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When you browse the Internet using Internet Explorer or read messages using Outlook Express, a logo is displayed indicating whether activity is taking place. With this tweak you can modify which logo is shown, customize it or reset it to the default.

Use Your Own Animated Logo
There are two bitmap files used to display the animated logo, both can be identical except for the size, one is 38 pixels wide and the other 22 pixels.

Using an image editor, such as MS Paint, create an image similar to a roll of film, where equal sized "frames" are a stacked vertically within the one larger image. For example, a large icon, with 10 frames, would be 38 pixels wide and 380 pixels high (38 pixels x 10 frames = 380 pixels high).

When active and the logo is animated, the top frame is shown first, then the next, an so on, until the last frame is reached and the image loops. Similarly, when the application is idle, the first frame is shown statically until further activity, that is unless an alternate non-animated logo has been defined using the technique below.

Once you have created the icons you need to register them by opening the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar] in your registry.

Then create two new string values, or modify the existing values, named 'SmBrandBitmap' and 'BrandBitmap' and set their values to equal the full filename of the small (22 pixel) image and large (38 pixel) image respectively.

Use Your Own Non-Animated Logo
These images are shown when the application is idle, as with the method above there are two images one small 22 x 22 pixel and a larger 38 x 38 pixel. To activate them open the key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main] and create two string values named 'SmallBitmap' and 'BigBitmap' setting the values to equal the filenames of the images.

Reset to the Default Logos
To restore the default animated logo, delete the 'BrandBitmap' and 'SmBrandBitmap' string values found under the registry key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar].

To restore the default idle logo, delete the 'SmallBitmap' and 'BigBitmap' string values found under the registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main].

Restart Internet Explorer or Outlook Express for the change to take effect.

		(Default)	REG_SZ	(value not set)
		BrandBitmap	REG_SZ	"c:\windows\animation.bmp"
		SmBrandBitmap	REG_SZ	"c:\windows\animation_small.bmp"
		BigBitmap	REG_SZ	"c:\windows\logo.bmp"
		SmallBitmap	REG_SZ	"c:\windows\logo_small.bmp"

	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Outlook Express

Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.