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richluk · 19/01/2008 11:05 PM

Since wee all know that Windows Vista has been released but its a bit costly or slow in some systems. The most interesting thing in Vista is its look, new icons, cursors, theme, sounds, login screen, boot screen, etc. So I'm posting this tutorial to make our existing Windows XP to look-a-like Windows Vista.

Yes! There are lots of Vista Transformation packs available on net but I never use them because they slow down the windows and also install a few 3rd party utilities. So its better to do all the things manually.

In this tutorial, I'll tell you about how to make following things to look-a-like Vista:

Visual style (or theme)
Boot screen
Login screen
Sounds
Mouse Cursors
Windows Icons
Windows Explorer
Progress dialog box
Shutdown/log off dialog box
About Windows box
System Properties dialog box
Windows sidebar
Vista Start Menu
Vista Start Orb in taskbar
Vista Wallpapers
Windows Dock
and a few other things

So here wee go: [Image: smile.gif]

1. Vista Theme:

First thing which you should change in your windows is theme. There are lots of Vista themes available on net. I have also created a Vista theme for XP called "VistaVG Ultimate".

Download VistaVG Ultimate Theme

If you use WindowBlinds, then you can also get the glass affect. You can search on DeviantART and you'll get lots of WB skins.

2. Vista Boot Screen:

In Vista, Microsoft has removed the graphical boot screen and there is a minimal boot screen with just a progress bar. But it looks nice and you can download a similar bootskin for XP from here:

http://ssombret007.deviantart.com/art/Vi...P-43800802

3. Vista Login Screen:

Vista new login screen is just awesome and "ears1991″ at DeviantART created a look-a-like login screen for XP, which you can download from here:

http://mjamil85.deviantart.com/art/Vista...N-69051848

This pack contains LogonUI files. So you can either replace existing %windir%\System32\LogonUI.exe file with the LogonUI file in the pack.

4. Vista Sounds:

Vista contains new sounds, which are quite nice. You can download the whole pack from here:

http://themes.belchfire.net/index.php?au...ad&id=5212

5. Vista Cursors:

Vista cursors are really sexy. You can download the pack from here:

http://www.gurudesign.no/downloads/aero_cursors.zip

6. Vista Icons:

Here is an Icon Pack for Windows XP, which will change XP default icons with Windows Vista icons. So you'll experience the high-resolution Vista icons in XP:

VistaVG Icon Pack for Windows XP

How To Use:

1. Download the RAR file and then extract it.
2. You’ll get a folder containing the icon pack files.
3. Download “Stardock Icon Packager” from here:

Stardock Icon Packager

4. Now open the “VistaVG.iconpackage” in Icon Packager and apply it.

7. Progress Dialog Box:

Vista progress dialog box is different from XP. But wee can make our XP dialog box to look-a-like Vista one by using my favorite Resource Hacker.

[Image: progressdp6.jpg]

Just open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then goto:

Dialog » 1020 » 1033

Now replace the existing code in right-side pane with the following code:

Code:

1020 DIALOGEX 20, 20, 237, 124
   STYLE DS_FIXEDSYS | DS_MODALFRAME | DS_NOIDLEMSG | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
   CAPTION ""
   LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
   FONT 8, "MS SHELL DLG"
   {
      CONTROL "", 103, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 70, 30, 155, 10
      CONTROL "", 102, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 70, 45, 155, 10
      CONTROL "", 104, "msctls_progress32", PBS_SMOOTH | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 10, 75, 217, 13
      CONTROL "", 105, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 70, 60, 155, 10
      CONTROL "Time Left:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 10, 60, 50, 10
      CONTROL "File Name:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 10, 45, 50, 10
      CONTROL "Location:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 10, 30, 50, 10
      CONTROL "", 106, "SysAnimate32", ACS_TRANSPARENT | ACS_AUTOPLAY | ACS_TIMER | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 0, 0, 236, 25
      CONTROL 404, 0, STATIC, SS_BITMAP | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_CLIPSIBLINGS | WS_GROUP, 0, 95, 60, 60
      CONTROL "", 0, "SysDateTimePick32", DTS_LONGDATEFORMAT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_BORDER, 10, 103, 130, 14
      CONTROL "", 0, "SysDateTimePick32", DTS_SHORTDATEFORMAT | DTS_UPDOWN | DTS_TIMEFORMAT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 167, 103, 60, 14
   }

Click on Compile Script button.

