WinLogo Help INDEX
WinLogo for Windows 95 and Windows 3.1x

 © 1993-1998, Dr Abimbola A. Olowofoyeku (The African Chief)

 HomePage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/African_Chief/

WINLOGO is a utility to facilitate the process of making changes to the Windows start up logo. It is written for Win95 and Windows 3.1. Under Win95, WinLOGO changes both the startup and shutdown logos. You can always restore the original logos, by a single menu choice.

The Windows 3.1x startup logo is actually just a bitmap, (in an RLE 4 encoded format) which is written into WIN.COM by Windows itself, or any other program, such as WINLOGO, that can make changes to the startup logo. The process is a bit involved (if it can be done at all) and is far from a straightforward business if done without a utility such as WINLOGO. With WINLOGO, the process simply involves selecting an RLE encoded bitmap from the menu, and the program takes care of the rest. The whole process takes just about 5 seconds. You can view the RLE bitmaps with Winlogo's viewer, before deciding which ones to use.

For Windows 95, the startup logo is a 256 colour bitmap which is 320x400 in dimension. To change the Win95 logo with Winlogo, you only need to select such a bitmap from the menu, and the rest is done for you. When you view your bitmaps under Win95, Winlogo will warn you if the bitmap does not have the correct dimensions for the Win95 startup logo.

If you are using Win95, then it is recommended to view each bitmap file before trying to use it as the startup logo. This is so that Winlogo will then be able to warn you if the dimensions of the bitmap are not correct for the Win95 logo.

WINLOGO also employs a new approach to Windows programs. The program encompasses a DOS version and a Windows version, all within the same executable (WINLOGO.EXE). If you run WINLOGO.EXE from the DOS command line, the DOS version is executed. If you run it from within Windows the Windows version is executed. NOTE that this does not work when running Win95. It only works with Windows 3.1x.

The DOS module can take an optional SECOND parameter ("/0"). If this is used as the second parameter, the DOS module will not pause for a keypress if the operation to change the Windows logo was successful.

e.g.,  WINLOGO C:\RLES\BLOOM.RLE /0

Detailed information on using WINLOGO is available by browsing through the topics listed below. Please read the DISCLAIMER section BEFORE attempting to use WINLOGO.

See also;

The Logo File

The New Logo

INI File Settings

Registration

Registration Sites

Registration FORM

CREDIT CARD ORDERS

Disclaimer

Bug Reports

Products


The Logo File

The default logo that Windows 3.1x uses is called VGALOGO.RLE and exists in your Windows System directory. WINLOGO can always restore this if you choose it from the menu. However, WINLOGO also allows you to have such things as company logos, funny pictures, and the like, as your Windows startup logo, instead of the boring one that is supplied with Windows itself. This is because any RLE 4 encoded bitmap file would do just as well as the VGALOGO.RLE that resides in your Windows System directory.

With Windows 95, the default logo is a standard bitmap with specific dimensions, which is tucked away somewhere, but it can be replaced. Winlogo makes that easy for you.

You would need some utility, such as THE GRAPHICS WORKSHOP, WINGIF or PAINTSHOP PRO (all Shareware) to convert standard Windows Paintbrush bitmap files into RLE 4 format. You can obtain copies these programs from bulletin boards or by ANONYMOUS FTP from various ftp sites all over the world (e.g., "ftp.cica.indiana.edu" in the U.S.A., "micros.hensa" in the U.K., or "garbo.uwasa.fi" in Finland).

NOTE:

[1] The required format for the Windows 3.1x bitmap is RLE 4 (not RLE 8) and the bitmap for Win3.1x must not contain more than 16 colours.

[2] The Win 3.1x RLE file must not be bigger than 46k in size. Otherwise the WINCHG.COM file that will be built will not be usable. Windows will not be able to load it, or even to start at all. If an RLE file selected from the menu is too big, WINLOGO will inform you of this.

[3] If you are using Windows 95, then the logo file must be a standard Windows bitmap file, with 256 colours, 320 pixels in width, and 400 pixels in height (i.e., 320x400x256). If you are using Windows 95, then it is recommended to view each bitmap file before trying to use it as the startup logo. This is because Winlogo will then warn you if the dimensions of the bitmap are not correct for the Win95 logo.

