[SkyFuser]

OK, let's all admit it, Vista is aesthetically appealing. The buttons are just awesome. And you know you want it on your XP :P Well, at least I did. I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks the Vista operating system itself can improve a whole lot more, but the skin is sure nice. Here's how to do it.

Note: This is derived from Tech-recipes. I am merely paraphrasing everything so it might be a bit easier to understand. Find the original here and here.

Preparing the uxtheme.dll file:
uxtheme.dll is the file that handles the visual style of your computer, ie taskbar, explorer.exe file views, etc. It's also a file Microsoft specifically designed so it can't use any visual style not signed by Microsoft. So if you want a custom style, this needs to be patched.

1. The actual file
No SP here. But shame on you, I would have no idea how you can even be safe on the Internet if you don't even have SP1 right now. But your call :P
SP1 click here.
SP2 click here.
Not sure if SP3 is supported. But why would you want SP3 yet... if it ain't broke, don't fix it

2. Now get the replacer. If you're very worried you can read the readme. I'll summarize that the Replacer will make a backup in case the computer screwed up or you don't like the patched version. But if you don't want to do all this, download Multi-Patcher for all service packs and run it. But if there are installation backups files (like the folder i386, I386, and the dllcache in the system folders) Multi-Patcher will reject the patching or when you finish and reboot, your skin will come out wonky. But if you did it anyway, skip down to #6.

3. Extract both files. IT IS CRITICAL that Replacer is extracted and not run from the archive or it won't work. Read the readmes if you want. Now open replacer.cmd. Now you drag in the ORIGINAL FILE. Go to C:\Windows\system32 and find uxtheme.dll or do a search on explorer if you don't want to do that. Remember it's the ORIGINAL you want, and it should be in your system folder. Now drag that ORIGINAL file into replacer.cmd.

4. Now it asks for the replacement file. Now drag the uxtheme.dll you DOWNLOADED and drag it into the replace.cmd window.

5. If you followed the directions perfectly, it should ask if you want to replace the files. MAKE SURE again that you did it right, and press ENTER.

6. Reboot. Hopefully your system files weren't originally corrupt, and you'll be able to use custom skins now!!!!

7. Lots of skins are available DeviantArt, WinMatrix, BelchFire, ThemeXP, etc. Take a look around, there is lots of variety that're even better than the original, I daresay.

Note: All my files are on BoxSTR for hotlinking conveniences. No way have I modified anything to be harmful. Because first of all why would I, and second of all I wouldn't know how, lol.

Have fun! I hope you found this custom made guide helpful and had as much fun (ok... maybe not fun, but... satisfaction, maybe?) as I did writing this guide.

[bboy daniel]

Does the change of the interface alter the performance speed much of the pc in your opinion? As it is right now, my pc has trouble multitasking several programs i.e. Firefox, Windows Media Player, and Microsoft Word.

[SkyFuser]

No, It shouldn't slow anything down, My 2 old 256MB RAM computers ran exactly the same after changing. But all computers are different, so try it to find out :P
(And I love your signature ^_^)

[ChrisTheFeral]

I did this once but it slowed my pc down even more than I thought it would so now I use the basic windows NT look, the one before XP lol.

I do like the look of vista though, I wish they did a little bit of what mac did, make it less hectic - then again, vista has copied numerous other features that were in the mac.

[SkyFuser]

Originally Posted by ChrisTheFeral

I did this once but it slowed my pc down even more than I thought it would so now I use the basic windows NT look, the one before XP lol.

I do like the look of vista though, I wish they did a little bit of what mac did, make it less hectic - then again, vista has copied numerous other features that were in the mac.

Ah, my 2 PCs worked fine, pity it didn't work out for you :\
Cough cough cough Apple Dashboard <_<
I think it safe to assume most of Microsoft's applications have lots of "new" copied features. Internet Explorer 8, for example.

[ChrisTheFeral]

Originally Posted by SkyFuser

Ah, my 2 PCs worked fine, pity it didn't work out for you :\
Cough cough cough Apple Dashboard <_<
I think it safe to assume most of Microsoft's applications have lots of "new" copied features. Internet Explorer 8, for example.

