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This wasn't done by me but its still pretty awesome
PS I put it here because I don't know where else to put it
PS I put it here because I don't know where else to put it
I have spent a lot of time studying how to make my GUI pretty and I have compiled a how-to in the form of a F.A.Q.
After you read through this F.A.Q. and still have questions please don't hesitate to ask.
+rep as always
Q: What's a GUI?
A: GUI stands for "Graphic User Interface" and the GUI include anything visual that you see on your monitor. In general, the style of the taskbar, how the windows look, and the wallpaper fall under GUI.
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Q: I want to make my GUI "pretty" without a large effort/time investment, are there any progs that do this stuff for me?
A: Yes, but there are pitfalls to these programs such as excessive memory use. They are 3rd party, so they use system resources, thus slowing your computer down. These progs costs money but you have the option of a free trial(30 days long) and unless you pay money, usually around 20 bucks, there are constant "reminders" that your trial is going to expire or to buy the program. Remeber these programs are considered, ram hogs because they use a lot of resources. Next I will tell you how to make your desktop pretty without the excessive ram usage.
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Q: I don't care about paying money, where can I get these progs?
A: Well, there are several progs out there that you can get and here are the links.
Style XP, 19.95 [Get It Here]
WindowBlinds, 19.95[Get It Here]
StarSkin, 17.00 [Get It Here]
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Q: I am willing to invest a little effort/time into my GUI, is there any thing out there for me? Preferably free...
A: Absolutly, I actually advocate this way of GUI enhancement. Be ready to do some work, a little effort/time will save you some money as well.
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Q; Okay, I am ready, what do I do?
A: Not so fast, let me tell you a little bit about what we're going to do. We are going to make an exchange of sorts within the XP file system. The uxtheme.dll that controls whether non-microsoft themes(called Visual Styles) can be applyed, is locked by default. Once it is unlocked, we can apply non-microsoft themes(Visual Styles) to our computer, thus making our GUI pretty. Good for us that the uxtheme.dll is easy to unlock.
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Q: How do I unlock the uxtheme.dll?
A: We will swtich the default uxtheme.dll with a modified uxtheme.dll by following these steps
1) Download the modified uxtheme.dll [Here] and keep it somewhere that you'll remeber.
2) Download the replacer and extract the .zip to a folder called replacer.
3) Run replacer.cmd. A black command prompt window should appear
4) Browse to C:\Windows\system32 and find uxtheme.dll. Drag this file into the command prompt window. Press enter.
5) Drag in the unlocked uxtheme.dll from the desktop into the command prompt window. Press enter.
6) Confirm the replacement and wait for Replacer to finish. Press any key when prompted.
7) Reboot.
8) Now you are ready to run non-microsoft themes(Visual Styles).
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Q: Nothing looks different, I'm confused, did I do something wrong?
A: If nothing looks different then you have done everything right. Nothing should look different, because we only unlocked the uxtheme.dll but have not applyed any themes yet.
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Q: Okay, where do I get some themes?
A: After you have unlocked the uxtheme.dll, now you will refer to themes as Visual Styles or more simply VS. Another difference is that Microsoft themes have the extension *.theme but VS have the extension *.msstyle. You can get many great VS at deviantART.com go there and download on that you like.
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Q: I've downloaded one that I like but how do I use it?
A: You download should be in the form of a .zip or a .rar, extract that compressed file to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes. Now open my computer and go to C:\Recources\Themes and find the extracted folder. Open the extracted folder and see if any fonts need are included in the folder, if so, install them, if not its ok. Now look for a *.msstyle file and open it. Opening the *.msstyle file will take you under the apperence tab in the display properties. Make sure you apply the theme before you press okay. Congrats if you followed my directions you should have a VS applyed.
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Q: How do I install fonts?
A: Open the control panel, switch to classic view and find a folder called fonts. Move your fonts to the fonts folder.
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Q: How do I get rid of my icons so I can fully enjoy my wallpaper + VS?
A: There are three ways to do this.
The first is the easiest: right click the desktop and go to arrange icons and uncheck the show desktop.
The second way is to delete all the shortcuts on the desktop but one problem is that the recycle bin can't be deleted. There is a way around this. Either downlaod TweakUI(free, so google it) and click on desktop, disable as you wish. Or delete
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer\Deskt
op\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}" and restart. When you
restart, the Recycle Bin is no longer on the desktop. When you delete stuff,
it still prompts to send it to the Recycle Bin, as always. To fully delete
something, just delete it from C:\Recycled. To view this folder, you have to
have everything set to be seen, including hidden folders and procted OS
files and all that
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Q: Are there any other things I can do to make my GUI more unique?
A: Yes, you can get a ObjectDock or Y'z Dock(both are free, google them) which both resemble the Mac Dock. You can get RSS feeders on your desktop, calenders, etc; google them.
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If you want to replace your shell, which will radically alter your GUI, research a shell replacer called litestep(this resembles KDE on linux) skins for that can also be found on deviantART. Make sure you do your research with this one.