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Mr-Blade β iPack Builder v2.2: Tool for icon customization
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#iconpack #iconpackinstaller #icons #windows #windows7 #windows8 #windows7customization #ipack
Published: 2014-08-04 17:47:31 +0000 UTC; Views: 129974; Favourites: 416; Downloads: 10503
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Description
If youΒ have made iPack(s) with any older version (current version is 2.2) , instead of remaking your iPack with new iPack builder, just upgrade it.Version 2.2
Final compilation date: 09/12/2015
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[-]Resolved Windows 10 bug (settings options not accessible)
[-]Fixed permission restore bug
[+]More elements theming support in the installer (Read documentation for theming guide)
[-]Reduced installer size
Complete changelog
What it is?
With this tool you can make icon packs installers in exe format.
The installer will work perfectly on Windows 7,8,8.1 both x86 and x64.
The idea was simple enough that we wanted to patch windows dll's exe and other things without messing around.
iPacks V/S 7tsp:
-More reliable scripting
-Faster method.
-Advance installer
-You don't need any other software to install the pack.
-Simple interface, just click on buttons and install the pack.
-Packs built with iPack Builder and for 7tsp are nearly of same size.
-7tsp cannot patch in Program files folders (only wmplayer I guess) but with iPacks you can patch in program files folder also
-iPacks are smart enough to check if x64 windows, if found x64 windows then it will patch both x86 and x64 dll files.
-You don't need to reboot every time. Installer is smart enough to detect if system requires a reboot.
A big thanks to LamiaDC
for helping me out in testing the iPack Builder
DownloadΒ Link
Youtube Video Tutorial
Official iPack's:
fav.me/d7tpws9
fav.me/d7tocra
fav.me/d7xjcp6
Related content
Comments: 237
hiΒ Mr-Blade , i'm onΒ Win10 TP x86 10041, did all the things right, following the simple tutorial, i just made a imageres.dll.res, made the installer but when i want to install i waited almost a half of hour at "Patching imageres.dll" , but no result, i did not tick to make a restore point, no changes was done, i just killed the install process, so i have edited imageres.dll manually and it's working, the icons are there, please take a look at my installer, after i will delete itΒ Mediafire LinkΒ Thank you
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I extracted imageres.dll.res and noticed the problem, see this image s30.postimg.org/oxh4mq5j5/del.β¦ (It's just an example)
You have to delete all the unused/default icons from the res file and keep only those icons which are to be changed, which will make the size of .res file small and iPack will installer faster.
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ohhhhh, that was the problem, thank you for answer, this should be somehow to be a tip in the software
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I am glad that I could help.
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love this tool, much faster than 7tspGUI, Β gonna try it now on a Win10 x64 on VMWare
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one more question, i tested a pack, to restore default icons i must run the Setup second time, right?
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That's one way, other is uninstall it from control panel just like you uninstall any other software.Also there's a 3rd way: Go to C:\Program Files\iPack Name and run Uninstall.exe (If x64 windows then C:\Program Files(x86) )
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It's a realy cool program but every iPack I try to install won't work
It's patching etc I have a grey skins during this process and then just nothing changed... I don't understand why nothing changes if I want to apply any iPack.
Pls help me
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please notice that does the size of the file changes,I mean check if imageres.dll or any other file you are patching changes size after patching.
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Are you talking now from the .exe because in every iPack I download there is only a patcher .exe and a reaload Icons.
Because I don't know where to find the .dll files
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Let's start again, what you problem really is? You can't install iPack's?
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Yeah right I can't install iPacks, everytime I try it nothing changes, windows just says updating etc. but nothing changed
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are you using any antivirus?
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try installing this fav.me/d7xjcp6
Before installing, check the size and permissions of imageres.dll in System32 folder and when installation is done then again check the size and permissions of imageres.dll.
Tell me if the size or permission changes
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Is there a work around for patching Shell32.dll and explorer.exe?
These are digitally signed by Microsoft for security purposes.
When I changed the boot screen for win8.1 (with all the latesed updates) I had to be in test mode (digitally signed feature turned off) yet when in test mode win 8.1 still would not start if I replace Shell32.dll or Explorer.exe
For the bootscreen there is a way to sign the bootres.dll with signer64 I tried to sign Shell32.dll and Explorer.exe with it to no avail.
