coyotewrw

@mgadallah: My personal choice is F-Secure anti-virus/firewall. They have a very solid rep in the US and European business markets for providing security for large corporate networks, although they're still relatively unkown here in the US consumer market. Not one single breach in the two+ years I've used it, so it's been well worth the money.

Where's the screenshot?

@TAiN: Very nice. B*tchin' wallpaper!

@TAiN: You have a link to a screenshot? I'd like to see it. What I like about the slideshow widget is I don't have to stick to just one pic. There's over 400 nature, coyote and cougar photos in the slideshow that transition every 15 min. The clouds wallpaper makes a nice background to that and the other widgets.

@Delprat: Hmm, interesting observation. Beyond wanting the colors to blend well with RAD.E8's icons, I like the muted blues and greys because they're relaxing and easy on my eyes. Bright colors get distracting to me after awhile.

One of the worst disservices that beginner-oriented magazines like PC Magazine and PC World do to their readers is their constant recommendations to use suites like Norton and McAfee, who - gee, go figure - are major advertisers. I've never seen a "system suite" that wasn't bloatware. There are better, often free, alternatives. Look at it this way: professional carpenters buy each tool on its individual merits, using multiple brands. All-in-one tool kits are never good enough for the pros. Same goes with system tools.

I also can't stress enough the need to have some form of backup that allows fast incremental updates. With Acronis True Image, I can update my backup in about ten minutes before making a potentially harmful change to the system, like an unproven registry tweak or new software that I haven't used in the past. I firmly agree that XP doesn't slow down by itself. It has always been caused by clutter that I didn't take the time to prevent.

Yeah, the index service isn't very useful to most. The MSFN Customizing Windows and Tips & Tweaks forums are a good place to start. Also these sites are useful: Neowin Customizing Windows forum. However, they have a higher level of rudeness compared to MSFN, imo. Optimize Guides. He gets a lot of grief for not liking Firefox, but I've found most of his advice to be pretty solid.

@computerMan: Well, as you said, you're more of a hardware than a software guy. Those tips are related to keeping XP clean and tight. The best hardware in the world won't help if Windows and other software isn't maintained correctly. Imho, you'd do yourself a lot of good educating yourself on the software side, because hardware is only half of the equation. The b*tch of it is that while hardware problems almost always manifest immediately, software issues can have a cumulative effect, making the system slower and slower over time. One offender I can see off the bat is Symantic. Norton and McAfee are notorious for slowing down XP and interfering with other programs. You're better off using somethin like F-Secure or similar program that follow the "keep it simple" approach. Hope that helps. @fleamailman: What I meant was that I edit my icons in Axialis IconWorkshop before inserting them into my system files (like shell32.dll) using Resource Hacker. There's a very good ResHacker tutorial in the MSFN Customizing Windows section.

Sorry for sending you to screenshot hell, computerMan. mgadallah's post shows what I was talking about.

TAiN recently asked me in this thread how much of a performance hit I was having on my system. I posted some basic tips for the newer members that you might find useful. They've worked for me, anyway...

@Skywalker: Gorgeous!

@sylvianorth: Thanks! I think of my system as a gallery of my favorite artists; the real credit goes to them and their work. I'm just a semi-talented cut&paster. As to how long it took, that's hard to say; it's more of an ongoing hobby. I've been working on this particular project for about six months, I think. @Cykasm: Thanks! Unfortunhately, I'm not sure what to do now that RAD.E8 closed his site last week. @undeadsoldier: Yep, still an annoying reality in the Windows world.

