Vishal Gupta

^^ So did it solve your problem?

WLM skin will be totally different from the Yahoo! skin. So I'll have to start from scratch. But I'll try to make one whenever I get time.

Thanks.

Yep. You can. Open regedit and goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Under this key create a new key "SpecialAccounts". Now again create a new key "UserList" under this new key. So the exact path will be: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList Now in right-side pane, create a new DOWRD value and set its name to the username which you want to hide. Thats it. Leave its value to 0.

Guys Recently I released 2 Yahoo! Messenger skins: Y! Vista Reloaded Skin: Y! Vista Blue Skin: Download Links: Download Y! Vista Reloaded Skin Download Y! Vista Blue Skin I hope you guys will like the skins.

Guys! I'm posting this thread because I have seen lots of members starting new threads for already discussed problems in almost every forum. We always ask them to search in forum before posting those problem. I have tried my best to cover all frequently asked problems with their solutions. I request all members to go through this thread before posting their problems. All problems covered in this thread: 1. Task Manager/Registry Editor/Tools -> Folder Options disabled. 2. Search window opens while double-clicking on drives. 3. "Cannot find copy.exe" Error while double-clicking on drives. 4. Folder opens in a new window? 5. A sub-folder with the same name is created under parent folder. 6. My Documents/My Computer opens automatically at windows startup. 7. "NTLDR missing" Error at system startup. 8. "Hal.dll is corrupt or missing" Error at system startup. 9. "Windows\System32\config\system file missing or corrupt" Error at system startup. 10. Not able to boot into Windows 2000/XP/2003 after installing Windows 98. 11. Windows XP Boot loader related problems, like adding/removing entries. 12. ScanDisk starts running at windows startup. 13. "CMOS checksum error. Defaults loaded." Error at system startup. 14. How to reset system BIOS password? 15. "Stand By" option is greyed out in shutdown dialog box and I can't use it. 16. Windows Login Screen has changed to "Classic Logon Box" automatically. 17. A strange process "ctfmon.exe" running in background. 18. How to recover lost Firefox bookmarks? 19. How to reset the corrupted windows icons? 20. How to make Desktop icons text background transparent? 21. How to get Windows XP Common tasks (Left-side pane in explorer) back? 22. "Copy To"/"Move To" dialog box opens automatically while right-clicking on Start -> Open. 23. Can't set "Show Hidden files/folders" option in "Tools -> Folder Options". 24. Accidentally deleted "mspaint.exe"/"notepad.exe"/etc. file, how to get it back? 25. Taskbar is showing only icons in opened application buttons not showing text. 26. Orkut.com, Youtube.com and Firefox is blocked in the system. 27. I have forgotten my Windows Administrator password. How can I reset / recover it? 28. I can't see any message in chat window of Yahoo! Messenger? 29. All User folders are showing default yellow icon instead of Glass icons in Windows Vista. 30. How can I change Power button in Windows Vista to Shutdown Windows instead of Sleep? 31. Hibernate option suddenly disappeared from Startmenu in Windows Vista. 32. Why menus appear on lest side of cursor in my Windows Vista? So here we start: ------------------------- 1. In my windows Task Manager/Registry Editor/Tools -> Folder Options has been disabled. I'm getting warning message that "It has been disabled by Administrator". How can I enable it again? Sol: Pls visit following threads: All Kinds of Restrictions for Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista How to Enable Tools -> Folder Options and Registry Editor in Windows ------------------------- 2. Whenever I double-click on any drive/folder in My Computer, a Search window opens. Sol: Open regedit and goto following keys one by one: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell In right-side pane, delete the "Default" key. If it doesnt work then delete the key "find" under both. ------------------------- 3. Whenever I double-click on any drive in My Computer, I get following error message: Sol: Enable "Show hidden files" option in "Tools -> Folder Options" and then search for "Autorun.inf" file in all drivers and if you get them in root of any drive (e.g. in C:\, D:\ and so on), delete them. ------------------------- 4. Whenever I double-click on any folder in My Computer, it opens in a new window even I have selected the option "Always open folders in same window" in "Tools -> Folder Options". Sol: Copy following code and paste it in Notepad then save the file with name "vishal.reg" (including quotes). After it run the file and confirm the action: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\explore] "BrowserFlags"=dword:00000022 "ExplorerFlags"=dword:00000021 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\explore\command] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,45,00,78,00,70,00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\ 65,00,20,00,2f,00,65,00,2c,00,2f,00,69,00,64,00,6c,00,69,00,73,00,74,00,2c,\ 00,25,00,49,00,2c,00,25,00,4c,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\explore\ddeexec] @="[ExploreFolder(\"%l\", %I, %S)]" "NoActivateHandler"="" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\explore\ddeexec\application] @="Folders" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\explore\ddeexec\ifexec] @="[]" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\explore\ddeexec\topic] @="AppProperties" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open] "BrowserFlags"=dword:00000010 "ExplorerFlags"=dword:00000012 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open\command] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,45,00,78,00,70,00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\ 65,00,20,00,2f,00,69,00,64,00,6c,00,69,00,73,00,74,00,2c,00,25,00,49,00,2c,\ 00,25,00,4c,00,00,00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open\ddeexec] @="[ViewFolder(\"%l\", %I, %S)]" "NoActivateHandler"="" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open\ddeexec\application] @="Folders" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open\ddeexec\ifexec] @="[]" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open\ddeexec\topic] @="AppProperties" [-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\explore] [-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\open] [-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\open] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell] @="none" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell] @="none" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell] @=- ------------------------- 5. Whenever I open a folder, another folder with the same name is created under it. Sol: Your system is infected by a variant of Indonesian virus called Brontok/Rontokbro. It creates a sub-folder in a folder with same name. Most of the times it comes from mobile memory cards. Scan with a good anti-virus and remove the virus. Also download HijackThis and scan your system with it in Safe Mode, then fix following entries: C:\WINDOWS\system32\SSVICHOSST.exe F2 - REG:system.ini: Shell=Explorer.exe SSVICHOSST.exe O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Yahoo Messengger] C:\WINDOWS\system32\SSVICHOSST.exe O7 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Pol icies\System, DisableRegedit=1 ------------------------- 6. Whenever I start my computer, My Documents/My Computer opens automatically at windows startup. Sol: Open regedit and goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon In right-side pane, change value of "Userinit" to: C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe, NOTE: If you have windows installed in other drives, then change C:\ to that drive label. Now goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced In right-side pane, change value of "PersistBrowsers" to 0 Now log off windows and it should solve the problem. ------------------------- 7. When I start my computer, I get error message: or Sol: Boot using Windows Setup CD and enter into "Recovery Console" by pressing "R". Now Log into windows installation and enter admin password. Now give following commands at prompt: copy x:\i386\ntldr c:\ copy x:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\ Where "x" is your CD drive, change it acc. to your system. ------------------------- 8. When I start my computer, I get error message: Sol: Boot using Windows Setup CD and enter into "Recovery Console" by pressing "R". Now Log into windows installation and enter admin password. Now give following commands at prompt: Attrib -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini Del C:\Boot.ini BootCfg /Rebuild Fixboot ------------------------- 9. When I start my computer, I get error message: Sol: Boot using Windows Setup CD and enter into "Recovery Console" by pressing "R". Now Log into windows installation and enter admin password. Now give following commands at prompt: copy %windir%\Repair\system %windir%\System32\Config If it doesnt work, then again boot into "Recovery Console" and give following commands: fixmbr bootcfg /scan bootcfg /rebuild fixboot ------------------------- 10. I have Windows 2000/XP/2003 installed in my system and yesterday I installed Windows 98 over it, after