Get rid of the lightning bolt
Written by Chris Molloy on 02 Apr 2003
Categories / keywords: Hacks
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Background
Do you have 5 minutes for some mindless hacking? Do you think that the 'lightning bolt' graphic is a bit misleading? Would you like to change it to something else (e.g. an image of a snail)? If so, read on ...
The hack
(The following was tested with R5.x, but it probably works with ND6.x as well).
The 'lightning bolt' icon is a resource that lives inside your copy of the 'nnotesws.dll'. So before you start, you might want to make a back-up of this file. You're also going to need a resource editor. A quick search on Google located 'PE Explorer' (from http://www.heaventools.com) and the instructions that follow detail how to use it to do the job. If you're using something else, the steps should be roughly the same. Exit all Notes Clients before you start.
In 'PE Explorer':
- Open your 'nnotesws.dll' by using 'File' -> 'Open File ...' -> "nnotesws.dll".
- Select 'View' -> 'Resources'.
- Expand the 'Bitmap' folder.
- Locate "299" and "300". These are the two bitmaps you're going to modify.
- With each of these two bitmap resources, select the 'Save Resource As ...' button from the button bar (first button from left) and save the files to your desktop.
- Use your favourite image editor to edit "Bitmap_299.bmp" (resource "299"). In the .zip file attached to this article I have included my modified bitmap files which have replaced the 'lightning bolt' with a snail. Make sure that your new image is no bigger that the 'lightning bolt' image it is replacing. The file "Bitmap_300.bmp" (resource "300") is an 'alpha mask' of resource "299". Replace the silhouette of the 'lightning bolt' with a silhouette of what you did to "Bitmap_299.bmp".
- Back inside 'PE Explorer', highlight resource "299" and click on the 'Resource Editor' button on the button bar (third button from left).
- Select the 'Open Source File' button from the button bar (button to the left of the "Repalce with:" [sic] label) and select your modified "Bitmap_299.bmp" file.
- Close the 'Resource Editor' and repeat steps 8. and 9. for resource "300".
- Close the 'Resource Editor' and select 'File' -> 'Save File As ...' to save the changes you've just made to the "nnotesws.dll". If warned that the image size has changed, click "Yes" to update the file size.
- Start Notes and do something that triggers your new 'lightning bolt'.
- Get back to work.
Further reading:
Attachment(s): bitmaps.zip (2 KB)
» Get rid of the lightning bolt (Chris Molloy 02 Apr 2003)
RE: Get rid of the lightning bolt (Jean-Philippe R... 27 Nov 2003)
RE: Get rid of the lightning bolt (Ben Poole 29 Nov 2003)
RE: Get rid of the lightning bolt (Steve H 21 Feb 2004)
RE: Get rid of the lightning bolt (Brian Boyko 6 Aug 2004)