@mgadallah : Thanks! Unfortunately, I haven't yet received the permissions to release anything. @TAiN : Actually, hardly any at all. I pretty much have Paint Shop Pro, IconWorkshop, uTorrent and jetAudio running 24/7 with no noticable drop in performance, and my system is nothing special by current standards. However, I keep my system clean and tight. My best advice for those just getting started: DO keep your drives defragged with plenty of free space (burn extra data like movies to DVD). DON'T use "system enhancers" like RAM defraggers, etc. They typically do more harm than good because they interfere with Windows' default methodology for system maintenance, and Windows gets VERY p*ssy about that. DON'T use bloatware like the Norton and MacAfee suites. You do NOT need all the bells and whistles. Instead, use an AV/firewall that does ONLY those two things. My personal choice is F-Secure, but there are other good programs out there that keep it simple. Be VERY careful about messing with Windows' services and other default settings. There's plenty of "advice" sites that are full of sh*t and/or out of date. Do only a couple of changes then watch your system for a day or two to see if they were good or not. BACKUP. BACKUP. BACKUP!!! My personal choice is Acronis True Image. I ALWAYS update the backup before making any serious changes or installing unknown software. Once a week, scan your system for spyware and clean out your internet cache with something like CCleaner. One last thing: I don't use programs like StyleXP or IconPackager to mod my system. I either make changes to the Registry directly or reshack the system files themselves. I've also noticed that there's been an increase in performance since I stripped all the unneeded icon formats from Shell32.dll and other system files, sticking with the following: 48x48 XP, 32x32 XP, 24x24 XP, 16x16 XP. Maybe that's just my imagination, but my system seems faster since getting rid of the large formats (128x128, etc.) and the old formats (256 colors and 16 colors). I'd be interested in getting some feedback on this. Cheers!

I've posted my entry for September 2006 Desktops in a separate thread, due to the large number of screenshots. I've ResHacked 61 system files, adding icons, toolbars and animations, so I wanted to show off a bit. Hey, it took freakin' forever! Plus I didn't want to hog a lot of space in an already crowded thread. My entry thread Cheers!

Here's my entry for September 2006 Desktops. It's basically the same setup as my August entry. However, I've since ResHacked 61 system files, adding icons, toolbars and animations. I'm posting here instead of the usual thread due to the large number of screenshots. Yeah, I'm showing off a bit, but this was a lot of work! Comments much appreciated Desktop and Explorer I've recently installed CD Art Display. It doesn't yet work with jetAudio, but the dev is working on it. The visual style is my own blend of OSX and Windows elements. I also modified the Explorer/IE toolbars and created some animations for file operations. (click to enlarge) The Start Panel is now mostly devoted to system shortcuts. Program shortcuts are in the RocketDock and ShortPopUp menus. (click to enlarge) Icons I started with the Longhorn Inspirat shell pack as a base, then wherever possible used icons by the artist RAD.E8 (site closed). I then used icons from MS Vista, OSX and various artists, mostly from CrystalXP. (Many of the icons are my personal mods of other icons, mostly RAD.E8's.) I might release this as a shell pack, if there's enough interest and I get the required permissions. If I do, I'll call it "VistOSX RAD.E8ed". Cheers!

I'll look at the MSFN one, too. Thanks!

Thanks

Any one know how to reshack msgina.dll to replace Standby with Hibernate? I never use Standby, but I use Hibernate all the time. Unfortunately, I have very little experience reshacking dialogs and prompts, so any help would be much appreciated. I'd like the Shutdown prompt to default to this: instead of this:

@ricktendo64: Well, I've already done all the reshacking. What I'm looking for now is a way to batch install everything like what's done with Inspirat, Tango, Flyakite, etc. Thanks, tho.

I'll take a look, thanks.

I dunno, a lot of the Neowin users were reporting problems with that, although it may not have been the fault of the multi-patcher. That's why I'm asking people here for specific one's that they've personally had a good experience with. Have you used the WindowsX multi-patcher? If so, did it work well for you?

Looks like it's "batmeter.dll". Thanks very much!

No you don't. I know for a fact that some of the hacked uxtheme.dll's out there will work with StyleBuilder. What I'm asking here is which one has been the most reliable overall for the most users. Thanks, though. That's good news, right?

I'm looking for a hacked uxtheme.dll that has the following attributes: 1. Not installed via StyleXP or similar software 2. Not installed as part of a shell pack (Inspirat, XPize, etc.) 3. Works with StyleBuilder I currently use the one included with the Longhorn Inspirat BricoPack shell pack, and it works great. However, I can't do "compile and apply" commands from StyleBuilder. I have to compile the visual style then apply it manually. Thanks!