that I'm not able to boot into Windows 2000/XP.2003. I'm not getting option to select the OS. Sol: Windows 98 has overwritten the boot loader. Boot using Windows Setup CD and enter into "Recovery Console" by pressing "R". Now Log into windows installation and enter admin password. Now give following commands at prompt: fixmbr bootcfg /scan bootcfg /rebuild fixboot ------------------------- 11. When I start my system, I'm getting 2 entries for windows XP in the boot loader. How can I remove the duplicate entry? OR How can I change the default OS in windows boot loader? OR How can I change the entry labels in windows boot loader? OR How can I change the boot loader time? Its set to 30 seconds and I want to change it. Sol: There are several way. You can follow any of following: A. Type "sysdm.cpl" in RUN dialog box and press <Enter>. Now goto "Advanced" tab and click on "Settings" button in "Startup & Recovery" section. Now click on "Edit" button and then you can edit the boot loader time, labels, etc. B. Type "msconfig" in RUN dialog box and goto "Boot.ini" tab and then you can change the desired thing. If you want to remove the corrupt/non-working entries, then click on "Check all boot paths" button. C. Enable "Show hidden files/folders" and disable "Hide protected system files" options in "Tools -> Folder Options". Now open C:\ drive and remove the READ-ONLY attribute of "BOOT.INI" file from its Properties. Now open this file and then you can make your desired changes. ------------------------- 12. Whenever I start my computer, Scandisk starts running even I proper shut down the PC last time. Sol: Do as following: A. Open regedit and goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager In right-side pane, change the value of BootExecute to: autocheck autochk * B. If the above trick doesnt help then give following commands in Command Prompt: chkntfs /x drive_name for e.g., if ScanDisk runs automatically for C: and D: drives, then give following commands one by one: chkntfs /x C: chkntfs /x D: ------------------------- 13. When I start my computer, I get following error message: Sol: Open the cabinet and look for a coin-sized battery in motherboard. Remove it and attach a new one. The new battery will cost approx. 15-20 Rs. ------------------------- 14. I forgot my system BIOS password. How can I reset it? Sol: Open the cabinet and look for a coin-sized battery in motherboard. Remove it and attach it again after a few minutes. All BIOS settings will set to default and the password will also reset. ------------------------- 15. I re-installed my windows and now "Stand By" option is greyed out in shutdown dialog box and I can't use it. Sol: Install VGA drivers from your motherboard CD and the option will be enabled. If you don't have the motherboard CD, then goto the manufacturer site and downlaod the required drivers. ------------------------- 16. My Windows Login Screen has changed to "Classic Logon Box". I want the new Welcome Screen back. Sol: Type "control userpasswords" in RUN dialog box or Open "User Accounts" in Control Panel. Then click on "Change the way Users log on and off". Now check the option "Use Welcome Screen". If you get following error: Then Open "Network Connections" and open Properties of your Internet Connection. Now goto "Networking" tab and select "Client services on Netware" option and click on the"Uninstall" button. ------------------------- 17. A strange process "ctfmon.exe" always runs in background and if I click on "End Process" button, it restarts automatically. Sol: Open Control Panel and goto Add/Remove Programs list. Now click on the Microsoft Office entry and then click on "Change" button. Now select "Add/Remove Features" and click on "Next". Now expand "Office Shared Features" and click on "Alternative User Input" and then select "Not Available" and finally click on Update. It'll permanently remove that ctfmon.exe and your problem will be solved. You can also use 3rd party utility "CTFMON-Remover" to get rid of ctfmon.exe easily and quickly: CTFMON-Remover ------------------------- 18. I just noticed that all my Firefox Bookmarks have gone. The bookmarks list is empty. How can I get them back? Sol: Type "%appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles" in RUN dialog box and then open the "xxxx.default" folder (where xxxx will be random numbers and characters). Now open "bookmarkbackups" folder and you'll get your bookmarks there. Now you can import them in Firefox again. ------------------------- 19. My Windows is showing some wrong icons of files. How can I reset the corrupted icons? Sol: You can use any of following methods: A. Download TweakUI from here and then click on "Repair Icons" in "Repair" section. B. Open