Some sample RLE 4 bitmaps are supplied for you to play with. Most of them are third party bitmaps which I have simply converted from other formats to the RLE 4 encoded format.


The New Logo

When you select a new logo, WINLOGO normally builds a new Windows 3.1x command file, and calls it "WINCHG.COM". Thus to start Windows with the new logo, type "WINCHG" instead of the usual "WIN". At the end of installation, WINLOGO will ask if you want to overwrite the existing WIN.COM file. You should normally answer "NO" to this question unless you already have made a backup copy of WIN.COM. You can always start Windows with your new logo by typing "WINCHG".

With Win95, the Windows loader is left intact. The scheme for logos is different. All you need to do is to shutdown and you will see the new logo. If you want to restore your original logo, then you need to select the "Restore Original Logos" menu item. For this to work, you must not have altered any of the files created by WINLOGO, and you must not have edited any entry made by WinLOGO into your WINLOGO.INI file.

The Windows module of Winlogo can take a single parameter - the full path name of a valid bitmap file. If the parameter is supplied, then Winlogo will install that bitmap as the Windows logo, and then Winlogo will terminate.


INI File Settings
Settings in the INI file

Below are the settings in the file WINLOGO.INI and what they mean.

RLE-DIRECTORY:

This line should contain the directory in which the .RLE files are kept. If there is no entry on this line, the program will search in the Windows System directory.

VIDEO-TYPE:

This line should contain a number. This number represents the type of VIDEO DRIVER that you have installed on your Windows system. The valid entries are between 1 and 5. The numbers mean;

1 = VGA/SVGA (or compatible) Colour

2 = EGA (or compatible) Colour

3 = EGA/VGA (or compatible) Mono

4 = CGA

5 = HERCULES

NOTE: this entry is supplied for backward compatibility only, and for those using the DOS module. If you will always run the Windows module of Winlogo, or if you are using Win95, then Winlogo will ignore this setting.


REGISTRATION

WINLOGO is NOT a free program. It is distributed as a SHAREWARE program. For my purposes, this means that you get to test the program for a MAXIMUM period of 14 days. If you you decide that you would want to keep on using it, then you are legally and morally obliged to register your copy.

If you find WINLOGO useful and intend to keep using it, I would ask you to please REGISTER your copy.

REGISTRATION FEE:

£19.99     (U.K. STERLING)

$29.99    (U.S.)

$39.99    (Australian)

Prices are subject to change without notice.

You might want to use a registration site which is local or close to you, and with whom you can register in your own local currency. Please see the "REGISTRATION SITES" section below for details on my worldwide registration sites.

People registering from outside the U.K. who wish to send their registration fee to me in the U.K. should please send a cheque or an International Money Order drawn out in Sterling. Otherwise please add £7.50 (seven pounds sterling and fifty pence) to cover U.K. bank charges.

When you register, you will receive a REGISTRATION CODE and a SERIAL NUMBER, which will cause the registration messages to stop, and will cause the program to show your name as the registered user.

REGISTRATION confers the following benefits:-

       [a] The satisfaction of being an honest person.

       [b] A clear conscience.

       [c] No more nagging registration reminders!

If you feel that WINLOGO is not worth paying for, then I ask you to please DELETE it from your disks immediately.

See also:

REGISTRATION SITES

CREDIT CARD ORDERS


Disclaimer

The program WINLOGO is supplied AS IS. I do not guarantee anything other than that it will probably not kill YOU. You use WINLOGO at your own risk. I accept no responsibility for any damage or loss, physical, financial, or otherwise, that may result from the use, or purported use of WINLOGO, for any purpose whatsoever.

If these terms are not acceptable to you, then you have NO license to use or test WINLOGO. You should DELETE it from your disks IMMEDIATELY.


Bug Reports

For bug reports please contact me at;

       Internet: laa12@cc.keele.ac.uk

       Compuserve: African_Chief@compuserve.com


Products

Below are a list of other programs which you can obtain from me;

[1] Chief's Installer Pro for Win16 and Win32.

