djlax152

Not asking me to suck eggs at all, any help or info is always greatly appreciated. can you explain to me exactly what a Hacked.dll does because i never needed it before to apply custome windows XP themes. Could i need this because i am making the change through the windows registry ??

Ok you know what screw this registry stuff i thought of a way that almost works. what i did was drop the shenandoah.theme file into my startup folder for all users. what ends up happing the display properties window pops up after windows loads just as if you right-clicked your desktop and went to properties, now my only problem is that i need to somehow send the enter command. This will apply the theme and close the display properties dialog box.. PERFECT so even if some basterd figures out how to change the background. the next logon it will change it rigth back!! Wow im so excited !! come on guys think how do i automate the enter command ????

Still did not work! I am about to throw my machine across the room. I am still having the same problem it changes the key but doesnt do anything.

Okay i ran the registry script to test it out on my local machine. I noticed that the registry keys did get changed but the actual theme did not. I tried restarting the pc. putting the reg file in the startup folder and restarting again. I made sure that the shenandoah theme was under resources\themes\ with the rest of the themes. Still nothing. I have always had trouble getting .reg files to work after i double click on them. i always seem to have the same problem. the key changes but whatever the changes the key was supposed to make never happens am i doing something wrong with these .reg files

Yes but how could i write this in a REG file so that i may drop it into my unattended CD and have it run automaticly ?

Ok i am see 6 registry keys (default) REG_SZ (Value not set) Drop Shadow REG_SZ FALSE Flat Menues REG_SZ FALSE InstallTheme REG_SZ %resouceDir%\themes\Luna.theme InstallVisualStyle REG_SZ %systemroot\Resources\themes\Luna\Luna.msstyles SetupVersion REG_SV 7 I am guessing that i will have to change the Installtheme key however i am a novice programmer and i do not know the exact syntax that would need to be used to do this in a reg file. Can anyone help me out ???

Does anyone know how i can apply a custom theme to all curent user profiles and future user profiles ?? I apply my theme in the winnt.sif file like this [shell] CustomDefaultThemeFile="%WinDir%\Resources\Themes\shenandoah.theme" This works great however it only works for the administrative account

I see what you are saying, however i need to center and change the color of the background. what i was wondering if i can add something into the [Display] section in the winnt.sif file that could do all of this??

I tried it but it does not work I modified the names of the files and placed it in the same directory that you had. It said that the registry write was succesfull however the background does not change

Really No one ?? ohh well i geuss ill just .....

Can anyone tell me how to change the background for all users with a batch file i not a batch file then maybe a .vbs

I have thought of that too, but it still requires me to goto each machine and punch in codes, There has to be a way that i can pull the key from the dell machine and change it automaticly. I have searched all over the web in and out and no one has a solution to this. Come on guys i know everyone in this forum is extremely smart ! surely someone can be the first to figure this out !!

Thanks for all the great info guys ! So what your saying is that their really is no automatted way to have a script execute, find the correct dell key and and change it automaticly so that i will not have to goto each individual machine and punch in the correct oem key codes???

Here is my situation. I am working at a shool and we have all dell machines. the are all different models. i do not have a site license for my school because the pcs came with windows xp pro on it. I believe that it is the oem version of XP. I noticed that when you reimage the machine with the dell restore CD that it does not ask you for the product key neither does it ask you to activate the product. however when i create my Unnatended install CD i tried using just one of the keys for all of the machines but xp only alllows you to activate the key 5 times then the key no longer works. Is there a way that i can grab each unique dell key for each machine (wherever it is hidden) with a peice of code from my winnt.sif or a batch or something. Also if you read the compiled help in the unnattened install pack technicaly using one key for all the machines is a no no says microsft even if it is the correct O.s. PLEASE help !!