Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Converting XP UI into Vista UI

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    I'm a figment of your imagination
    Posts
    422
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Converting XP UI into Vista UI

    Before you read the tut: Undestand that this tutorial will not tell you how to install Vista. It merely gives you information on setting up your machine so it LOOKS like Vista, but at heart its still XP.

    What this tutorial will teach you

    Are you desperate to get the new Window Vista? (please nod here). Are you sick and tired of the old clumsy look of your machine? (nod again). Do you hate the bootlogo of your machine? (BIGTIME nod). Then this tutorial is for you!!! (jump up and down 3 times here )

    In this tut, I'll tell you how to get the new Vista Aero user interface of windows while keeping the original windows XP alive!

    Screenshots (click to enlarge):
    BootLogo (may differ depending on selected logo)
    Screen Saver
    Logon Screen
    Desktop
    Startmenu
    Some windows


    BIG WARNING:

    Some of the stuff you will do during the tut will seriously alter your operating system. If something goes wrong, you're screwed, cause you'll have to reformat and repartition your HDD and reinstall Windows. IT IS STRONGLY RECCOMENDED TO MAKE A BACKUP OF ALL IMPORTANT FILES!!! AT THE VERY LEAST YOU SHOULD MAKE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT!


    What you need


    Okay, first you need to get the following:

    Vista Customization Pack - contains Vista elements
    Vista Visual Styles Pack 3.0 - contains Graphics, including new AERO surface
    Modified logonui.exe - changes logon screen to Vista Logon.
    Resource hacker - to exchange the bootlogo from ntoskrnl.exe
    Side Bar - add a sidebar with widgets, similar to Vista - no Beta version available, so this is the best you can get.

    Download all of them to a folder called "vista". Don't extract the archives yet, I'll tell you when to do it later. Downloading may take quite a while - the customization pack alone is almost 60mb.

    Installing Vista Customization Pack

    First things first. BACKUP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES!!! This thing will modify your entire OS, if something goes bad your comp may become trashed... So always be cautious. Best would be to burn your backup to disk.

    Create a system restore point. This is quite simple. Go to Start --> Help and Support Center. Click on "undo changes to your computer with system restore". Now, a window should pop up. Select the option "create a restore point". Click next, enter a name (something like "B4Vista" should suffice") and then click create.

    Now install the Vista Customization Pack by extracting the zip file and running the installer. Near the end of the installation, a ms-dos window will pop up showing what files are being replaced. DO NOT CLOSE THE PROMPT OR SHUT OFF YOUR MACHINE!!! Else your computer will be a piece of trash. Oh, and if messages about "critical files being damaged" are popping up, click "cancel" and then "OK". When the installation process has finished, press any key to restart the comp.

    After the restart, you should see some changes (taskbar) and new desktop shortcuts if everything went right. Just delete them. You won't need them unless you want to further mod the system .

    Installing Vista Visual Styles Pack 3.0

    Extract the .zip file and run the setup. Now right click your desktop and select "properties". Change it to the following settings (You need XviD and DivX codecs installed to do this, the screensaver is encoded):

    Desktop background: Bliss5259
    Screen Saver: Aurora_5xxx
    Appearance:
    Code:
    Windows and buttons: Aero Style (Vista Beta 2)
    Color Scheme:           Vista Start button
    Font Size:                 Segoe UI
    Congrats. Your comp should now have the look and feel of a real Vista OS. However, it still lacks two crucial elements:

    The logon screen is still old.
    The boot logo still says "WINDOWS XP".

    Changing the logon screen...

    ...is pretty trivial task unless you want to customize it . Go into the folder C:\WINDOWS\system32 . If neccessary, deactivate the security warning thingmabob you get.

    Now, find the file called logonui.exe and rename it to logonuiold.exe . This will prevent the original windows logonscreen from being deleted, in case you decide to kill the vista look later (WTF??? AFTER ALL THIS WORK??? ).

    Extract the content of the zipfile called "ModLogonUI.zip" into C:\WINDOWS\system32\ . To test the effect, log out and back into your system.


    Adding a SideBar with Widgets

    The new Vista will contain a sidebar with widgets, such as news, calculator, performance counter and more. Since Microsoft didn't release a beta of the sidebar, I use a different one instead. It closely emulates the Vista sidebar, however if you plan on getting the real Vista, it may look different. Anyhow, extract the file called SideBar.zip and run the setup.

    Now you should have a nice sidebar. Its skin may not be Vista black yet. If thats the case (if it doesn't look like in this screenshot), do the following:

    • Right click anywhere on the deskbar. Select "Options...".
    • Navigate to the tab "Appearance"
    • Click on the link "Download more skins". Then download the skin called "Aero" by Illusion456
    • After running the .dspackage file, select the "Aero" skin in the appearance settings.


    If you want to disable the bar, right click the bar and select "close". The bar has a useful autohide feature that lets you hide the bar when you're not using it.

    Changing the boot screen using resource hacker

    WARNING: THIS STEP IS NOT SUITED FOR BEGINNERS, INTERMEDIATES, OR PEOPLE THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW WINDOWS WORKS!!! ONLY DO THIS STEP IF YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!! I HAD TO FIX MY KERNEL TWICE IN ORDER TO GET IT TO WORK...

