Re: Shutdown or Restart Windows without bickering

[Arlen Holder]

In response to what "Kerr-Mudd,John" <nots...@invalid.org> wrote :

>> To be precise, he (John Kerr-Mudd) probably didn't *add* icons, but
>> *replaced* whatever icon there were with more appropriate ones [1].
>
> Yes; they were dull default ones (ain't no icons in shutdown.exe)

Hi Kerr-Mudd, John,

I appreciate that you noticed there are a handful of highly non-intuitive
(& yet extremely useful) tricks on those few threads I referenced for you.
<https://i.postimg.cc/vHc2THz3/icon01.jpg>

Hence, I thank you for letting me know you profited from being able to
change your {batch, shortcut, & target} icons to existing icons, e.g.,
o %SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll

Those who customize Windows with the following will _instantly_ perceive
the value of being able to set custom icons for the following types:
o BATCH (e.g., foo.bat, or foo.exe commands)
o SHORTCUT (e.g., foo.lnk whose TARGET points to batch or executable files)
o TARGET (e.g., foo.lnk whose TARGET runs a command sequence or cascade)

*BATCH:* (also includes EXECUTABLE files you create)
Given all these batch files default to the same two-gears icon, it behooves
those of us who write msdos batch scripts to differentiate the zillions of
*.bat batch files with _different_ differentiating icons... for example:
a. A batch file to open a red admin window might have a red-terminal icon
b. While a killswitch batch file to kill the gateway may be a big red X
c. And a reboot batch file might have a circular icon in other bold colors

*SHORTCUT*
In addition, when we create shortcuts to those batch files, we'd like to
have similar distinctive icons for each of those *.lnk shortcuts.
a. A shortcut to the open-as-admin red window would have a red term icon
b. A shortcut to the killswitch batch file migh have a big red X icon
c. A shortcut to the reboot batch file might have a bold circular icon

*TARGET*
Furthermore, many commands are called directly from the TARGET of a *.lnk
shortcut, such as these common everyday examples in use daily:
a. TARGET: %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe /r /f /t 5 /c "Reboot in 5s!"
b. TARGET: %comspec% /c VeraCrypt /volume F.hc /letter F /auto /quit /explore & VeraCrypt /volume G.hc /letter G /auto /quit /explore
c. TARGET: VeraCrypt /dismount /force

Without changing the individual, these zillions of user-defined
{batch, shortcut, & target} commands all blend together with the same default icon.

We spent a lot of effort in those links to _find_ hundreds of readily-available
icons in Windows 10 to choose from.
o *What Windows 10 default files contain lots of useful icons for shortcuts to be set to?*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/-1nQdP8E_Yc/VILrouTSBAAJ>

The fact you were able to leverage that information makes the effort to gather
the details in that one post all worthwhile, as the goal _always_, is to
increase the tribal knowledge for all of us.

The three non-obvious "tricks" to setting icons for {batch, shortcut, & target}
commands are described in those referenced tutorials, namely:
a. The non-intuitive trick 1 to change the icons of *.bat files
b. The non-intuitive trick 2 to find _all_ known default Windows icons
c. The non-intuitive trick 3 to create your own custom icons using freeware

As you may have noted, that half-dozen set of references contained a handful of
highly useful and yet inherently non-intuitive useful tricks.

TRICK 4:
In addition, it's not intuitive how to _combine_ %comspec% commands in a single
TARGET line (but once you know the trick I learned on the a.m.b group, you'll be
able to create tons of combined TARGET-line commands, each of which you'll
likely want to set a unique icon to).

TRICK 5:
Plus, it's not intuitive to most people how to create an instinctive
o "*Start > Run*" command (and keyboard combo)
to any or all of the zillions commands above that you've created, where that
useful "start > run" trick was also outlined in the references.

TRICK 6:
It's not even obvious (if you don't know the trick) how to pin a batch file
to the taskbar, if you don't know the simple but non-intuitive tricks in those
half dozen reference tutorials I pointed you.

