Load Cursor

Three ways to get a cursor handle, all in one small dialog. LoadCursor with the predefined IDC_ARROW gives you a system cursor; LoadCursor with a resource ID gives you a cursor compiled into your .res; and LoadCursorFromFile loads straight from disk - here an animated .ani cursor, which Windows plays automatically when it is set. Each button swaps the window class cursor via SetClassLong(GCL_HCURSOR). Use this as the reference whenever you need custom or animated cursors in a raw Win32 app.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

BOOL CALLBACK MainDialog(HWND xHandle, UINT xMessage, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
	static HWND TextEdit_hWnd;
	static HWND TextStatic_hWnd;

	static HMENU SystemMenu;

	static HCURSOR HandCursor;
	static HCURSOR ArrowCursor;
	static HCURSOR FileCursor;

	while(1) // Loop Forever
	{
		if(xMessage == WM_INITDIALOG)
		{
			MainDialog_hWnd = xHandle;

			SystemMenu = GetSystemMenu(MainDialog_hWnd,FALSE);
			AppendMenu(SystemMenu,MF_SEPARATOR,0,0);
			AppendMenu(SystemMenu,MF_STRING,1000,"www.NetWorkDLS.Com");
			AppendMenu(SystemMenu,MF_STRING,1001,"Version");

			SendMessage(MainDialog_hWnd,(UINT)WM_SETTEXT,(WPARAM)0,(LPARAM)TitleCaption);
			SendMessage(MainDialog_hWnd,WM_SETICON,TRUE,(LPARAM)LoadIcon(GetWindowInstance(MainDialog_hWnd),MAKEINTRESOURCE(300)));

			ArrowCursor = LoadCursor(MainInstance,IDC_ARROW);
			HandCursor = LoadCursor(MainInstance,MAKEINTRESOURCE(1000));
			FileCursor = LoadCursorFromFile("FileCursor.Ani");

			CenterWindow(MainDialog_hWnd);
			break;
		}

		if(xMessage == WM_COMMAND)
		{

			if(wParam==100)
			{
				SetClassLong(MainDialog_hWnd,GCL_HCURSOR,(LONG)ArrowCursor); //SetToArrow
			}
			if(wParam==200)
			{
				SetClassLong(MainDialog_hWnd,GCL_HCURSOR,(LONG)HandCursor);  //Set To Hand
			}
			if(wParam==300)
			{
				SetClassLong(MainDialog_hWnd,GCL_HCURSOR,(LONG)FileCursor);  //Set File Cursor
			}

			if(wParam==1500) //- About (Dialog Command)
			{
				ShowWindow(MainDialog_hWnd, SW_HIDE);
				DialogBox(MainInstance,MAKEINTRESOURCE(1000),MainDialog_hWnd,AboutDialog);
				ShowWindow(MainDialog_hWnd, SW_SHOW);
			}

			if(wParam==2000) //- Exit (Dialog Command)
			{
				KillTimer(MainDialog_hWnd,1);
				EndDialog(MainDialog_hWnd,0);
			}
			break;
		}

		if(xMessage == WM_SYSCOMMAND)
		{
			if(LOWORD(wParam)==1000) //- NetWorkDLS.Com (SysMenu Command)
			{
				ShellExecute(0,"Open","Http://www.NetWorkDLS.com",NULL,NULL,SW_SHOWNORMAL);
			}
			if(LOWORD(wParam) == 1001) //- Version (SysMenu Command)
			{
				MessageBox(MainDialog_hWnd, FileVersion, TitleCaption, 0 + MB_ICONASTERISK + MB_TASKMODAL);
			}
		}

		if(xMessage == WM_CLOSE) //Exit (Windows Message)
		{
			EndDialog(MainDialog_hWnd,0);
		}

		break;
	}
	return 0;
}

Notes: SetClassLong affects every window of that class, so for per-window cursors use SetWindowLong with GWL_HCURSOR instead. On 64-bit builds replace both with SetClassLongPtr/SetWindowLongPtr.