replacing the splash screen

there are several threads of discussion about
how to replace the screen.
one involves changing hacking a bitmap resources
in the file ntoskrnl.exe
others involve using a dll call bootvid.dll
i have tried the ntoskrnl.exe method and this
works but with some difficulty. you cant
just copy the modified file to the /windows/system32
directory you have to copy in during safe mode.

after some search microsoft says this:

You can prevent the Windows splash screen from being displayed while the run-time image is booting.

Note You cannot replace the Windows XP logo with a custom logo, because doing so violates the Microsoft EULA.

To remove the Windows boot splash screen

1. Edit the c:\boot.ini file of your run-time image with Microsoft® Notepad, or a similar text editor.
2. Add the /NOGUIBOOT switch to the boot arc path of your run-time image. For example type,

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Embedded" /NOGUIBOOT

but i have heard that there other command line switches to boot.ini
that will actually read a 16 bit bmp file.

another question about rebranding would be to totally remove the
explorer bar. but this maybe a lager task for a later date.

check out this reference
http://www.sysinternals.com/Information/bootini.html

but what is interesting is that
eventough microsoft says that "... cannot replace the Windows XP logo with a custom logo, because doing so violates the Microsoft EULA. " they provide
a switch to do so.

/BOOTLOGO
Use this switch to have Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 display an installable splash screen instead of the standard splash screen. First, create a 16-color (any 16 colors) 640x480 bitmap and save it in the Windows directory with the name Boot.bmp. Then add "/bootlogo /noguiboot" to the boot.ini selection.
this tip came from the link:
http://bink.nu/?ArticleID=2705