When you start up Windows 95, a "splash" screen appears as the operating system boots (unless you have it disabled with the optional "Tweak UI" program from Microsoft's web site). Also when you shut down Windows, a screen saying "Please wait" appears, followed by "Okay to shut down your computer".
It's possible to replace these screens with your own, and here's how:
1. Start by importing the image that you want displayed into the "Paint" program that comes with Windows 95. If it's a GIF or JPG (JPEG) image, you can copy and paste it using the clipboard, or convert it to BMP with a graphics program like Paint Shop Pro or LView Pro.
2. Adjust the image to a size of 320 X 240. Use the "Select" function to trim the image, and/or use the "Stretch" function to adjust the overall size. Be sure to keep the correct aspect ratio during this step (that is, don't distort the image either horizontally or vertically.) You can also adjust the size with other graphics programs before importing it into Paint.
3. Save the image temporarily as a 256 color bitmap. If it was a 24-bit image, you may lose some colors with this step. If so, touch up the image as necessary. Programs like Paint Shop Pro or LView Pro will do a better job of reducing colors than Microsoft Paint does.
4. Now that the image looks the way that you want, use the "Stretch" function of Paint again to stretch the image vertically by 167%. It should now have the dimensions 320 X 400 and will look vertically distorted. (Don't worry, it will look normal when displayed by Windows.)
- Save the image. It should have a size of 129,078 bytes or about 127k.
- Rename and relocate the file as follows:
For the startup screen, name the file "Logo.sys" and put it in your root directory. If you have installed the "Plus" package from Microsoft, there will already be a "Logo.sys" file there. If so, you may wish to back up or rename that file first (to "OldLogo.sys" for example).
For the "Please wait" screen, back up the "Logow.sys" file in your Windows directory (or rename it to "OldLogow.sys") and replace it with the new file.
For the "Okay to shut down" screen, back up the "Logos.sys" file in your Windows directory (or rename it to "OldLogos.sys") and replace it with the new file.
Your new images should now appear in place of the old ones when you start up and shut down Windows.
Note that most graphics programs, including Paint, can view these SYS images even though the files don't have a BMP extension. They will be vertically distorted, however. To see what an image will look like in actual use, resize it from 320 X 400 to 320 X 240.
This message will be posted in alt.tv.southpark and alt.binaries.southpark, and I'll include an example image in the binaries post. It's a picture of the four standing in the playground, with Kenny as a platypus, and Stan saying, "Whoa dude! Don't shut off the power yet!" The name is "Logow.sys" and if placed in your Windows directory, will appear when you shut down Windows.
Post here if you have any questions or corrections, and if you come up with some good South Park screens, please post them on alt.binaries.southpark.