Member Avatar for exchequer598

Hey everyone! Users of Microsoft Security Essentials know that the right-click menu item that says "Scan with Microsoft Security Essentials.." is just too long. How do I customize it?

I figured out that the file shellext.dll that comes with MSE is responsible for the context menu. I opened it with Resource Hacker and changed the string to "Scan with MSE" and saved it. Once I restarted, it hasn't changed:-O

Any ideas?

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Dani AI

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Quick recap and practical follow-up to the posts above: correctly identified that the menu text lives in the program's language-specific resource, which explains why 's edit of the main shellext binary had no effect. The notes below fill in the procedural gaps most replies skipped and cover common pitfalls.

Make a clean backup first. With administrative rights, use a resource editor to change only the string table in the language resource and save a copy (keep the original renamed). Exit the security client from its tray icon (or disable real-time protection briefly) before swapping files; if that is not possible, replace the file from Safe Mode. If file replacement is blocked, take ownership and grant full control via the file Properties dialog or an elevated command prompt, then retry. After swapping in the edited resource, restart Explorer (log off/log on or reboot) so shell changes appear.

If the edited string still does not show, check for multiple language folders or different Program Files locations on 64-bit systems — the package may store resources in the language subfolder that matches the installed UI language. Keep the original file handy because updates or the program's integrity checks will usually restore unmodified files; editing will also break the original digital signature and could be undone by a future update.

For a longer-term, update-resistant approach, consider adding a custom context-menu entry that calls the scanner executable or a small script instead of altering shipped resources. That avoids tampering with signed program files and survives updates. 's registry-search suggestion points in that direction if the language-file route proves fragile.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

that the right-click menu item that says "Scan with Microsoft Security Essentials.." is just too long.


wow and i thought i had a nasty problem ,lol,with most of my downloads and updates being corrupt because of some conflict with my router and nic card ,im assuming anyway.

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for exchequer598

wow and they've made you an mvp around this place.

Member Avatar for caperjack

wow and they've made you an mvp around this place.

nah i call myself that .lol

a few searches of google show some regedit fixes for similar problems ,maybe the long name can be edited in the registry

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for CLN

A solution was posted on superuser.com in the thread
Editing the Microsoft Security essentials context menu.

It turns out that for the en-us version the following file must be edited with a resource editor.

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\en-us\shellext.dll.mui"

I edited the dutch .mui file on a WXP SP3 system, succesfully.

MUI is Microsoft's Multilingual User Interface technology.

commented: Stop posting in old thread -2
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