How To Skin Google Talk

[Spike]

It's possible to change the colors in Google Talk. Here's a screenshot of my current GT program:

Click to view image (384k)

Here's how to do it:

Backing up googletalk.exe is highly recommended before you go about this!

• Download "ResHacker.exe" free on the internet, Google it.
• Open it, then open googletalk.exe.
• Open the bitmaps folder, and each numbered folder inside has one image inside it.
• Go to Action > Save Bitmap.
• Open the BMP file in <insert name of favorite photo editing program>.
• Edit it how you see fit, then save it.
• Back in ResHack, go to Action > Replace Bitmap...
• Click "Open File With new bitmap" and navigate to the file you just edited in <insert favorite photo editing program name>.
• MAKE SURE that Google Talk is not running and hit File > Save.
• Open Google Talk and see what's changed!

Note: Some of the bitmaps I've found I cannot replace. This is becuase Google Talk remembers filesizes of the bitmaps, so if it's different from what it's looking for, it won't load it. A few things I've found that I cannot edit are the little status circles and the main GT logo (although, you can simply edit the logo completely out if you like).

If you were brave enough to try it, post a screenshot!