- Joined
- Nov 16, 2003
- Location
- Cleveland OHIO
In this little tutorial, i hope to share with you how to customize XP's desktop for almost FREE, and using next to 0 resources. Also, the boot screen and comming soon, the login screen. The reason i include for FREE, is why pay a few bucks for software that ends up taking up recources, gets outdated, and forcing you to buy more, when a few little manual tweaks, which are legal, can enable you to it all for free, without any of these worries?
I. Visual Styles
Im sure many of us have wanted to fully customize the visual styles of XP other than the Luna Theme or Windows Classic, for free. There are some programs out there that can do that for us, which can be costly and a hog on resources, such as:
Windows Blinds: Ive tried this program. It is nice, uses small .bmps and .gifs to mask buttons and windows in XP. Problem with this is, its a resource hog even on your strongest machines. Plus, it costs.
StyleXP: This program i kind of liked. It applied actual styles to XP,
opposed to the small pictures, and you could easily change your boot screen within it. This thing does take up small resources, and id reccommend it over windows Blinds any day.
What I use: I use a little patcher. It patches uxtheme.dll in winxp, which allows you to install themes to XP. This little tool can be found at:
http://freethemes.forthnet.gr/preview/310804.html
The instructions on tis site forget something ive learned from trial and error, so ill include how i do it.
1. If you going to install SP1, Install it first!. Do this after.
2. Uninstall any version of StyleXP, Windows blinds, or anything similar.
3. Remove any CD's (especially the XP CD) from your drives.
4. Boot up in SAFE MODE.
5. Run the patch. Click "Patch". Ignore any errors you may get. They mean nothing.
6. Reboot in Normal Mode.
Ok so now we have our patch applied. Now to get rid of those ugly XP styles.
Head on over to www.themexp.org
To the left under "Categories" Click on visual styles. Browse through them until you find one you like, then download it. Ok, its going to be a .zip file. You will find a file in there that ends in ".msstyles". Extract all the files (INCLUDING the .msstyles) to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes if it has a folder with it, just place the folder in C:\windows\resources\themes
Now right click on your desktop and click "Properties" on the first screen that says "Themes", click the scroll box. If youve done this correctly, you will now see your new theme listed. Simply click on it, then click apply.
You are now running Non-microsoft themes, WITHOUT taking up resources or using 3rd party apps.
If your style only applies wallpaper, or the taskbar shows up as a different color and resembles win9x/ME, the patch may have not been applied properly.
There are some visual styles on there that replace explorer.exe such as the longhorn themes, and Blackbox, which makes your computer similar to a KDE environment, only all black. Ive never tried these, but when i do i will get back to you on how to add/remove them.
For you people still running style xp, the themes from Themexp.org are intended for StyleXP
ICONS- Some of these come with visual styles. They usually apply themselves when used. I will have more on this later on how to make your own
CURSORS. You can find mouse coursors all over. Download them, place them in a folder that will not get deleted. Go to your control panel and click on mouse. On the tab on the top, click on Pointers. Simply click on "Browse" and find the cursor of your choice.
WINMAC- Alittle tool i found in a PCmagazine CD. This little freeware program can add the Mac bar to the top of your screen. It can hide the taskbar, as well as do most of the othe rmac functions (i think?). Im not a mac user myself, but i have a machine setup using a mac OS style + winmac for my little sisters, since its all they know. They cant seem to find a difference, yet theyre not hardcore mac users, just elementru school students.
WinMac can be found here : http://winmac.emuunlim.com/
Note: The screenshots show it skinning the whole OS. From my experiences, it doesnt do such a thing. But thats ok, thats what the Uxtheme.dll hack is for.
II. Bootscreens
Im sure if we all think back to win9x-ME, Changing your bootscreen was a peice of cake. Just rename Logo.sys to Logo.bmp and have fun in paint. But in win XP/2k this isnt as easy. I have not tested this on 2k however, so im only sure its works on XP 100%. In order to get a new bootscreen, you have to modify NTOSKRNL.EXE. The slightest mistake can either render your system unusable, or the damaged ntoskrnl will be replaced by the old one. Again, if your going to install service pack 1 DO THIS FIRST.
Head on over to: http://www.bootxp.net/
Download BOOTXP. Bootxp isnt completely free, you can run it without a liscense, but a little box in the corner will remain on your bootscreens saying "BootXP" and/or the price. This isnt such a big deal and the program isnt THAT expensive. So if you like it, id reccommend buying it.
When you first start BootXp, you will receive a message asking you which OS line to modify. For you single OS people this is no big deal. Just click ok. For us dual boot people, make sure you click on XP and NOT linux or win9x.It will say it has made a copy of the boot.ini. Dont freak out this is normal.
Go back to www.themexp.org and look for Bootscreens.
Download one of your choice.
1. Extract the .zip to a directory.
2. Open up bootxp.
3. Drag the .bmp of your choice to the window titled "Bootscreens". Your .bmp should now show up in the left window.
4. You can also select an alternate progress bar. Usually these come in the .zip files. Browse to find the progress bar of your choice and click OK.