You'll also have to replace existing AVIs in the file with new Vista ones. Just download the Vista AVI from here and after extracting the AVI from it, replace following AVIs in the Shell32.dll file with this one:

AVI » 160 »1033
AVI » 161 »1033
AVI » 162 »1033
AVI » 163 »1033
AVI » 164 »1033

And also download a BMP file from here and after extracting the BMP file from it, add it at 404 location in file. Just click on Action » Add a new resource and then click on Open file with new resource button. Select the downloaded BMP file and click on Open. Now in Resource Name enter 404 and in Resource Language enter 1033 and click on Add Resource button. That's it.

8. Shutdown/log off dialog box:

Windows Vista doesn't have any shutdown/logoff dialog box just like XP have but XP default dialog box doesn't look good. So here I'll tell you how to change it in XP?

[Image: hibernatebuttonts2.jpg]

Download required BMP files from here. Extract the file and you'll get 4 BMPs with the name:

1.bmp
2.bmp
3.bmp
4.bmp

Now open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the mentioned BMP files:

Bitmap » 14351 » 1033 with 1.bmp
Bitmap » 14353 » 1033 with 2.bmp
Bitmap » 14354 » 1033 with 1.bmp
Bitmap » 14355 » 1033 with 2.bmp
Bitmap » 14356 » 1033 with 3.bmp

now save the file and open %windir%\System32\msgina.dll file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the mentioned BMP files:

Bitmap » 20140 » 1033 with 1.bmp
Bitmap » 20141 » 1033 with 2.bmp
Bitmap » 20142 » 1033 with 1.bmp
Bitmap » 20143 » 1033 with 2.bmp
Bitmap » 20150 » 1033 with 4.bmp

Now save the file.

9. About Windows box:

To change the About Windows box you'll have to change 2 things:

The BITMAP file and the text of box saying Windows XP.

[Image: aboutxu8.jpg]

Download the required BITMAP file from here and then open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the downloaded BMP file:

Bitmap » 131 » 1033 (For XP Professional)
Bitmap » 147 » 1033 (For XP Home)

Now open %windir%\System32\msgina.dll file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the downloaded BMP file:

Bitmap » 101 » 1033 (For XP Professional)
Bitmap » 107 » 1033 (For XP Professional)
Bitmap » 128 » 1033 (For XP Home)
Bitmap » 129 » 1033 (For XP Home)

Now to change the text of dialog box, open "%windir%\System32\xpsp1res.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then goto:

Dialog » 14352 » 1033

Now replace the existing code in right-side pane with the following code:

Code:

14352 DIALOGEX 20, 20, 275, 198
   STYLE DS_FIXEDSYS | DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
   CAPTION "About %s"
   LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
   FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg"
   {
      CONTROL 0, 12297, STATIC, SS_ICON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 7, 55, 21, 20
      CONTROL "Microsoft® %s®", 13568, STATIC, SS_LEFTNOWORDWRAP | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 55, 200, 10
      CONTROL "Copyright © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.", 13578, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 75, 210, 10
      CONTROL "", 13581, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 85, 180, 20
      CONTROL "This product is licensed under the terms of the End-User License Agreement to:", 13586, "SysLink", 0x50000000, 35, 105, 180, 20
      CONTROL "user name", 13575, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 45, 125, 180, 10
      CONTROL "org name", 13576, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 45, 135, 180, 10
      CONTROL "", 13095, STATIC, SS_ETCHEDHORZ | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 147, 235, 1
      CONTROL "Physical memory available to Windows®:", 13570, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 152, 133, 10
      CONTROL "", 13571, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 170, 152, 88, 10
      CONTROL "OK", 1, BUTTON, BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 220, 178, 50, 14
      CONTROL "Version 6.0", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFTNOWORDWRAP | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 65, 235, 10
  }

Click on Compile Script button and save the file.