Chief's Installer Pro for Windows (hereinafter referred to as "ChiefPro") is an AWARD WINNING program for the installation of Windows 3.1x, Win95, and Windows NT applications (i.e., an "off-the-shelf" installation suite). The program will install files from floppy disks (or from directories on local/remote disks) to destination directories. If the files are compressed with Microsoft's COMPRESS.EXE they will be decompressed automatically. In this respect Chief's Installer Pro uses the routines in LZEXPAND.DLL. If the files are not compressed, they will simply be copied. Chief's Installer Pro also supports ZIP archives with a $UNZIP command. Large files can be split into smaller chunks with Chief's file splitter.

This program won PC PLUS magazine's Gold Award (U.K. edition, April 1995). If you are a Windows programmer, try it and see. This is the ONLY installation package that you will ever need!

[2] Windows Command Line Processor (WCL) for Win32 and Win16 :-

This is a command line interface for Windows 3.0 and 3.1. It simulates the infamous DOS "C:>" prompt, from WITHIN Windows, and also duplicates most of the internal DOS commands. This is a FULL Windows program, and you get a prompt from which commands can be typed, just as under DOS. You can run any DOS or Windows program from this prompt, while at the same time having Program Manager in view for clicking on other programs with the mouse.

WCL supports batch commands in Windows, and directory aliases. Other commands include COPY, DELETE, RENAME, MKDIR, RMDIR, DIR, TYPE, MORE, PRINT, CONCAT, TIME, DATE, HIDE, UNHIDE, TYPE-WRITE, FREE, SHELL, etc., and a host of others. Many of the commands behave exactly like their DOS counterparts, except that you do all this WITHIN Windows. The WCL window is just tucked away in a corner of the Windows desktop, and you can switch to it just by clicking on any part of it.

With WCL, you may never need to invoke the "MSDOS PROMPT" again, and for basic functions like file copying, deleting, and renaming, creating, deleting and renaming directories, setting the system date or time, you will not need to load the file manager. This is a great program!


Registration_Sites
Registration Sites

YOU CAN SEND THE REGISTRATION FEE TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING REGISTRATION SITES;

COMPUSERVE MEMBERS

On-line registration is available under the SWREG scheme. If you GO SWREG, the SWREG Registration ID is 3430.

UNITED STATES AND NORTH AMERICA

TODD MERRIMAN

Software Toolz, Inc.

8030 Pooles Mill Dr.

Ball Ground,

GA 30107

U.S.A.

Tel: +1 770 889 8264

Fax: +1 770-887-5960

Internet: todd@toolz.com

HomePage: http://www.toolz.com

On-Line Registration: http://www.toolz.com/register.htm

Fee:  $29.99 (US funds)

NOTES:

1. Method of payment: Checks, Money Orders, Visa, Mastercard, American Express.

2. Georgia residents must add the appropriate Sales Tax. No other locations should include sales tax.

3. Company purchase orders with payment in arrears are not accepted. However, invoices can be issued by Software Toolz, and the license will be issued when the invoice is paid.

4. Make checks and money orders payable to Software Toolz, Inc.

5. Please do not e-mail unencrypted credit card numbers. Internet e-mail is not secure. To order by credit card via e-mail, use the TOTOOLZ encryption program to encrypt the author's order form and then e-mail the encrypted order form back to Software Toolz using the above e-mail address. The MSDOS command to encrypt the order form is: TOTOOLZ <input file> <output file> where "input file" is the author's order form which you have filled-out, and "output file" is the mail message you will send to Software Toolz.

Otherwise, point your browser to: http://www.toolz.com/register.htm to register on-line.

6. Enclose the author's registration form supplied in the distribution archive with the payment.  It contains information the author needs to validate your registration.

7. Your registration confirmation will be sent via e-mail. Be sure to include your email address on the order form.

8. Please do not ask to be called by telephone. Please do not ask to be faxed information or an order form. The shareware archive contains all the necessary information and forms you need to register.

9. No software support is available from Software Toolz, nor can any technical questions concerning the software be answered by Software Toolz.

10. Credit card orders require: Name on card, Account Number, Expiration date, Signature (if by FAX or mail)

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, ASIA, AND THE FAR EAST

DAVID PERKOVIC

DP Computing

P.O.Box 712

Noarlunga Center

SA 5168

Australia

Internet e-mail: david@dpcomputing.com.au

Homepage: http://www.dpcomputing.com.au

On-Line Registration: http://www.dpcomputing.com.au/order.html

Tel:    +61 8 8326 4364

Fax:    +61 8 8382 3785

Mobile: +61 015 973 503

Fee:  $39.99   (Australian funds)

NOTES:

1. Method of payment: Cheques, Money Orders, Visa, MasterCard, Australian Bankcard

2. Make cheques/money orders payable to: "DP Computing".

3. Credit card orders require: Name on card, Account Number, Expiration date, Signature (if by FAX or mail)

 UNITED KINGDOM, IRELAND, EUROPE, EVERYWHERE ELSE

 Please send orders from these areas to:

JOHN BARTON

57 Baddeley Green Lane

Baddeley Green

Stoke on Trent

Staffs, ST2 7JL

ENGLAND.

E-mail: 100306.1334@compuserve.com

Fee:  £19.99 (U.K. funds; or equivalent)

NOTES:

1. Method of payment: Cheques, Eurocheques, Money Orders

2. Make cheques/money orders payable to: "JOHN BARTON".

3. ADD: £7.50  (if sending a foreign cheque; note that foreign cheques that do not contain this fee will not be processed)


Registration_FORM
To register WinLOGO, please PRINT and FILL IN the following Registration FORM.

NOTE: Please specify your CURRENT version of WinLOGO.

 TO:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

 I wish to REGISTER my copy of "WinLOGO".

 My current version is    __________

 I am ordering   __________  copies

 I am paying the REGISTRATION FEE of         __________

 ADD Tax (if applicable)                                  __________

(See info on the registration sites to see if they collect tax)

Total FEE:                                                   ____________

I am paying by   Cheque/Money Order/Credit Card  (delete as inapproriate)

NAME         ___________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS   _________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

POST/ZIP CODE _______________________________________________________________

E-MAIL           _________________________________________________________________

How did you get your copy of WinLOGO?

________________________________________________________________________

IF PAYING BY CREDIT CARD, PLEASE SEND THE FOLLOWING DETAILS;

(NOTE: Not all sites accept credit cards so please refer to the list of REGISTRATION SITES)

NAME on CARD          ______________________________________________

CARD ISSUER           ______________________________________________

CARD NUMBER           ______________________________________________

DATE OF ISSUE         _______________________________________________

EXPIRY DATE           ______________________________________________

SIGNATURE             _______________________________________________

DATE                  __________________________________________________

 PLEASE REMEMBER TO SIGN THE CREDIT CARD ORDER!


CREDIT CARD ORDERS

Please note that of all these registration sites, the only ones which can process CREDIT CARD orders are;

[a] Compuserve,

[b] Todd Merriman (todd@toolz.com),

[c] David Perkovic (david@dpcomputing.com.au)

If you will not be registering on-line on Compuserve, please post all credit card orders to Todd Merriman, or David Perkovic.

Credit card orders should preferably be made by telephone, fax, or by post. PLEASE DO NOT SEND YOUR CREDIT CARD DETAILS BY ORDINARY INTERNET E-MAIL. The internet is NOT a safe or secure means of transmitting credit card details, and your details are liable to TO FALL INTO THE WRONG HANDS. If you must send your credit card order by e-mail, you must first encrypt the information (with TOTOOLZ.EXE) and then e-mail the encrypted information to Todd Merriman only. Please do not e-mail encrypted information to any other registration site.

NOTE: If you want to send your credit card orders to Todd Merriman by e-mail, please put your details (as per the registration form) in an ASCII file, and then run the program TOTOOLZ.EXE on the file. This will encrypt the contents of the file. You can then safely e-mail the (encrypted) output file to Todd Merriman. This precaution is to protect your credit card details from internet hackers. Otherwise, point your browser to: http://www.toolz.com/register.htm to register on-line.

If you wish to register by credit card with David Perkovic, please make the order by telephone, by fax, or by post - otherwise, please point your browser to: http://www.dpcomputing.com.au/order.html to register on-line.

NOTE: Credit card orders require;

[a] Name on card

[b] Account Number

[c] Expiry date

[d] Signature (FAX or mail)

See also;

REGISTRATION SITES