5. Click preview bootscreen. If youve done this correctly, you will now see a small screen with your bitmap and a progress bar scrolling. This is how your machine will appear at the next startup.
IMPORTANT!!!
If you dont listen and try to install SP1 after this, it WILL NOT INSTALL. What you will have to do is go to C:\ and find files named BOOT.BXP. and BOOT.INI Swap the filename extensions. This will also undo your modifyed bootscreens.
Basically here, your bringing your old boot.ini back to life by renaming boot.bxp to boot.ini, IE BOOT.BXP--> BOOT.INI
Also, if for some reason you need to run a windows repair, or upgrade, you MUST rename the file extensions. If you dont, your system will get so far within the process, and just blank out. Booting will be no option and you will have to reformat (i found this out the hard way myself).
If this happens to you, depending on how far the process got, you may be able to recover it within the recovery console on the XP CD.
III. Login Screens
OK, this can be alittle scary. In my experiences, ive had NO problems.
Go over here and download this free utility:
http://logonloader.danielmilner.com/download.php
The author of this program recommends the following places to get your login screens:
http://logonloader.danielmilner.com/get_logon_screens.php
Now i got sucked in and the one login screen i downloaded (Led Zeppelin) had SaveNow and some other spyware....so i had to spybot that out. The free utility does NOT have spyware.
Its rather simple. Download and unzip the login of your choice. To make things easy, extract it to C:\WINDOWS\Resources.
Open up Longin loader, click Set Login screen, browse to the .exe of your choice, and there you go.
IV. Fonts
Windows does not come with enough fonts. That simple.
If you go to
www.fontface.com
www.highfonts.com
you can find many free fonts for download. Or google it, but many font
places ask for money/memberships, when u can find the same fonts for free.
Fonts usually come in .zip files as well. Usually, dont bother extracting these. Theres usually junk text files or other folders in them. Double click on the .zip, find your font. It will be titled fontname.ttf. Cut and paste the font from the .zip to C:\WINDOWS\FONTS . do NOT add any subfolders to this, because it doesnt always work out.
EDIT: I take that back. Ive noticed after having thousands of fonts, xp boots SLOW!. ive read placing the fonts in a folder !=C/windows/fonts, then a shortcut to that folder in C;win, fonts, will allow u to use the fonts in multimedia apps, but not slow ur comp down.
Well i hope this little tutorial has helped you to mod your XP desktop to your liking. I will include login screens, icons, and how to make your own bootscreens, icons, themes, cursors, and login screens once i learn the experience. If i have made any mistakes, or someone has something theyd like to add please correct me, or add what you like. Any requests on desktop software is welcome too. Im only one pereson, i dont know it all.
I. Visual Styles
Im sure many of us have wanted to fully customize the visual styles of XP other than the Luna Theme or Windows Classic, for free. There are some programs out there that can do that for us, which can be costly and a hog on resources, such as:
Windows Blinds: Ive tried this program. It is nice, uses small .bmps and .gifs to mask buttons and windows in XP. Problem with this is, its a resource hog even on your strongest machines. Plus, it costs.
StyleXP: This program i kind of liked. It applied actual styles to XP,
opposed to the small pictures, and you could easily change your boot screen within it. This thing does take up small resources, and id reccommend it over windows Blinds any day.
What I use: I use a little patcher. It patches uxtheme.dll in winxp, which allows you to install themes to XP. This little tool can be found at:
http://freethemes.forthnet.gr/preview/310804.html
The instructions on tis site forget something ive learned from trial and error, so ill include how i do it.
1. If you going to install SP1, Install it first!. Do this after.
2. Uninstall any version of StyleXP, Windows blinds, or anything similar.
3. Remove any CD's (especially the XP CD) from your drives.
4. Boot up in SAFE MODE.
5. Run the patch. Click "Patch". Ignore any errors you may get. They mean nothing.
6. Reboot in Normal Mode.
Ok so now we have our patch applied. Now to get rid of those ugly XP styles.
Head on over to www.themexp.org
To the left under "Categories" Click on visual styles. Browse through them until you find one you like, then download it. Ok, its going to be a .zip file. You will find a file in there that ends in ".msstyles". Extract all the files (INCLUDING the .msstyles) to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes if it has a folder with it, just place the folder in C:\windows\resources\themes
Now right click on your desktop and click "Properties" on the first screen that says "Themes", click the scroll box. If youve done this correctly, you will now see your new theme listed. Simply click on it, then click apply.
You are now running Non-microsoft themes, WITHOUT taking up resources or using 3rd party apps.
If your style only applies wallpaper, or the taskbar shows up as a different color and resembles win9x/ME, the patch may have not been applied properly.
There are some visual styles on there that replace explorer.exe such as the longhorn themes, and Blackbox, which makes your computer similar to a KDE environment, only all black. Ive never tried these, but when i do i will get back to you on how to add/remove them.