I could list them, but I don't know what the character limit is on the forums j/k
oh well, the 2 main ones that stick out for me are:

Mac ::: PC
Widgets/Gadgets
Spotlight/Search Bar

[SkyFuser]

Originally Posted by ChrisTheFeral

I could list them, but I don't know what the character limit is on the forums j/k
oh well, the 2 main ones that stick out for me are:

Mac ::: PC
Widgets/Gadgets
Spotlight/Search Bar

Maybe you can attach a text document about it, but I don't think my hard drive can hold even 1GB more of a huge list

It's kind of ridiculous that Microsoft still hold such a bleepin' monopoly over every OS out there, even though we all just KNOW it's a plagarizing conspiracy that we can't really prove.
I think the AERO was also partly based on the Mac look. Not sure how that worked though.

[ChrisTheFeral]

Originally Posted by SkyFuser

Maybe you can attach a text document about it, but I don't think my hard drive can hold even 1GB more of a huge list

It's kind of ridiculous that Microsoft still hold such a bleepin' monopoly over every OS out there, even though we all just KNOW it's a plagarizing conspiracy that we can't really prove.
I think the AERO was also partly based on the Mac look. Not sure how that worked though.

Areo has the basic design concept, glass, shine, bubbles, the only thing different was the colour and the logo... and the system - I like XP though, I haven't used Vista enough to say whether I like it or dislike it 100% - but so far I haven't really heard anything good.


1gb, well I am on 128kbps - I have been slowed after using to much (25gb) internet, DAMN Australia's main ISP (Bigpond/Telstra) suck, they rent the lines out to all the other ISPs and in turn aren't allowed to out do the people they are renting the lines too (which means higher prices for less We are on a 24 month contract to, 18 months in, even if we cancel the contract, it will be cheaper to get 40gb with another company, about $25/15 a month cheaper)

Meh..

[SkyFuser]

Originally Posted by ChrisTheFeral

Areo has the basic design concept, glass, shine, bubbles, the only thing different was the colour and the logo... and the system - I like XP though, I haven't used Vista enough to say whether I like it or dislike it 100% - but so far I haven't really heard anything good.


1gb, well I am on 128kbps - I have been slowed after using to much (25gb) internet, DAMN Australia's main ISP (Bigpond/Telstra) suck, they rent the lines out to all the other ISPs and in turn aren't allowed to out do the people they are renting the lines too (which means higher prices for less We are on a 24 month contract to, 18 months in, even if we cancel the contract, it will be cheaper to get 40gb with another company, about $25/15 a month cheaper)

Meh..

Yes Vista sucks. Like the other day I was at a friend's house to work on an English project. The UAC turned on 10 times in 15 minutes. Or was it the other way around? But either way, that wasted so much time it was ANNOYING
Another thing is incompatibility with software... Meh <_<
And the run as administrator thing I have neve used on XP before, nor do I plan to. -.- Sounds like an unnecessary hassle. Oh wait...
.....this kind of reminds me of the root and non-root accounts in Linux.... <_<
Oh my it's 3:35AM. I should go to sleep now, instead of reading about malware XD I can't fall unconscious in school.
See you

[ChrisTheFeral]

Originally Posted by SkyFuser

Yes Vista sucks. Like the other day I was at a friend's house to work on an English project. The UAC turned on 10 times in 15 minutes. Or was it the other way around? But either way, that wasted so much time it was ANNOYING
Another thing is incompatibility with software... Meh <_<
And the run as administrator thing I have neve used on XP before, nor do I plan to. -.- Sounds like an unnecessary hassle. Oh wait...
.....this kind of reminds me of the root and non-root accounts in Linux.... <_<
Oh my it's 3:35AM. I should go to sleep now, instead of reading about malware XD I can't fall unconscious in school.
See you

Haha, no problems - I went to sleep at 5am the other day, woke up at 7, went back to sleep, woek up again later and got to school at about 10:50 am - i missed 2 periods :S

catcha later

And VERY true, it has some major incompatibilities, like my webcam - if I had vista running on a machine powerful enough, I'd use VMware with XP.