TRICK 7:
Certainly it's not obvious to some people that the Windows XP style
(accordion-style, cascade-style) menus not only never left Windows 10,
but they're native in Windows 10, and, get this ... the EXACT copy of the
Windows XP menu works _perfectly_ on Windows 10 - bit for bit - exactly!

In short, that handful of references you liked contained _tons_ of useful
non-intuitive tricks that I've learned from others over the decades; hence,
I openly appreciate you recognized the inherent value they contained.
o *What Windows 10 default files contain lots of useful icons for shortcuts to be set to?*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/-1nQdP8E_Yc/VILrouTSBAAJ>
o *Tutorial for creating custom Windows icons from screenshots using only Irfanview freeware*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/xm6aHzaC-D8/uD1PLfk6DAAJ>
o *Please follow this cut-and-paste tutorial to get batch command shortcuts working perfectly on Windows*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/1PzeGP4KMTU/tTbcd9zxAAAJ>
o *Over 250 Start > Run commands (please improve this Start Run commands list)*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/cc1lGn3ty0E/DH_FxVCjAAAJ>
o *What syntax combines 2 commands into a single shortcut TARGET line?*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.msdos.batch/azQbz6D_v0Y/zwvOqeCmEAAJ>
o *What useful Windows shortcuts would you like to share with users?*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/80ZHKKFom0c/RN3V0Av6BQAJ>
o *Quick tutorial for creating easy (Start > Run) access to lookup files on Windows*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/5LxGOixwwWs/q8wVoJ3mBAAJ>
o *Tutorial for setting up a well-organized consistent efficient Windows menu system*
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/eWU-jOkFRtU/lkVU8yolBQAJ>
--
Each thread to Usenet should strive to add value to our tribal knowledge.

[Arlen Holder]

In response to what "Kerr-Mudd,John" <nots...@invalid.org> wrote :

> Thanks; I've finally added icons to my shutdown shortcuts.

For those who asked _why_ we'd want to change out shutdown icons...
o This image gives an example of some shutdown icons I use myself
<https://i.postimg.cc/3N7ZdRSb/icon02.jpg>

Just one more example (of many) where you'd _need_ to create an icon, is
when you try to put the "Edge" browser in your WinXP-style accordion-style
cascade-style native Windows 10 menus, as shown on my system today:
<https://i.postimg.cc/cHVqvPPb/icon03.jpg>

A quick test of creating that shortcut & setting its icon is to do this:
a. Create an empty shortcut, named "edge.lnk" for example.
b. Set the shortcut TARGET to the following:
%windir%\explorer.exe shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge
c. Then pick an icon from this location:
%windir%\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdge.exe

Or pick an icon from any desired pre-existing default location, e.g.,
o C:\windows\system32\shell32.dll (default icon location)
o C:\windows\system32\imageres.dll (folders, devices, actions)
o C:\windows\system32\ddores.dll (hardware devices and resources)
o C:\windows\system32\pifmgr.dll (old-style icons of Windows 95 vintage)
o C:\windows\system32\inetcpl.cpl (old-style icons of Windows 95 vintage)
o C:\windows\system32\moricons.dll (old-style icons of Windows 95 vintage)
o C:\windows\system32\accessibilitycpl.dll (accessibility features icons)
o C:\windows\system32\mmcndmgr.dll (old-style computer management icons)
o C:\windows\system32\gameux.dll (gaming icons)
o C:\windows\system32\mspaint.exe (paint-related icons)
o C:\windows\system32\mmres.dll (audio speakers, headphones, microphones)
o C:\windows\system32\netcenter.dll (network settings and features)
o C:\windows\system32\netshell.dll (network connections & hardware)
o C:\windows\system32\networkexplorer.dll (network connections & hardware)
o C:\windows\system32\twinui.dll (twin screens icons)
o C:\windows\explorer.exe (file explorer icons)
etc.

If you don't actually try to put an Edge menu in your WinXP-style menus,
then you won't realize that you need to know these tricks for efficiency.
--
The benefit of the public Usenet potluck is we learn well from each other.