For you people still running style xp, the themes from Themexp.org are intended for StyleXP
ICONS- Some of these come with visual styles. They usually apply themselves when used. I will have more on this later on how to make your own
CURSORS. You can find mouse coursors all over. Download them, place them in a folder that will not get deleted. Go to your control panel and click on mouse. On the tab on the top, click on Pointers. Simply click on "Browse" and find the cursor of your choice.
WINMAC- Alittle tool i found in a PCmagazine CD. This little freeware program can add the Mac bar to the top of your screen. It can hide the taskbar, as well as do most of the othe rmac functions (i think?). Im not a mac user myself, but i have a machine setup using a mac OS style + winmac for my little sisters, since its all they know. They cant seem to find a difference, yet theyre not hardcore mac users, just elementru school students.
WinMac can be found here : http://winmac.emuunlim.com/
Note: The screenshots show it skinning the whole OS. From my experiences, it doesnt do such a thing. But thats ok, thats what the Uxtheme.dll hack is for.
II. Bootscreens
Im sure if we all think back to win9x-ME, Changing your bootscreen was a peice of cake. Just rename Logo.sys to Logo.bmp and have fun in paint. But in win XP/2k this isnt as easy. I have not tested this on 2k however, so im only sure its works on XP 100%. In order to get a new bootscreen, you have to modify NTOSKRNL.EXE. The slightest mistake can either render your system unusable, or the damaged ntoskrnl will be replaced by the old one. Again, if your going to install service pack 1 DO THIS FIRST.
Head on over to: http://www.bootxp.net/
Download BOOTXP. Bootxp isnt completely free, you can run it without a liscense, but a little box in the corner will remain on your bootscreens saying "BootXP" and/or the price. This isnt such a big deal and the program isnt THAT expensive. So if you like it, id reccommend buying it.
When you first start BootXp, you will receive a message asking you which OS line to modify. For you single OS people this is no big deal. Just click ok. For us dual boot people, make sure you click on XP and NOT linux or win9x.It will say it has made a copy of the boot.ini. Dont freak out this is normal.
Go back to www.themexp.org and look for Bootscreens.
Download one of your choice.
1. Extract the .zip to a directory.
2. Open up bootxp.
3. Drag the .bmp of your choice to the window titled "Bootscreens". Your .bmp should now show up in the left window.
4. You can also select an alternate progress bar. Usually these come in the .zip files. Browse to find the progress bar of your choice and click OK.
5. Click preview bootscreen. If youve done this correctly, you will now see a small screen with your bitmap and a progress bar scrolling. This is how your machine will appear at the next startup.
IMPORTANT!!!
If you dont listen and try to install SP1 after this, it WILL NOT INSTALL. What you will have to do is go to C:\ and find files named BOOT.BXP. and BOOT.INI Swap the filename extensions. This will also undo your modifyed bootscreens.
Basically here, your bringing your old boot.ini back to life by renaming boot.bxp to boot.ini, IE BOOT.BXP--> BOOT.INI
Also, if for some reason you need to run a windows repair, or upgrade, you MUST rename the file extensions. If you dont, your system will get so far within the process, and just blank out. Booting will be no option and you will have to reformat (i found this out the hard way myself).
If this happens to you, depending on how far the process got, you may be able to recover it within the recovery console on the XP CD.
III. Login Screens
OK, this can be alittle scary. In my experiences, ive had NO problems.
Go over here and download this free utility:
http://logonloader.danielmilner.com/download.php
The author of this program recommends the following places to get your login screens:
http://logonloader.danielmilner.com/get_logon_screens.php
Now i got sucked in and the one login screen i downloaded (Led Zeppelin) had SaveNow and some other spyware....so i had to spybot that out. The free utility does NOT have spyware.
Its rather simple. Download and unzip the login of your choice. To make things easy, extract it to C:\WINDOWS\Resources.
Open up Longin loader, click Set Login screen, browse to the .exe of your choice, and there you go.
IV. Fonts
Windows does not come with enough fonts. That simple.
If you go to
www.fontface.com
www.highfonts.com
you can find many free fonts for download. Or google it, but many font
places ask for money/memberships, when u can find the same fonts for free.
Fonts usually come in .zip files as well. Usually, dont bother extracting these. Theres usually junk text files or other folders in them. Double click on the .zip, find your font. It will be titled fontname.ttf. Cut and paste the font from the .zip to C:\WINDOWS\FONTS . do NOT add any subfolders to this, because it doesnt always work out.
EDIT: I take that back. Ive noticed after having thousands of fonts, xp boots SLOW!. ive read placing the fonts in a folder !=C/windows/fonts, then a shortcut to that folder in C;win, fonts, will allow u to use the fonts in multimedia apps, but not slow ur comp down.
Well i hope this little tutorial has helped you to mod your XP desktop to your liking. I will include login screens, icons, and how to make your own bootscreens, icons, themes, cursors, and login screens once i learn the experience. If i have made any mistakes, or someone has something theyd like to add please correct me, or add what you like. Any requests on desktop software is welcome too. Im only one pereson, i dont know it all.
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