10. System Properties dialog box:

To change the System Properties dialog box, you can follow this tut:
Hacking System Properties Dialog Box (Sysdm.cpl file) in Windows XP

Now a few more tricks:

1. In Windows Vista an animated Vista Logo is also displayed before the Login screen. You can also do a similar thing in XP. Just download required BMP file from here and then open regedit and goto:

Quote:HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

In right-side pane change the value of Wallpaper String value to the Path of downloaded BMP file. e.g., if you saved the BMP file at "D:\Startup.bmp", then set the value of Wallpaper to D:\Startup.bmp. Now you'll get a similar Vista Logo just before the Login screen in XP too.

2. In Windows Vista explorer, A small horizontal progress bar is displayed under each drive icon showing the filled/remaining space in the drive. You can also do the same in XP by using a 3rd party utility, download here. Just run the file and it'll add the progress bar in each drive.

[Image: dbimage.php?id=129707]

3. If you want to have Vista Screensavers in XP, then please follow this link:

Vista Screensavers for XP

4. Vista Start Menu

ViStart is a start menu replacement for Windows. It completely revolutionises the way you open programs by using a search engine built directly into ViStart. Allowing you to open programs in seconds! Usually when you want to open a program on Windows XP you have to go through all the hassle of finding it among your program list. But With ViStart, you simply begin typing the program’s name and it will find all programs that resemble your search text.

[Image: vistart51.jpg]

DOWNLOAD

5. ViOrb
Start button replacement with Vista Start Orb

[Image: viorb1.PNG]

DOWNLOAD

6.Lclock

LClock is a very simple program that makes the Windows' clock look like a Windows Longhorn Clock.

LClock also comes with a
simple but configurable popup calendar that opens when the systray clock is clicked.

No more double clicking on the clock just to view the calendar in the "Date and Time Properties" dialog box.

DOWNLOAD

7. Windows Sidebar

[Image: sidebarcustomvg5.png]

Click here for instructions
http://www.wincert.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1442

8. Vista Wallpapers

Download here http://vistawallpapers.wordpress.com/

9. Windows Vista Dock

This program you use if you like icons on top of your desktop with a dock. But you have to make a new dock and add your own icons and remove other existing docs.

DOWNLOAD

10. Visual Tooltip

[Image: th_197.jpg]

DOWNLOAD

11. Utilities
Resource Hacker

beaner2k6 · 19/01/2008 11:15 PM

badass tut man good job :great:

boogschd · 19/01/2008 11:20 PM

good job.. :great:

i want full ubuntu conversion for xp :D ..

so far ive got the themes cursors and icons

oh wait... tahts about it right .. :mdr:

richluk · 19/01/2008 11:20 PM

@beaner2k6

Thanks

YoYoBallz · 19/01/2008 11:22 PM

Hmmm I have never seen this tut before, great work and thanks for posting

Moved to Computer Compendium

beaner2k6 · 19/01/2008 11:28 PM

skimming through it it looks real good, some stuff might be a little complicated for n00bz like me but its cool
hey richluk use code tags for code like this their the same as the quote tags only instead of quote its code
it looks nice like this:

Code:

example of some sort of weird code ΔMi−1 = −αΣn=1NDi[n][Σj∈C{i}Fji[n − 1] + Fexti[n−1]]

richluk · 20/01/2008 05:04 AM

@beaner2k6
done thanks

diego · 20/01/2008 06:16 AM

cool, but I am already on Vista.

roberth · 20/01/2008 07:27 AM

(A) I like the look of XP...quit calling it ugly in that tut
(B) By that point you may aswell just get Vista, if your that desperate for it too look like it

still, nice tut

Hurtween · 20/01/2008 09:05 AM

Excellent Guide!

Just one thing.... the link for the vista screensavers is broken.

Could you please put up a working one, I would love to check them out!!

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode Windows XP to Vista look
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