My Computer and goto: C:\Documents and Settings\User_Name\Local Settings\Application Data Replace C:\ with your system drive and "user_Name" with your username. Now there'll be a HIDDEN file "iconcache.db", delete it and restart your system. ------------------------- 20. I'm using Windows XP and the desktop icons suddenly started showing an ugly background rectangle behind the text. How can I make the text transparent? Sol: Type "sysdm.cpl" in RUN dialog box and press <Enter>. Now goto "Advanced" tab, click on "Setting" button in "Performance" section and enable the option "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop". ------------------------- 21. I'm using Windows XP and suddenly the Common tasks stopped showing in left-side pane. Sol: Open "Tools -> Folder Options" and enable the option "Show Common Tasks in folders". ------------------------- 22. Whenever I right-click on Start button and select "Open", a "Copy To"/"Move To" dialog box opens automatically. Sol: Open regedit and goto: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\ Now under this key, delete following 2 keys: Copy To Move To ------------------------- 23. I can't see Hidden files/folders in my computer. Even I enable the option "Show hidden files/folders" in "Tools -> Folder Options", its automtically disabled again. Sol: Open regedit and goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced In right-side pane, change value of "Hidden" to as following: 1 - To show hidden files 2 - To not show hidden files If it doesnt work, then scan your computer with an anti-virus software. ------------------------- 24. I accidentally deleted my "mspaint.exe"/"notepad.exe"/etc. file, how can I get it back? Sol: You can use any of following methods: A. Goto "%windir%\System32\DLLCache" folder and look for the file, if its there then copy it to "%windir%\System32\" folder. B. Insert your Windows Setup CD and goto "I386" folder. Now look for the same file, it'll present there but the last letter of extension will be "_". e.g., u'll get "mspaint.ex_"/"notepad.ex_"/etc. Now open Command Prompt and goto "I386" folder and give following command: expand mspaint.ex_ mspaint.exe expand notepad.ex_ notepad.exe etc. Now u can copy the file to "%windir%\System32" folder. C. Give following command in Command Prompt: sfc /SCANNOW It'll automatically restore the files. ------------------------- 25. Suddenly my taskbar is showing only icons in all opened application buttons. I can't see any text. How can I get back the full taskbar buttons? Sol: Open regedit and goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics In right-side pane, change the value of "MinWidth" to -2300 ------------------------- 26. Whenever I open "www.orkut.com" or any folder with the name "orkut", I get following error with a scary laugh: Sol: Pls visit following thread: [solution] Orkut.com, Youtube.com and Firefox is Banned in System ————————- 27. I have forgotten my Windows Administrator password. How can I reset / recover it? Sol: Pls visit following link: How to Reset / Recover Forgotten Windows NT / 2000 / XP / 2003 Administrator Password? ————————- 28. In Yahoo! Messenger, whenever I send a message or get a message I can't see the contents in chat window. All I can see is a blank window. Sol: Pls download Windows Script from the following link and install it: Download Windows Script ————————- 29. Why all User folders in my Windows Vista show default yellow icon instead of the new glass icons? Sol: Please follow the steps mentioned in following tutorial: How to Fix User Folders Showing Simple Folder Icon in Windows Vista? ————————- 30. Whenever I click on power button in Vista startmenu, it put my system in Sleep state. How can I change it to shut down the system? Sol: In Windows Vista the default action of power button is set to Sleep. But you can change it to shut down like previous Windows versions. Please follow the instructions given in this tutorial: How to Change Power Button in Windows Vista to Shut Down the System instead of Sleep? ————————- 31. Suddenly Hibernate option is missing in my Windows Vista. How can I enable it again? Sol: You must have run "Disk Cleanup". Its a known issue in Vista. There is a solution to re-enable Hibernate option: How to Re-enable Missing Hibernate Option in Windows Vista? ————————- 32. Why in Windows Vista menus appear on left side of mouse cursor? In previous Windows versions, menus used to show on right-side. How can I change it in Vista? Sol: Its a problem which many Vista users are facing. Don't worry, follow the following link: How to Change Menu Position from Left to Right in Windows Vista? A few more problems with their solutions have been covered here.

Now I got the problem. I have faced the same situation in past. If you install .NET Framework or Visual Studio in Windows, it creates a new hidden user "Asp.net" (or a similar username). Which is not displayed at login screen but causes you to click on the username to log into Windows. If you delete that user, you'll not be required to click on your username at Login screen and you'll direct log into Windows. So I think the tweaking software has deleted that user account and thats why you are directly going to Desktop. You can create a new user account and then you'll get the login screen showing your username and then you can click on the username before going to Desktop. Otherwise you can set a password to your account.

^^ It must be there buddy. Pls check again the same key carefully.

Guys Recently I released 2 skins for Sony Ericsson Cell Phones. One for "SE k700i" and other for "SE w810" which will also work for lots of other SE models, like SE k750, etc. Preview: Download Here I hope you guys will like them.

Open regedit and goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon In right side pane, delete following keys if exists: AutoAdminLogon (You can also set its value to 0 instead of deleting it) DefaultUsername DefaultPassword It should work.

Guys! This tutorial is meant for increasing the performance of Windows XP, either it can be a fresh installed windows or an old windows. Actually these r some tips/tricks, which I always apply whenever I do a fresh installation of windows. So here I'm sharing many of those tips-n-tricks: 1.) First I'll tell some Registry tricks, which can be applied without any problem or doubt and I believe these tricks will surely help in increasing the performance of your windows. Copy the following code in Notepad, save the file with name "Vishal.reg" (including quotes) and then run the file: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Copy To] @="{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Move To] @="{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\DosHere] @="Command &Prompt Here" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\DosHere\Command] @="%windir%\\System32\\cmd.exe /k cd \"%1\"" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\Shell\DosHere] @="Command &Prompt Here" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\Shell\DosHere\Command] @="%windir%\\System32\\cmd.exe /k cd \"%1\"" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer] "Link"=hex:00,00,00,00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "AutoEndTasks"="1" "HungAppTimeout"="1000" "MenuShowDelay"="8" "WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000" "LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001 "ClearRecentDocsOnExit"=dword:00000001 "NoRecentDocsHistory"=hex:01,00,00,00 "LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo"=dword:00000001 "NoResolveSearch"=dword:00000001 "NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001 "NoInternetOpenWith"=dword:00000001 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control] "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="2000" [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer] 2.) Right-click on Desktop and select Properties, Now in the new window goto Appearance tab and click on Effects button. Now in the new opened window uncheck the following options: a.) Use the following transition effect for menus & tooltips. b.) Show shadows under menus. c.) Show window contents while dragging. (you may remain this option checked as I hv in my screenshot. It depends upon ur choice.) d.) Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts. You may select "Standard" for this. I hv selected "Clear Type" coz I hv a TFT, it doesnt work properly for CRT monitors. 3.) Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Properties (or press <WIN> key + <Pause/Break> key), now goto Advanced tab in new window and click on Settings button in Performance section: Now uncheck all the options in Visual Effects, but u can remain following options checked acc. to ur choice: a.) Show window contents while dragging. b.) Smooth edges of screen fonts. c.) Use common tasks in folders (If u use the left side pane in My computer, I don't use it.) d.) Use drop shadows on icon labels on the desktop. (to make the desktop icons label transparent.) e.) Use visual styles on windows and buttons. (If u use XP themes.) 4.) Open Tools -> Folder Options and click on View tab: Now uncheck following options: a.) Automatically search for network folders & printers. b.) Display file size information in folder tips. c.) Display simple folder view in Explorer's Folders list. d.) Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color. (I don't use this option.) e.) Show pop-up description for folder and desktop icons. f.) Use simple file sharing. Other remaining options are totally based upon user's requirements, they usually don't affect the performance! So u can enable/disable them acc. to ur requirements. 5.) Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Manage. Now goto Services & Applications -> Services. Here you can set many services to Manual, which u don't want to start as soon as the windows starts. Following is a thread, in which I posted a small tutorial for knowing about which service should be set to MANUAL and which should be set to AUTOMATIC: Windows XP Services that can be Safely set to MANUAL 6.) Start -> Run and type msconfig, now goto Startup tab and uncheck the entries, which u don't want to start automatically with the windows, like u can get display settings utility entry there, and many more. 7.) Open Sound & Audio Devices in Control Panel (or type mmsys.cpl in RUN), goto Sounds tab and select No Sounds in Sound Scheme section. Or u can remain some of ur favorite sounds there but set Exit Windows, Start Windows, Windows Logoff, Windows Logon to (None). 8.) For more options/tips-n-tricks for better performance, u can use TweakUI, Tuneup Utilities 2006 and gpedit.msc (Windows XP Professional built-in tool)!

^^ I didnt understand. Do you want to know how to open "About Windows" in XP? You can open it from "Help" menu in Explorer or by typing "winver" in RUN dialog box.

Thanks.

1. What is a Theme/Visual Style? Are both same or is there any difference between them? => NO! Visual Style & Theme are not same. But many people use these words in same manner. Actually Visual Style has extension .msstyles, while a theme has extension .theme. You can find Visual Styles in Appearance tab of Display Properties: While Theme are presented in Themes tab: Visual Style is the main file, which skins all parts of windows, like border, titlebar, buttons, etc. And a theme file stores all settings, like icons, wallpaper, etc along with the visual style. 2. When I opened Display Properties, I got only 3 Visual Styles, Blue, Olive Green and silver. How can I get more? => MSFN forum has a separate section for Windows themes: Windows XP Visual Styles I have also released a few good themes for Windows XP and Vista, you can take a look at them here: Windows XP Themes Windows Vista Themes Windows 7 Themes 3. I downloaded some Visual Styles, but none of them working on my computer. Am I missing something? => Windows doesnot allow custom 3rd party themes to be used. So you have to patch a file uxtheme.dll to allow 3rd party themes. You can do it manually as well as automatically. You can use "UXTheme Patcher", which does the job automatically: Download UXTheme Patcher Just run the tool and then copy/paste your downloaded theme into "%windir%\Resources\Themes" folder, now you can enjoy 3rd party themes on your computer. 4. I have also heard about WindowBlinds and Style XP softwares. Why these software are used, Can you explain something about them? => These 2 softwares are also used to customize the windows look. Style XP patches the uxtheme.dll file and loads the visual style, you have selected. Its good software for non-techie persons because you donot have to worry about patching the uxtheme.dll file. This software doest it automatically. But the disadvantage is that its not free. You can download it from here. WindowBlinds uses its own format of visual styles, so you can get better themes, which can have customized borders, special affects, like transparency. But its also not free. WindowBlinds is a program that that enables Windows users to completely change the look and feel of the Windows user interface. Users customize Windows by using visual styles (skins) created for WindowBlinds. With these skins, WindowBlinds can change the look of Title bars, borders, Task bar, Start button, Start menu, Progress animations, Toolbar icons, Explorer Views, and virtually every other part of Windows! WindowBlinds is the only program that can customize the GUI of Windows XP without having to alter system DLLs. You can learn more about WindowBlinds here. 5. From where can I download WindowBlinds themes? => Following is a list of a few other sites, which provide WindowBlinds themes: http://www.wincustomize.com/ http://www.lightstreamdesign.com/ http://browse.deviantart.com/customi...../windowblinds/ 6. Can I edit my downloaded .msstyles file? => YES! You can use StyleBuilder to edit the visual styles. Also you can use Resource Hacker for this purpose, but it requires some expertise. 7. Can I use .msstyles files in WindowBlinds? => YES! You can convert them into WindowBlinds format using SkinStudio software.

