Windows 7 Start Orb Loader
By X-Type

System Requirements
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Windows 7 x86 or Windows 7 x64
with default shell (i.e. Windows Explorer.)

Note: not tested on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Features
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1. Change your start orb WITHOUT changing explorer.exe. If explorer.exe is corrupted, you see more UAC prompts popping up when using Windows Explorer. If you can't stand UAC prompts anymore but you still want to turn UAC feature on for security, this program is the choice :-).

2. Choose different start orb for each user. If you once check 'Enable start orb loader' option (which requires administrative rights), every user (including standard users) can choose his/her own start orb with this program. See usage section for details.

3. DPI-aware. Windows explorer has 4 start orbs with different sizes depending on DPI. You can customize your start orb that fits your current DPI. See usage section for details.

Install/Uninstall Guide
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Uninstall of version 1.0: run the loader (renamed to explorer.exe), press 'Unload' button, and delete it. Current version is not compatible with ver. 1.0, so uninstall old loader before using current release.

Install of version 1.1: run the loader (w7soldr.exe in the zip, and you can rename it as you want), check 'Options' > 'Enable start orb loader' and press 'Save changes' button. Read usage section for details.

Uninstall of version 1.1: run the loader, uncheck 'Options' > 'Enable start orb loader', uncheck 'Options' > 'Shell integration' and press 'Save changes' button. This will restore all changes done to your system. Delete the loader then you're done.

Usage
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1. Extract w7soldr.exe and run w7soldr.exe.

2. Check 'Options' > 'Enable start orb loader'. This sets up some basic things to change start orb.

3. Press 'Browse' button to choose the location that contains start orbs you want to use. Available start orbs on the location will show up in the box below the browse button. If you already have set your start orb, it will be displayed as an icon labed 'User default'. Available start orbs are uncompressed 32-bit bitmaps with ARGB channels whose dimension is 54*162 when 100%DPI125%, 66*198 when 125%DPI150%, 81*243 when 150%DPI200%, 106*318 when 200%DPI.

4. Choose a start orb you want to use. You can review your choice in 'View your start orb' section. Click the label named 'Aero view' to see the orb on an aero-transparent window, which behaves like the real start orb. You can click on the empty space on the box to use system default orb. Whatever your choice is, it is always shown in 'View your start orb' section.

5. Press 'Save changes' button to save changes. Your changes will take effect on next logon. Press 'Cancel' button to cancel. Note that any changes in 'Options' section require administrative rights.

* Checking 'Options' > 'Shell integration' appends a menu item labed 'Start orb' on the context menu of desktop background.

Troubleshooting
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1. 'Start orb' item on the context menu behaves like a shortcut to this program. If you (re)move the program, it will not work. In this case, run the program, uncheck 'Shell integration' option, press 'Save changes', run the program again, check 'Shell integration' option and press 'Save changes'. Then the menu item will work.

Localization Guide
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This program reads .resources file depending on current display language. You can use 'Lutz Roeder's .NET Resourcer' to make a .resources file (Link: http://www.lutzroeder.com/dotnet/). To localize this program, first you should use the following naming convention: w7soldr.<culture_name>.resources, where <culture_name> is a proper culture name. You can refer 'National Language Support API Reference' (Link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb896001.aspx) for culture names. Then you should place .resources file into the startup folder of this application, typically the folder where this program is located. Two samples of .resources file are provided, one is for English, the other is for Korean.

Technical Background
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Replacing resources in explorer.exe to change start orb invalidates the certificate embedded in explorer.exe. Windows does not recognize explorer.exe as a part of Windows in this case, so UAC prompts pop up whenever administrative permission is required, for example, when removing system files. But if we change the data which is loaded into memory, then the certificate is still OK and explorer.exe works well as a part of Windows. This program exploits this fact and changes the start orb data in memory just before the desktop shows up.

License
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This software is a freeware.
You can distribute this software freely for non-commercial use.

Version History
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1.1.1	Localization support.

1.1	Entirely new user interface.
	Multi-user support.
	DPI-aware.
	Added shell integration option.
	Integrated x86 and x64 binaries.
	Solved the renaming issue.
	Solved the comma issue.
	
1.0	Release.