Sorry if this is a dumb question, but... did you actually use/install VTP 6.0, or did you manually install each feature/component - as outlined in Post #2?

I would like to achieve as complete and close as possible a look and feel as Vista, without incurring any of the potential bugs and/or performance issues associated with VTP. If I follow the steps that you outlined in Post #2 (listed below) for advanced users and select the RECOMMENDED versions of each program/utility/add-on, would I end up with as complete an effect as with VTP?

- Windows Vista Misc Pack
- Windows Vista Icon Pack
- Windows Vista Logon Screen
- Windows Vista Visual Tooltip
- Windows Vista Flip 3D
- Windows Media Player 11
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
- Windows Vista Wallpaper
- Windows Vista Sidebar (The REAL sidebar from Microsoft)
- Windows Vista System Infomation (right click My Computer > Properties)
- WindowBlinds 5 Enhanced skins
- Vista Startmenu Emulator RC2 for XP
- Vista Startmenu Button
- Vista Sidebar Styler

Thanks in advance!

I am still a bit confused...

1) It was my understanding that VTP is simply a collection of various utilities/mods to give XP the look and feel of Vista. If that is the case, why would VTP be "eating a lot of resources" as you indicated in Post #6?... It sounds as though VTP is a utility/program in itself that remains in memory to manage the collection of mods...?

2) Which components of VTP did you actually install and use?

3) What is the difference between Windows X's WB skin (which you prefer) and the AeroGlassXP V4 WB skin (which you also recommend)?

4) Is Windows X's WB skin the same as the one (Aero_Style.zip) attached to Post #10 at http://www.jcxp.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=14842 ? If not, do you know where I would be able to obtain a copy of this skin?

5) In Post #6 step iv), you said to install the Visual Style by Vishal-Gupta. Why did you need to do this if you are using The Windows X skin with WB to achieve the "see through" effect like glass (as shown in your attached screenshots)? I thought that the Visual Style by Vishal-Gupta was an alternative for those who are not using WB?...

6) What is the Start Menu Emulator? I gathered from your posts that all of them are still buggy... are you currently using any of these emulators?

Sorry for all the questions - thought I'd save posting several times.

Any suggestions/help would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

VTP 6.0 includes "Updated Vista RTM boot screen", "Updated Vista RTM icons", "Updated Vista RTM logon background", "Updated Vista RTM sounds scheme", etc...

Is it better to use these (which come with VTP 6.0), or to manually install the following separately:

- Vista Boot XP by ~ssombret007 (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/43800802/)
- Vista Icon Pack v3 (http://www.vistaiconpack.com/)
- Windows Vista Ultimate Logon by =ears1991 (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/38038968/)
- XP Vista Pack by ~oddbasket (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/47056403/)

Which one(s) MORE CLOSELY resemble/match those which are included with Vista?

Thanks!

In an earlier post, you seemed to indicate that the Vista Icon Pack icons were different from the final Vista icons, but your last reply seems to indicate that these icons were extracted directly from Vista... I am confused?!?

Are the icons, cursors, sound, etc. included in these 2 packs more complete than the ones that come with VTP 6?

Since it seems that I will be installing most/all of these features manually to try to maintain the Vista look and feel, am I correct in assuming that there really isn't anything that I need to install directly from VTP 6? (What exactly are msstyles files? Do I need them, or are they taken care of via the WB skin?)

Thanks again!

Does anyone know how to replace the XP "Unlock Computer" dialog window that appears when the "On resume, password protect" option is enabled for the screensaver or when Win-L is pressed? I've managed to get my XP system to look like Vista in most aspects except for this one...

I'm using the latest version of Visual Tooltip, but I keep getting the following error:

VisualToolTip.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

This seems to happen if I click back and forth on the window buttons on the taskbar.

Has anyone else been having problems with this program and/or does anyone have a solution?

Thanks.

Yes, I had it enabled on Windows start up. sniper69 offered a good alternative...


Thanks for the suggestion... I gave Visual Task Tips a try and it has been very stable so far! I think it may have even fixed a related problem that was probably caused by Visual Tooltip. It is not as fancy as Visual Tooltip and it doesn't offer options for customization, but it gets the job done with stability - PLUS:

- As you pointed out, the thumbnails are updated real time (unlike Visual Tooltip)!
- It provides thumbnails even for minimized windows (unlike Visual Tooltip)!
- Although (as you pointed out) it does not show running videos, neither does Visual Tooltip.

Thanks again!

I'm not at my PC now - but I noticed that after I uninstalled Visual Tooltip and installed Visual Task Tips, the memory usage (as displayed in the Windows Sidebar) dropped from 28% to 27%. So it would seem that Visual Task Tips uses less memory, which is to be expected since it does not offer the docking features, etc. found in Visual Tooltip (features which I don't use anyhow).

Okay, I know this is a strange question, but does anyone (maybe someone with Vista installed) know what the naming convention is for the 36 Vista RTM wallpaper files (in the Web/Wallpaper directory?)? Is it simply img1.jpg ... img36.jpg, or do they use descriptive filenames (eg. New Aurora.jpg)?