I bet in the RTM of Win 10 we will face the same problem! Ha Ha!!
Don't know much about it but I have seen some registry keys which point to an image (icon) number in a specific .dll file to render the icon. Could this be a way to change the .dll the icon is fetched from? It could also be possible to add new registry keys which would intercept the Shell32.dll and then render its equivalent image (icon) from say imageres.dll or some other unsigned .dll.
I'm a novice when it comes to these things, just sharing some ideas as to a work around.
Sure you guys are more techi than me and will somehow figure it out.
Working on my very first icon set and will pack it with your iPack Builder! I am still waiting from some and still need to ask permission from various other people (like DTU and Rhor) whose images I made use of and modified before I can share it. My wife is the one to get the credit for inspiring me to make a purple theme and icon set (very comprehensive) for her, and have been testing it on her machine. Far from done ... time is the issue ... Ha Ha! but will get there!
Thank you for creating iPack Builder and sharing your knowledge with us, it awesome!
Keep up the great work!
In Peace!
Ben
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Thanks for the feedback my dear friend.We simply cannot patch digitally signed files as it will remove the signature, I even tried to sign the dll files with a fake certificate but it didn't work.I am aware of the fact that using registry we can change icons but not much.We cannot change too many icons from registry that's why editing dll files is the best option available right now.
I am working hard to find a solution to bypass this signature thing but till now I haven't figured out any working way.
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Thanks form the reply, is it not possible to write some code that will catch the rendering and replace it with the icon images from the theme?
I am a rookie to all of this and would not know the first thing of how to do it, ha ha!
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That kind of stuff will require a lot of skills and time
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Can you let me ask you if you know wich win8 Os will tolerated a Shell32 replacement or patching if you dont mind.
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if you want toΒ patch shell32 then stick to windows 7, it's the best!
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May I let u note that I'm beginning to agree with u.
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May you let me ask you if any of you fond a way to patch or replace the shell32.dll system file of my win version in windows 8.1 64 bits cause my system wont boot if i patch or replace the shell32.dll file in it.
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dude why are you spamming with the same comment on my different deviations?
You simply can not patch shell32 on windows 8 and above because it is digital signed and when that signature gets broken (by editing the file) then windows will not boot.
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May i let you note that i didn't even notice that i comment more then 1 time on you're different diviations and that im not spamming youre deviatikons. May i let you note that you ave make my vision more clear about the reason why i cannot patch shell32 on windows 8 and that im tankfull to you for that.Β
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Thanks for the new update bud, looking forward to using this one as well.
At some time I want to test these with some MUI Side Images.
Can this app simply change out existing system files? Or does it ONLY add .res files to the existing ones?
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You can put anything inside a .res file.It should do your work!
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In this case, the new or modded .mui files have one more folder then the original, and one of the existing folders has updated or changed resources.
The new resources in an existing folder I understand, but the new folder with new resources is my concern.
Will iPack add the new folder/resources to my original system file if that folder does exist to begin with???
Attached is a pic of both files opened in Restorator. i.imgur.com/hkrnq9Y.jpg
Hopefully it is attached. If not try this link; i.imgur.com/hkrnq9Y.jpg
Probably should just try what i do know and see what happens.
I know what to do if I get a BSOD. Actually in this case if the explorer.exe.mui is messed up you can't get past the logon screen.
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iPack WILL add new folder if it doesn't exits just like 7tsp did! But do try on a virtual machine first if you are concerned about BSOD or any other issue.If 7tsp works in this situation then 99.9% iPack will also work.
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Will try and let ya know. Thanks again bud..
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Thanks for update bro, another great job!
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This is amazing, I can finally get rid of the buggy IconPackager.
I have one question/request. For changing icons for exes, does it only work with exes that are one folder deep inside Program Files? Because that is the only scenario I could get it to work. If so, I think it would be a great addition to allow changing exes/dll anywhere. Ideally, you would recreate the folder structure starting from C: and drag that into the builder, etc.
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It will work for almost any file.
Like for example you have a file ABC.dll to be patched which resides in C:\Program Files\FolderName
To patch ABC.dll just create a folder FolderName and place ABC.dl.res in this folder and drop it on Program Files tab in iPack Builder.
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But AFAIK, if I have a file in say C:\Program Files\Folder1\Folder2\ABC.dll it won't work since it is nested inside another folder. The problem is some programs don't put their exe/dlls in the root install directory, it might put it inside a bin folder or something and sometimes they might not even install in Program Files (x64). Β
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If that's the case then also you have to make Folder1 and place ABC.dll in this folder and drop this folder.iPack builder will traverse all the folders, find the file and patch it.
Also the iPack Builder will search if you folder exists in Program Files or Program Files (x86).So wherever that folder and file is found, it will be patched.If exists in both program files and program files (x86) then both will be patched.
Like for example you want to patch google chrome icon which is located at Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application. So just make a folder Google and place chrome.exe.res there.Done!
P.S nested folders will cause iPack to take more time to find the file.
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Okay, thanks for the explanation. Turns out the exe I was trying to change was just somehow resistant to iPack patching. Manually changing the exe's icon with ResourceHacker works, but trying to change it with a res file via iPack doesn't (even though it says the file was patched). Any idea why that might be? The application is MS Word 2013.
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I will check it myself. iPack only works well when you have given proper name to .res file.I myself has tested it by changing chrome icon, winrar,7z and some other applications.
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Alright.. Now I've opened a can of worms..
I used the current version installer and I think I messed up when I selected the silent install.
My icons changed ok, and the problem started when I tried to un-install. Apparently the un-install is also silent? I think when it was working I prematurely re-started my system and messed something up?
All I remember is clicking on one of the files in the iPack folder located in my Program Files (x86) location (I think the .exe file) and then all of a sudden the whole folder disappeared? Then the next time I re-booted I have some default icons and others that are stuck on the custom ones. So now I do not see any of the backups?
I ran the sfc/scannow command twice, plus manually re-built icon cache twice, and also did a restore back to 2 days ago,Β but my folder icons are still half & half.
Any help/ideas would very timely, PLEASE!!!!
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1. No, the uninstaller isn't silent.You must have not seen it because you might have minimized it.
2.Why did you do a premature system restart, after uninstall the iPack Installer will tell you if you need to reboot or not.
I think you have nothing messed, the problem is definitely some programs not letting the iconcache files to delete. ( mostly your antivirus )
after sfc /scannow if icons aren't changed then the problem isn't with the iPack uninstaller.(I am damn sure about this)
How to fix:
proceed to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
Then try to delete all the .db files there, you will definately come with messages like the file is in use, cannot delete so just rename it and restart or use this to delete it: mrbladedesigns.com/unlock-inusβ¦
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No worries today master Blade..
For some reason after a few restarts/days everything is back to normal again..
Like you said something not letting Windows reset the icon cache??? Just this is the 1st time I have seen anything like that???
Well false alarm, but had me scared....lol...
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Do not worry about this 
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Sounds like your on top of things, great!
Will keep an eye out for the next update... Β
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Hi Harsimran,
Just got this running finally and tried out my 1st build.
Everything runs smooth and we popped out my 1st EXE.
But... When I tried to run the EXE I have an error message about wrong version of Windows? Is Ultimate 64 bit not supported?
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It's because you built it selecting wrong windows.When you give a name in iPack Builder, below that there are 3 option Win7 , Win 8/8.1 and ALL OS.
If your iPack is supposed to patch files on all 3 windows then select ALL OS otherwise select appropriate windows version and then build the pack.
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Yip, that did the trick.. Sorry about missing that part...
In this case I have my 1st working pack as I just tested it and everything went smooth again..
And in the version installer I have there are only 2 choices for operating systems. I did not see the option for 'ALL'.
Next question would be how to remove the pack and restore?
I am making a pack for someone else and had to test it before I could send it on. But now I have to restore my own system, lol..
And one more question about the splash screen please. I tried a .png image that had some white background showing cause of the drop shadow. And when the installer started the white background was not desirable.Β Do you recommend a specific format like .bmp, .png, or jpeg? And should the image completely fill the 600x300 area with no shadows?
Thanks for the quick reply today sir..
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