Since we all know that Windows Vista has been released but its too costly to purchase. 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 Classic Startmenu Left-side Image and Start button Logo and a few other things So here we go: Transform Windows XP in Windows Vista without Customization pack

Thanks guys.

Thanks buddy.

Hi guys I'm Vishal Gupta. I'm not a new member. I registered here long time back but was not active (yeah its strange but me too don't know the reason. ). So today I thought to introduce myself. I'm Microsoft MVP in Windows : Shell/User. You can look at my profile: My MVP Profile I hope you guys will like my stay here and me too will enjoy the forum. One thing I have to say. This forum rocks. The utilities like nLite, vLite, XPize, Vize, etc are great and who can forget the Unattended Guide of msfn. I really liked them. Thats all for now.

I lock my laptop whenever I leave it and since its my own laptop, only I use it no one else.

Guys Recently I released 2 themes for Windows Vista: Vista Blue Theme: Vista Black Theme: Both themes will work in Windows Vista. There is also a version included for Vista Basic users in each theme. I hope you guys will like the themes. Download Links: Download Vista Blue Theme Here Download Vista Black Theme Here

Hi guys I have created a few themes for Windows XP and lots of ppl liked them. So here I'm sharing with you all and I hope you guys will also like them: VistaVG Ultimate for Windows XP: Download VistaVG Ultimate Theme for Windows XP VistaVG Black for Windows XP: Download VistaVG Black Theme for Windows XP VistaVG Blue for Windows XP: Download VistaVG Blue Theme for Windows XP I hope you guys will like these themes.

Buddy u r from India and still u think so? Its a site of Microsoft India, they started this site to promote Office 2007 Recently they started Merawindows forums to promote Windows Vista. And me and many other ppl hv got FREE Vista Beta2 and RC1 DVDs from Merawindows So pls believe on the news and try urself and u'll find that its not spam or fake :grin:

Yippie! gr8 news for Indian members Meraoffice has announced the Office 2007 Tutorial / Review Contest" today. We hv to post a tutorial or review regarding to new features, tip-n-tricks for Office 2007 and the prizes r too good: Contest will run till 30 January 2007 and all participants must hv at least 20 posts in the Meraoffice forums. Thats a really gr8 contest, I want all prizes So guys just register there and start posting to get those prizes. PS: The BEST thing is that they'll announce such contests each month.

FINALLY!!!! I got it working Phew..... I tried so many methods, so many tricks, which I never tried in past And finally I found the reason behind it. When I was doing some R&D in registry for finding the reason, an Idea came in my mind. I tried to enable the option "Show Volume icon in system tray" in mmsys.cpl. For my wonder, it didnt work. When I enabled the option, no volume icon was displayed in system tray. After that I tried to open Powercfg.cpl file to enable Hibernate, and the applet didnt open. When I typed powercfg.cpl in RUN, nothing happened. Now I was very near to my solution What I did, I opened the DUMP of my XP setup and searched for the files having pow in their name and I found 4 files and when I checked in my system32 folder, there were only 3 and the file powrprof.dll was missing, thats it! I just copied the required file and rebooted the pc, and after restart the problem was solved! all icons started showing again Thats a huge BUG which I found in windows as well as CCleaner! How can a missing file cause other icons to be missing in system tray? and how can CCleaner delete that file?

Yeah! I hv checked it, the option "show the icon in system tray" is checked. Actually the problem is not related to only net connection icon. As I already said, the icon which appears in system tray, when we connect USB drive, is also not showing. The strange thing is that some icons r displaying and some not. Like all avast!, spybot S&D, Zonealarm, winamp, etc. r showing, but some r not! I hv even tried to replace explorer.exe file with another one extracted from XP CD but no benefit...