I had the same problem... I tried several Vista boot screens which involved replacing ntoskrnl.exe with ANOTHER version of this program, but none of them worked.

I finally came across Vista RTM Boot Screen for XP by ~neomatrixrs (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/50484289/), which worked beautifully:

1. Get a copy of ResHacker (http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/).

2. Copy ntoskrnl.exe and ntkrnlpa.exe into the ResHacker directory.

3. Follow the SECOND option described in the ReadMe.txt file for the Vista RTM Boot Screen for XP to change the resource of the original bootscreen:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) Change the resource of original bootscreen.
The Boot screen archive also contains a resource file named VistaBoot.res.
U can change the resources of original boot screen using ResHacker manually.

Open ntoskrnl.exe [Under C:\Windows\system32 ] in ResHacker.
Click on Action Menu -> Update All Resouces ...
Locate the VistaBoot.res file under Open Dialog Box and click on Open.
A message box will be appeared "11 resource items updated." Now save and replace the existing one.

NOTE : If U are working on multiuser system. Re-perform 2nd method with ntkrnlpa.exe having in same folder.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Boot into Safe Mode (to avoid WFP - Windows File Protection) and replace ntoskrnl.exe and ntkrnlpa.exe in C:\WINDOWS\system32 with the updated versions in the ResHacker directory.

5. Reboot and enjoy the new boot screen (which, BTW, is exactly like the one that comes with Vista RTM)!

NOTE: I think that this is the best method to change the boot screen because you are updating the resources of the ORIGINAL boot screen - NOT REPLACING the files with other ones. This means that if Microsoft ever updates these 2 files (as they did this past week with a critical security update), you can simply update the resources in the 2 files again and still be using the most up-to-date versions of these files!

Does anyone know if the "Auto Update function" in Vista Icon Pack v3 serves any purpose? It doesn't look like they have updated this package in a while, and it doesn't seem likely that they will update it in the future... So then is it necessary to install this option/feature and have it take up system resources on startup?

It is the standard Microsoft Weather gadget (essentially the same as the iWeather gadget).
You need to UNDOCK the gadget from the Sidebar (ie. drag it away from the Sidebar) in order to get the detailed (larger) display.
This is true for many of the Sidebar gadgets.



This post has been edited by CBC888: Apr 25 2007, 01:28 AM

Can anyone (perhaps someone running Vista) please upload the default Vista screensaver Windows Logo?
If it is like XP, it should be the same as the logon screensaver: logon.scr

Does anyone know whether or not this screensaver would work with XP?

Thanks!

Just to clarify, the Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package is no longer required because the latest version of VAIOXP includes "the merge modules for the Visual C++ redistributable modules". (Refer to posts #13 & #15 on the Vista RTM Sidebar for Windows XP/2k3 website and the January 19th, 2007 post on the VAIOXP website.)

Also, for those of you who are still encountering problems/errors with the installation of the Vista RTM Sidebar, may I strongly suggest that you follow the instructions offered by ricktendo64 in post #11 on the Vista RTM Sidebar for Windows XP/2k3 website:

The install probably fails because I did not include regsvr32.exe in with the sidebar files... This is for 2k3 compatibility, the regsvr32.exe from XP will not work on 2k3 and vice versa

-Install VAIOXP (SideNote: The VAIO Shell Extention will not show up in XP x64 but there is a trick on how to get this to show... But I forgot how, something about loading a seperate explorere.exe thats located in a seperate folder)
- So when installing this manually copy regsvr32.exe from system32 and place it in the same directory as Sidebar.cab and Sidebar.inf
- Right Click on Sidebar.inf and select install (error pops up)
- Browse to Sidebar.cab and hit Select then OK
- Finally copy Sidebar.inf to X:\WINDOWS\inf (make sure to turn on "Show Hidden Files")
- Go to Add/Remove Programs in the Sidebar uninstall section hit the Change button (this will register the sidebar DLL and EXE files)
- Start the sidebar

I can testify that I followed these directions EXACTLY and was able to install the Vista RTM Sidebar (WITHOUT the Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package) without any problems and it is running perfectly!

Hope this helps!

Speaking of the Vista Icon Pack, I noticed that it does not include the RTM version of the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon on the bottom right system tray. Does anyone know where I could obtain the RTM version of this icon and where it needs to be replaced (ie. which file contains/is linked to the icon)? Thanks!

If you are using the latest XP version of Windows Media Player 11(11.0.5721.5145), then you can use the WMP11 Skin Pack for XP by ~pierdelp (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/52704429/).

I installed it (copied the files) manually in Safe Mode, instead of using the included Replacer utility. It does not include the transparent Vista skin (impossible for XP), but it does update your Windows Media Player with the new Vista-version icons and offers 3 skins: Black, White and Vista Basic. I am very pleased with the results.

Hope this helps!

Try the following site:

http://jonnyw1989.wordpress.com/2007/01/31/windows-vista-games-for-xp-update/

All the games (except for Chess Titans - not yet port to XP) are there with instructions and tips on how to get them to work.