this is a change in OS files. And it’s better to create a restore point. If something goes wrong, you can return the settings that were before installing the icon.

  • Click the Start button.
  • Go to "Control Panel".
  • "System" menu in the "System and Personalization" category.
  • Item "Additional parameters". He's on the right.
  • System Protection tab.
  • "Create" button.

Click on Create

  • Come up with a name for the restore point.
  • Wait until the current one is saved Windows configuration. You can return to it in the future if critical errors occur.
  • To make a backup, click the “Restore” button. It's in the "System Protection" menu. All available points will be there.

Administrator rights

To change the main menu icon, you need full access to "Explorer.exe". This is the service responsible for the conductor. The file is located in root directory systems C:/Windows/. To edit it you need administrator rights.

  • Go to this folder.
  • Find "Explorer" and right-click on it.
  • “Properties” item.
  • Section "Security".
  • Click the "Edit" button.

  • In the “Permissions for the System group” field, set the value to “Full Control”.
  • Click on "Apply".

You can also open administrative access to the file using the Takeownershipex program. Find it online, download, install and run. There will be two buttons: “Gain access” and “Restore access”. Click on the first one and specify the path to “Explorer”.

Just in case, create a backup copy of this file. Just copy it anywhere. If anything, you can change the edited version to the original one.

Where can I find the badges?

It’s better not to put the first art you like from your gallery on the “Start” button. Use images specifically designed for this purpose. They are already edited and have the appropriate format and size. They also set correct placement objects. Suitable images can be downloaded from the 7themes website or oformlenie-windows.ru. Although resources with free icons enough.

Possible appearance of the Start button

The file with the icon must have a BMP extension (no background). Make sure that it has three options for icons: for a “regular” button, highlighted and pressed. Try hovering over the main menu. And you will see that it changes depending on what is done with it. Although no one forbids putting one picture for all “states”.

Start Button Changer is a utility through which you can load a new image for the main menu. It has a very simple interface. There are only two functions: setting an icon and resetting to original settings. Suitable for Win 7 only. The name of the program translates something like this: “Start Button Converter.” Here's how to use it:

  • Find it on the Internet and download it. Just enter the query “Windows 7 Start Button Changer” in a search engine and select any site. It is better to download from resources that are on the first page in the search results.
  • If the utility is in an archive, unpack it.
  • There should be an executable file with the extension .EXE.
  • Right-click on it.
  • “On behalf of the administrator” item.

Start Button Changer window

  • To change icons, click the “Select & Change” button.
  • Specify the path to the icons.
  • Click on “Open”.
  • To restore the original settings, there is the “Restore Original” option.

Start Orb Changer for Windows 7

Here's how to change the Start icon on Windows 7 using Start Orb Changer

  • Find it online and download it.
  • Unpack it if it is in the archive.
  • Run it as administrator.

  • There will be three samples of icons: “Default” (not active), “Hover” (when selected - you need to move the cursor) and “Pressed” (pressed).
  • To change them, click on “Change”.
  • Specify the path to the graphic file.
  • The “Restore” button resets the settings and returns the standard icon.

The application has advanced options. To open them, click on the small gray arrow at the bottom right. Only two points are important.

  • By Patching Memory. RAM is used to change the main menu.
  • Be Editing Resources. Edited by "Eexe".

Classic Shell

The Classic Shell utility is suitable for Windows 8 and 10. It is a comprehensive program for customizing the Start menu. But now we only need icons in it.

  • Download it from classicshell.net. There is a tab “ALL DOWNLOADS”.
  • Start the installation. To work with the design of the main menu, use the “Classic Shell” component Start Menu" You don't have to download the rest.

  • Open the application.
  • On the Menu Style tab, select the All Options option and click OK.
  • You want classic Win style
  • Check the “Change button image” checkbox.
  • Check the "Other" box.
  • "Select image."
  • Show the way to it.

If “Start” is missing

If after installing the icon the menu bar and all shortcuts on the desktop disappear, you need to restart Explorer.

  1. Launch Task Manager. To do this, use the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys.
  2. Go to File - New Task.
  3. In the input field that opens, write “explorer.exe” without quotes.
  4. Click OK.

The Start button cannot be changed through personalization settings. Yes, and in other Win parameters there is no such option. To add a new icon, you need third-party programs. They edit the system file “Explorer.exe”, to which the icons are attached.

Create a system restore point. While changing the Start button icon usually doesn't cause problems, it's always wise to create a restore point before changing any system files. You can quickly access the System Restore program by clicking on "Start" and searching for the word "recovery." Select "Create a restore point" from the list of results.

  • Click on the "Create..." button
  • Give the restore point a name and then click Create.
  • Read this guide to learn more about how to use System Restore.

Download a program to change the Start button icon. While you can use a portable executable editor to find the icon files for the Start button, it's much easier to use a program called Windows 7 Start Button Changer. This free program, created by a team of enthusiastic Windows 7 users.

  • You can easily find the program on the Internet using any search engine. Enter "windows 7 start button changer" into the search field. Try downloading the program from The Windows Club developer site to be sure that you are installing a secure version.
  • Unzip the program. It doesn't install like traditional programs; instead, you can run it from whatever folder you saved it to. Read this guide for details on extracting files from a zip archive, but generally you'll just need to right-click on the file and select Extract Files.

    Get administrator rights. It often happens that the program for changing the Start button icon does not start or starts with an error if you do not have administrator rights. To prevent this, gain full control of File Explorer and you won't encounter this problem in the future.

    • Open the Windows folder on your hard drive. You will see the file "explorer.exe" in the main Windows folder.
    • Hover over explorer.exe and right-click. You must act on behalf of the Administrator.
    • Open Properties.
    • Select the "Security" tab.
    • Click on the "Edit" button.
    • Select "Allow" next to "Full Control". Click "Apply".
  • Rename the icon changer. Open the folder where you extracted the program. Find the file called "Windows 7 Start Button Changer v 2.6.exe1", rename it by removing the "1" at the end of the file name to convert it to standard file with EXE extension.