Visual Effects (Finaly works)

[Csimbi]

Well, I gave 1.0.3 a go, and it seems to work - thanks to the author for making this tool.

I have a problem though:

The start menu (and the context menus as well) become "flat". Any idea why is that happening?

Thanks.

Here is my settings file:

[effects]
1=0
2=0
3=0
4=0
5=0
6=0
7=1
8=1
9=0
10=0
11=1
12=0
13=1
14=1
15=0
16=0

I have a question also.

The program is set from the cmdlines.txt to run once for the current user and the default user. Is there any way to run it without having the current - or the default - user need to log off and back on after the first login (when this program is run)? Thanks.

EDIT:

Another question - that is irrelevant to this tool:

How can I delete a file using RunOnce?

This does not seem to work:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
"Remove cleanup command file"="del %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\CLEANUP.CMD"

[cybpsych]

well, thanks for this tool ...

1st: the Visual Effect applied successfully ...

2nd: the menu is in reverse-3D (flat) ???

3rd: how to auto restart XP after first boot? i have used shutdown.exe but it was overwritten by something ....

[Csimbi]

well, thanks for this tool ...

1st: the Visual Effect applied successfully ...

2nd: the menu is in reverse-3D (flat) ???

3rd: how to auto restart XP after first boot? i have used shutdown.exe but it was overwritten by something ....

vs 2nd:

Yes, it seems to be a bug in the SW, let's hope that the author will correct it.

I noticed that after You apply a theme (via display properties manually) the menus revert to normal.

vs 3rd:

Here is what I do:

at the end of cmdlines.txt I add an entry to the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
"Clean up XP Install"="CLEANUP.CMD"

Then the cleanup.cmd looks like this (it goes to $OEM$\$$\SYSTEM32):

@ECHO OFF
TITLE Please wait...
REM FOR %%i IN (C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z) DO IF EXIST %%i:\WIN51IP.SP2 SET CDDRIVE=%%i:\
REM FOR %%i IN (C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z) DO IF EXIST %%i:\INSTHOST.SP2 SET InstallHost=%%i:\

ECHO Applying POST-Installation Registry Tweaks...
REGEDIT /S REGTWPST.REG

ECHO Organizing Favourites...
ATTRIB -R -H -S "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\Favorites" /S /D
RD /S /Q "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\Favorites"
%SystemDrive%\UTIL\WRAR\RAR.EXE X -r -y "%SystemDrive%\TEMP\FAVOURIT.RAR" "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\Favorites\" >nul
DEL /F /Q "%SystemDrive%\TEMP\FAVOURIT.RAR"

ECHO Adding missing DDLs...
%SystemDrive%\UTIL\WRAR\RAR.EXE X -r -y "%SystemDrive%\TEMP\DLLS.RAR" "%SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\" >nul
DEL /F /Q "%SystemDrive%\TEMP\DLLS.RAR"

ECHO Customizing shortcuts...
DEL "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\Start Menu\Programs\Remote Assistance.lnk" >nul
DEL "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Activate Windows.lnk" >nul
DEL "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\System Tools\Activate Windows.lnk" >nul

ECHO Cleaning up installation files, drivers, and the leftover...
ATTRIB -R -H -S "%SystemDrive%\DRIVERS" /S /D
RD /S /Q "%SystemDrive%\DRIVERS"
ATTRIB -R -H -S "%SystemDrive%\INSTALL" /S /D
RD /S /Q "%SystemDrive%\INSTALL"
ATTRIB -R -H -S "%SystemRoot%\TEMP" /S /D
RD /S /Q "%SystemRoot%\TEMP"
ATTRIB -R -H -S "%SystemRoot%\*.log" /S /D
DEL /F /Q "%SystemRoot%\*.log"
ATTRIB -R -H -S "%SystemRoot%\*.tmp" /S /D
DEL /F /Q "%SystemRoot%\*.tmp"

SET CDDRIVE=
SET InstallHost=
ECHO Forcing logoff once to make sure that all registry settings are OK...
ECHO Logging off in 15 Seconds... Stand By...
shutdown -l -f -t 15 -c "User must log off after applying POST-Install registry tweaks."

Notice the last command? That will take care of logoff. Give it a good time to make sure everything has the appropriate time to load for the first time 15 secs works for me.

Finally, delete the working files with this:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
"Remove cleanup command file"="del %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\CLEANUP.CMD"
"Remove cleanup registry file"="del %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\REGTWPST.REG"

For some reason it does not work though - see my previous post.

[vertigo]

Try this:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects]"VisualFXSetting"=dword:00000003

; Use "Windows Classic Folder" instead of common tasks in folders

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"WebView"=dword:00000000

; Disable "Translucent selection rectangle"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"ListviewAlphaSelect"=dword:00000000

; Enable "Drop shadows for icon labels on desktop"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"ListviewShadow"=dword:00000000

; Disable "background image for each folder type"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"ListviewWatermark"=dword:00000000

; Disable "Slide taskbar buttons"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"TaskbarAnimations"=dword:00000000

; Enable "Visual Theme"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager]

"ThemeActive"="0"

; Disable "Window contents while dragging"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

"DragFullWindows"="1"

; Enable "Smooth edges of screen fonts

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

"FontSmoothing"="0"

; Disable "Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]

"MinAnimate"="0"

; Disable Menu Shadow & Fade

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

"UserPreferencesMask"=hex:90,12,01,80

It should work (reboot/relogin to take effect)

(Use it during T-12 to set visual for all accounts)

[amardeepsingh]

nice program buddy

keep up the good work

[Skrooks]

I just downloaded your program and noticed that you had these 7 visual effects all linked together:

Smooth scroll list boxes

Slide open combo boxes

Fade or slide menus into view

Show shadows under mouse pointer

Fade or slide tooltips into view

Fade out menu items after clicking

Show shadows under menus

Here's some pseudo code on how you might be able to break these up...

int A = 1; // Smooth scroll list boxes

int B = 1; // Slide open combo boxes

int C = 1; // Fade or slide menus into view

int D = 1; // Show shadows under mouse pointer

int E = 1; // Fade or slide tooltips into view

int F = 1; // Fade out menu items after clicking

int G = 1; // Show shadows under menus

// A through G = 1 for on, 0 for off

byte B1, B2, B3, B4;

B1 = 145 + A*8 + B*4 + C*2

B2 = 18 + D*32 + E*8 + F*4

B3 = 1 + G*4

B4 = 128

UserPreferencesMask = B1,B2,B3,B4

[gregh82]

Hi,

will this work on post installations of windows that have userrs that have already login in?

thanks