    First things first: Get a good BootLogo. Just google "vista bootlogo" or "vista bootscreen". Make sure the picture is 215 x 147 px and only has a 32 bit depth with 71dpi resolution both horizontally and vertically and is a .bmp file. If neccessary, make adjustments with an image editor.

    As a security precaution and to maintain the stability of Windows while you're working, make a copy of "C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe" in a convenient location.

    Now, extract the .zip file called "Reshack.zip" (also to a convenient location ) and open the resource hacker. No install needed, finally a good proggy. Anyhow, in the resource hacker go to file--> OPEN and open the copy you made of ntoskrnl.exe. In the file tree that appears, go to bitmap --> 5 . Right click the file called 1033 in the directory, and select "Replace Resource..." . In the window that pops up, click the button "Open file with new resource..." and select your BootLogo. Now save the file (File --> save, if you are a dum*** ).

    Now rename the copy of ntoskrnl.exe to "vistakrnl.exe" (NO QUOTES - if you don't know that don't even do this last step). Cut and paste vistakrnl.exe to "C:\WINDOWS\system32".

    To tell windows that this is the actual kernel, open C:\boot.ini and add the following after the line that boots your OS:

    Code:
    /kernel=vistakrnl.exe
    Restart your comp. Hope it works fine .

    Troubleshooting: If all attempts to boot windows fail, use a bootdisk to boot using the normal kernel, then undo the changes you made to boot.ini.


    Convincing your friends that you haven't hacked into MS computers and stolen Vista

    Go to Start --> Control Panel --> System. Read the "General" specs to them.

    Or, don't tell them at all and they'll think you're a dangerous h4x0r XD. Comments on the tut greatly appreciated. I plan to expand it and include mods for Media Player, Windows Media Center, etc.

    END OF TUT.

    It's been a while... but I'm BACK!!!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    5,219
    Mentioned
    4 Post(s)
    Quoted
    1 Post(s)

    Default

    Cool stuff. Maybe include an alternative for the ResHacker method in the boot screen section of next version?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    948
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Quoted
    1 Post(s)

    Default

    Hehe... I would defiantly not do this to my computer.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    15
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Default

    Nice Tut, Seems kinda cool but can you post some screenies? So i can see wtf i am turning my computer into!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    I'm a figment of your imagination
    Posts
    422
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Default

    Sure!!! I'm on a school comp rite now, once I get home I'll make a few screenies of my COMP REVAMPED!!!

    Problem is that I can't make screenies of the boot logo thingy, cauze the OS is still in startup and doesn't have anything to copy it to (no clipboard ). So what I did was emulate my bootlogo using an image manipulation program. It looks crappy, but its the closest I could get to the original .

    Anyhow, expect screenies.

    EDIT: Screenies added!
    ANOTHER EDIT: Added Sidebar tut!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bam Bam View Post
    Hehe... I would defiantly not do this to my computer.


    BamBam, you scared ? I did it and nothing happened. Nothing should happen unless you're a real idiot and shut off your comp during installation. With the warnings I'm just making sure the dumbest possible user (DPU) understands that this tut isn't for him.

    It's been a while... but I'm BACK!!!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    3,044
    Mentioned
    4 Post(s)
    Quoted
    21 Post(s)

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by botmaster View Post
    Sure!!! I'm on a school comp rite now, once I get home I'll make a few screenies of my COMP REVAMPED!!!

    Problem is that I can't make screenies of the boot logo thingy, cauze the OS is still in startup and doesn't have anything to copy it to (no clipboard ). So what I did was emulate my bootlogo using an image manipulation program. It looks crappy, but its the closest I could get to the original .

    Anyhow, expect screenies.

    EDIT: Screenies added!
    ANOTHER EDIT: Added Sidebar tut!




    BamBam, you scared ? I did it and nothing happened. Nothing should happen unless you're a real idiot and shut off your comp during installation. With the warnings I'm just making sure the dumbest possible user (DPU) understands that this tut isn't for him.
    This shit can really slow down your comp Bam Bam was right just get rid of all this shit... ( Just delete useless shit from registry Tweak your whole dam comp, don't install these shit's :P) Well.. These uses more RAM

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    I'm a figment of your imagination
    Posts
    422
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Default

    Exept for the Sidebar, I haven't noted any increases in my RAM or PageFile usage.

    It's been a while... but I'm BACK!!!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    366
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Default

    Come on guyz appreciate him for the hard work he put in the tut.. I was thinking about doing this but you stated that if u become an idiot and shut ur comp off in the middle.. I won't do that but I get some power issues, so if I loose power in the middle than damN! Don't wana risk it...I'll just stick with hurting my eyes..(it's not that bad btw)
    If I see you autoing with level 3/default clothes/crap name I WILL report you. Auto Correctly. - put this in your sig (I did, so should u )

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Finding a Bitmap and Converting it into a string
    By chrisc666 in forum OSR Help
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 10-21-2007, 03:22 PM
  2. Converting my script to work with 3.12?
    By Zeta in forum OSR Help
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 09-25-2007, 05:02 PM
  3. Help With Converting Your Script To SRL 4!
    By YoHoJo in forum Outdated Tutorials
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 08-24-2007, 05:58 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •