TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pack

**Vishal Gupta** · March 4th, 2008

Source: Transform Windows XP in Windows Vista without Customization pack

Since we all know that Windows Vista has been released but its too costly to purchase. The most interesting thing in Vista is its look, new icons, cursors, theme, sounds, login screen, boot screen, etc. So I'm posting this tutorial to make our existing Windows XP to look-a-like Windows Vista.

Yes! There are lots of Vista Transformation packs available on net but I never use them because they slow down the windows and also install a few 3rd party utilities. So its better to do all the things manually.

In this tutorial, I'll tell you about how to make following things to look-a-like Vista:

Visual style (or theme)
Boot screen
Login screen
Sounds
Mouse Cursors
Windows Icons
Windows Explorer
Progress dialog box
Shutdown/log off dialog box
About Windows box
System Properties dialog box
Windows Classic Startmenu Left-side Image and Start button Logo
and a few other things

So here we go:

1. Vista Theme:

First thing which you should change in your windows is theme. There are lots of Vista themes available on net. I have also created a Vista theme for XP called "VistaVG Ultimate".

Download VistaVG Ultimate Theme

If you use WindowBlinds, then you can also get the glass affect. You can search on DeviantART and you'll get lots of WB skins.

2. Vista Boot Screen:

In Vista, Microsoft has removed the graphical boot screen and there is a minimal boot screen with just a progress bar. But it looks nice and you can download a similar bootskin for XP from here:

Download Vista Boot Screen

Just use Stardock Bootskin and apply it.

NOTE: A few people have faced booting problem after applying this Boot skin, so use this at your own risk. You can also make your own boot screen using Tuneup Utilities. For more information read following tutorial:

How to change Windows XP Boot Screen using Tuneup Utilities

3. Vista Login Screen:

Vista new login screen is just awesome and "ears1991″ at DeviantART created a look-a-like login screen for XP, which you can download from here:

Download Vista Login Screen

This pack contains both LogonXP and LogonUI files. So you can either replace existing %windir%\System32\LogonUI.exe file with the LogonUI file in the pack or use Stardock LogonStudio and apply the LogonXP file.

4. Vista Sounds:

Vista contains new sounds, which are quite nice. You can download the whole pack from here:

Download Vista Sounds

Just open "Sounds & Audio Devices" (mmsys.cpl) in Control Panel and goto "Sounds" tab and here you can replace windows default sounds with the new ones.

5. Vista Cursors:

Vista cursors are really sexy. You can download the pack from here:

Download Vista Cursors

6. Vista Icons:

Here is an Icon Pack for Windows XP, which will change XP default icons with Windows Vista icons. So you'll experience the high-resolution Vista icons in XP:

VistaVG Icon Pack for Windows XP

7. Vista Explorer:

Vista Explorer is very much different from XP Explorer. It contains Back & Forward buttons along with the Address bar & Searchbar and under it there is another toolbar containing useful links, like Tile icons, details, etc. But there is a 3rd party utility available called "Styler", which can add the same toolbars in XP explorer too. Just download Styler from here and then download following Styler Skin:

Download VistaVG Styler Skin
Mirror

Now extract it and copy this skin to "%ProgramFiles%\Styler\TB\skins\Styler's" directory and then apply it from the styler.
Another thing in Vista is the Common Tasks are displayed at bottom of the explorer instead of the default left-side in XP. But if you'll use my "VistaVG" theme, then you'll get the Common Tasks at bottom automatically.

8. Progress Dialog Box:

Vista progress dialog box is different from XP. But we can make our XP dialog box to look-a-like Vista one by using my favorite Resource Hacker.

Just open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then goto:

Dialog -> 1020 -> 1033 Now replace the existing code in right-side pane with the following code:

Code:

     1020 DIALOGEX 20, 20, 237, 124
     STYLE DS_FIXEDSYS | DS_MODALFRAME | DS_NOIDLEMSG | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
     CAPTION ""
     LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
     FONT 8, "MS SHELL DLG"
     {
        CONTROL "", 103, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 70, 30, 155, 10 
        CONTROL "", 102, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 70, 45, 155, 10 
        CONTROL "", 104, "msctls_progress32", PBS_SMOOTH | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 10, 75, 217, 13 
        CONTROL "", 105, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 70, 60, 155, 10 
        CONTROL "Time Left:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 10, 60, 50, 10 
        CONTROL "File Name:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 10, 45, 50, 10 
        CONTROL "Location:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 10, 30, 50, 10 
        CONTROL "", 106, "SysAnimate32", ACS_TRANSPARENT | ACS_AUTOPLAY | ACS_TIMER | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 0, 0, 236, 25 
        CONTROL 404, 0, STATIC, SS_BITMAP | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_CLIPSIBLINGS | WS_GROUP, 0, 95, 60, 60 
        CONTROL "", 0, "SysDateTimePick32", DTS_LONGDATEFORMAT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_BORDER, 10, 103, 130, 14 
        CONTROL "", 0, "SysDateTimePick32", DTS_SHORTDATEFORMAT | DTS_UPDOWN | DTS_TIMEFORMAT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 167, 103, 60, 14 
     }

Click on Compile Script button.

You'll also have to replace existing AVIs in the file with new Vista ones. Just download following Zip file and extract it:

Download AVIs

After extracting the Zip file you'll get 3 AVI files. Replace existing AVIs in shell32.dll file with these new ones in following manner:

AVI -> 160 ->1033 with 160.avi
AVI -> 161 ->1033with 161.avi
AVI -> 162 ->1033with 162.avi
AVI -> 163 ->1033with 162.avi
AVI -> 164 ->1033with 162.avi

And also download a BMP file from here:

Download BMP
Mirror

After extracting the BMP file from it, add it at 404 location in file. Just click on Action -> Add a new resource and then click on Open file with new resource button. Select the downloaded BMP file and click on Open. Now in Resource Name enter 404 and in Resource Language enter 1033 and click on Add Resource button. Thats it.

9. Shutdown/log off dialog box:

Windows Vista doesnt have any shutdown/logoff dialog box just like XP have but XP default dialog box doesnt look good. So here I'll tell you how to change it in XP?

Download required BMP files from here:

Download Shutdown BMPs
Mirror

Extract the file and you'll get 4 BMPs with the name:

1.bmp
2.bmp
3.bmp
4.bmp

Now open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the mentioned BMP files:

Bitmap -> 14351 -> 1033 with 1.bmp
Bitmap -> 14353 -> 1033 with 2.bmp
Bitmap -> 14354 -> 1033 with 1.bmp
Bitmap -> 14355 -> 1033 with 2.bmp
Bitmap -> 14356 -> 1033 with 3.bmp

now save the file and open %windir%\System32\msgina.dll file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the mentioned BMP files:

Bitmap -> 20140 -> 1033 with 1.bmp
Bitmap -> 20141 -> 1033 with 2.bmp
Bitmap -> 20142 -> 1033 with 1.bmp
Bitmap -> 20143 -> 1033 with 2.bmp
Bitmap -> 20150 -> 1033 with 4.bmp

Now save the file.

10. About Windows box:

To change the About Windows box you'll have to change 2 things:

The BITMAP file and the text of box saying Windows XP.

Download the required BITMAP file from here:

Download About BMP
Mirror

Open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the downloaded BMP file:

Bitmap -> 131 -> 1033 (For XP Professional)
Bitmap -> 147 -> 1033 (For XP Home)

Now open %windir%\System32\msgina.dll file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the downloaded BMP file:

Bitmap -> 101 -> 1033 (For XP Professional)
Bitmap -> 107 -> 1033 (For XP Professional)
Bitmap -> 128 -> 1033 (For XP Home)
Bitmap -> 129 -> 1033 (For XP Home)

Now to change the text of dialog box, open "%windir%\System32\xpsp1res.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then goto:

Dialog -> 14352 -> 1033

Now replace the existing code in right-side pane with the following code:

Code:

     14352 DIALOGEX 20, 20, 275, 198
     STYLE DS_FIXEDSYS | DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
     CAPTION "About %s"
     LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
     FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg"
     {
        CONTROL 0, 12297, STATIC, SS_ICON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 7, 55, 21, 20 
        CONTROL "Microsoft® %s®", 13568, STATIC, SS_LEFTNOWORDWRAP | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 55, 200, 10 
        CONTROL "Copyright © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.", 13578, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 75, 210, 10 
        CONTROL "", 13581, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 85, 180, 20 
        CONTROL "This product is licensed under the terms of the End-User License Agreement to:", 13586, "SysLink", 0x50000000, 35, 105, 180, 20 
        CONTROL "user name", 13575, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 45, 125, 180, 10 
        CONTROL "org name", 13576, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 45, 135, 180, 10 
        CONTROL "", 13095, STATIC, SS_ETCHEDHORZ | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 147, 235, 1 
        CONTROL "Physical memory available to Windows®:", 13570, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 152, 133, 10 
        CONTROL "", 13571, STATIC, SS_LEFT | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 170, 152, 88, 10 
        CONTROL "OK", 1, BUTTON, BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 220, 178, 50, 14 
        CONTROL "Version 6.0", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFTNOWORDWRAP | SS_NOPREFIX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 35, 65, 235, 10 
     }

Click on Compile Script button and save the file.

11. System Properties dialog box:

To change the System Properties dialog box, you can follow this tut:

Hacking System Properties Dialog Box (Sysdm.cpl file) in Windows XP

12. Windows Classic Startmenu Leftside Image and Start button Logo:

To change them first download required BMP files from here:

Download Startmenu and Start button BMP
Mirror

After extracting the BMP files, open %windir%\Explorer.exe file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the mentioned BMP files:

Bitmap -> 166 -> 1033 with 1.bmp (For XP Home)
Bitmap -> 167 -> 1033 with 1.bmp (For XP Professional)
Bitmap -> 176 -> 1033 with 2.bmp

Now a few more tricks:

1. Windows Vista shows the "View" menu on desktop too, you can also enable it in XP using following tut:

How to enable "VIEW" Menu on Desktop in Windows XP

2. Windows Vista's All Programs menu is different from XP, you can follow following tut to make ur XP Programs menu similar to Vista:

Change Look-n-Feel of Windows XP Start Menu

3. In Windows Vista an animated Vista Logo is also displayed before the Login screen. You can also do a similar thing in XP. Just download required BMP file from here:

Download ORB BMP
Mirror

Open regedit and goto:

Code:

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

In right-side pane change the value of Wallpaper String value to the Path of downloaded BMP file. e.g., if you saved the BMP file at "D:\Startup.bmp", then set the value of Wallpaper to D:\Startup.bmp. Now you'll get a similar Vista Logo just before the Login screen in XP too.

4. In Windows Vista explorer, A small horizontal progress bar is displayed under each drive icon showing the filled/remaining space in the drive. You can also do the same in XP by using a 3rd party utility, which I have uploaded here:

Download Vista Drive Status Utility
Mirror

Just run the file and it'll add the progress bar in each drive.

5. In Windows Vista explorer, we get Bread Crumbs in addressbar which is quite useful. You can also get the same feature in Windows XP using "QT Addressbar":

QT Addressbar: Windows Vista Addressbar Clone for Windows XP

6. Windows Vista also contains a Sidebar, which is displayed on right-side on desktop (by default and can be changed to be displayed at left-side). You can also use a sidebar in XP. Just download it from here.

7. If you have any problem with Resource Hacker and want to know about it, then please go through following tuts:

All About Resource Hacker in a Brief Tutorial
List of Files to be hacked using Resource Hacker
List of a few Locations in Windows XP System Files to be Hacked using Resource Hacker

8. If you get error while saving the system files, then its happening because of the WFP (Windows File Protection) service, which can be disabled using WFP Patcher or you can use Replacer to replace system files with ur hacked ones. You can get all these utilities from following topic:

List of Some Useful System Utilities!

Thats all for now guys. If you have more suggestions then please post them.

Remember this tutorial is for doing the task manually and not using the transformation packs.

**Dark Atheist** · March 4th, 2008

i must be doing something wrong as resource hacker/tuner just doesnt want to open any dll or any other file for that matter

- nice guide though, could do with tarting up xp/vista

**Vishal Gupta** · March 4th, 2008

^^ Thanks for your comment buddy.

Are you getting any error message while opening the file? Are you logged in as Administrator? May be you don't have permissions on the system files.

**Dark Atheist** · March 4th, 2008

tried all that - i run the prog as admin - i own the file - it opens i just dont get any info from it.

edit: just had an error - resource info not found - or something like that - thats a first

edit2: this is on vista btw - xp works fine, yes i know i can download all i need from above - im just messing about with it as im bored and its something new to learn

**perris** · March 4th, 2008

visual gupta, this looks like great stuff, if carpo can get it to work I'm gonna stick the thread

nice work

**Dark Atheist** · March 4th, 2008

going to try later - just re-installing the laptop atm - was doing an experiment on it earlier, and you sure about sticking the thread last time you did that no one posted to it

edit: could it be because im using sp1? im getting no resources in either program ?
edit2: am going to mess about with a few bits before i go to bed, and if VG doesnt mind i may update a few links to his guide

Bootskin 1.05a - http://www.download.com/BootSkin/300...-10257781.html

edit3: im up to step 10 - few icons missing in ico file - easy to fix just needs theme updating, bootskin is messed up but that is a known bug, and i didnt like the vista sounds too much so i borrowed the real ones from my vista pc

**j79zlr** · March 4th, 2008

Personally I think the easiest way to transform XP into Vista is to just take out half of your RAM.

**Sazar** · March 4th, 2008

Nice guide.

Some items are obviously not going to be the same due to inherent differences in the shell but overall a nice/detailed guide

Carpo, stop being a narb and get it working already.

j79zlr... constructive comments please

**Dark Atheist** · March 4th, 2008

i will finish it in the morn - its getting late here, also i have a few tweaks i can add to the guide myself - mainly to get around copy protection on the files (no external tools required

) and a few other things that were missed

**madmatt** · March 5th, 2008

Originally Posted by Sazar

Nice guide.

Indeed. Nice work.

**LordOfLA** · March 5th, 2008

Thread stuck. Carpo can't follow instructions.

PM me when you want the additions adding to the main post and give details of what to add and where.

**Grandmaster** · March 5th, 2008

Originally Posted by Carpo

i will finish it in the morn - its getting late here, also i have a few tweaks i can add to the guide myself - mainly to get around copy protection on the files (no external tools required ) and a few other things that were missed

Yeah, go for it.

**Dark Atheist** · March 5th, 2008

Originally Posted by LordOfLA

Thread stuck. Carpo can't follow instructions.

PM me when you want the additions adding to the main post and give details of what to add and where.

bend lord over
use right eye to aim for arse
swing right leg back and a far rate of knots
at optimum angle force right leg in a forward motion
adjust motion of leg to miss the area of the buttocks you were aiming for
and hit the bean sacks

see i can follow instructions

**Vishal Gupta** · March 5th, 2008

Thank you so much for making the thread sticky. Really appreciate it.

@Carpo
I'm also using Vista SP1 and both Resource Hacker and Tuner work properly here. There must be some other problem.

Thanks again guys for your nice comments.

**Dark Atheist** · March 5th, 2008

i know what it is - im using 64bit sp1

**Vishal Gupta** · March 5th, 2008

^^ Sorry. I think you misunderstood my comment. I meant I can use both software without any problem. May be some other problem in your system?

**Dark Atheist** · March 5th, 2008

who knows - anyway if some one can get me a 32bit version of the dll i will grab a few of the icons that are missing

- IE is one, network folders is another

So far i have done up to the changing the system properties box, havent dont that yet, as i want to use a few different pictures, and they need to be resized.

Things missing from guide -

Icons
-------
Some missing

some information
-----------------
explaining things clearer

make back ups
---------------
res hack does do this although i find it also a good idearto copy all dll's and exe's to a separate place

File protection
--------------
seeing as this was a fresh install that was on wih a vengence, best to copy the dll's to a non system folder and work on them there, then when complete copy them to c:\windows\system32\dllcache and also c:\windows\syste32, by copying them to the dllcache first when you over write them in system32 the file protection will kick in and copy the "good" files from dllcache - and then ask you if you want to keep the unrecognised versions, this also helps to avoid the problem of "cant copy the file as its in use "error".

Replacing AVI's
---------------
Information was missing here about having to put the resource type, name and language, if you didnt put this in it seemed not to like it too much

other than that, the guide has been easy to follow and has changed my xp quite nicely - my only pet peve is where the files are hosted, i hate mediafire with a passion due to all the cookies it wants to put on your pc, and if you refuse one it wont let you download the files

- i have 50meg of free isp webspace i may offer that up

**Electronic Punk** · March 5th, 2008

Originally Posted by j79zlr

Personally I think the easiest way to transform XP into Vista is to just take out half of your RAM.

Oh no, I have less idle ram?

**Dark Atheist** · March 5th, 2008

have also gone and hunted down a few different logos and such, and will try to sort them out today - but am busy today

**LordOfLA** · March 5th, 2008

Originally Posted by j79zlr

Personally I think the easiest way to transform XP into Vista is to just take out half of your RAM.

And why would I do that? Vista uses ram properly in the sameway that linux, BSD and Unix do. XP is the one that can't use memory properly.

March 4th, 2008	Last edited by Vishal Gupta; April 8th, 2008 at 2:07pm. \| Top \| #1
Vishal Gupta Microsoft MVP Joined: February 2008 Location: AskVG.com Posts: 103 Reputation: 395 Power: 29	TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pack Source: Transform Windows XP in Windows Vista without Customization pack Since we all know that Windows Vista has been released but its too costly to purchase. The most interesting thing in Vista is its look, new icons, cursors, theme, sounds, login screen, boot screen, etc. So I'm posting this tutorial to make our existing Windows XP to look-a-like Windows Vista. Yes! There are lots of Vista Transformation packs available on net but I never use them because they slow down the windows and also install a few 3rd party utilities. So its better to do all the things manually. In this tutorial, I'll tell you about how to make following things to look-a-like Vista: Visual style (or theme) Boot screen Login screen Sounds Mouse Cursors Windows Icons Windows Explorer Progress dialog box Shutdown/log off dialog box About Windows box System Properties dialog box Windows Classic Startmenu Left-side Image and Start button Logo and a few other things So here we go: 1. Vista Theme: First thing which you should change in your windows is theme. There are lots of Vista themes available on net. I have also created a Vista theme for XP called "VistaVG Ultimate". Download VistaVG Ultimate Theme If you use WindowBlinds, then you can also get the glass affect. You can search on DeviantART and you'll get lots of WB skins. 2. Vista Boot Screen: In Vista, Microsoft has removed the graphical boot screen and there is a minimal boot screen with just a progress bar. But it looks nice and you can download a similar bootskin for XP from here: Download Vista Boot Screen Just use Stardock Bootskin and apply it. NOTE: A few people have faced booting problem after applying this Boot skin, so use this at your own risk. You can also make your own boot screen using Tuneup Utilities. For more information read following tutorial: How to change Windows XP Boot Screen using Tuneup Utilities 3. Vista Login Screen: Vista new login screen is just awesome and "ears1991″ at DeviantART created a look-a-like login screen for XP, which you can download from here: Download Vista Login Screen This pack contains both LogonXP and LogonUI files. So you can either replace existing %windir%\System32\LogonUI.exe file with the LogonUI file in the pack or use Stardock LogonStudio and apply the LogonXP file. 4. Vista Sounds: Vista contains new sounds, which are quite nice. You can download the whole pack from here: Download Vista Sounds Just open "Sounds & Audio Devices" (mmsys.cpl) in Control Panel and goto "Sounds" tab and here you can replace windows default sounds with the new ones. 5. Vista Cursors: Vista cursors are really sexy. You can download the pack from here: Download Vista Cursors 6. Vista Icons: Here is an Icon Pack for Windows XP, which will change XP default icons with Windows Vista icons. So you'll experience the high-resolution Vista icons in XP: VistaVG Icon Pack for Windows XP 7. Vista Explorer: Vista Explorer is very much different from XP Explorer. It contains Back & Forward buttons along with the Address bar & Searchbar and under it there is another toolbar containing useful links, like Tile icons, details, etc. But there is a 3rd party utility available called "Styler", which can add the same toolbars in XP explorer too. Just download Styler from here and then download following Styler Skin: Download VistaVG Styler Skin Mirror Now extract it and copy this skin to "%ProgramFiles%\Styler\TB\skins\Styler's" directory and then apply it from the styler. Another thing in Vista is the Common Tasks are displayed at bottom of the explorer instead of the default left-side in XP. But if you'll use my "VistaVG" theme, then you'll get the Common Tasks at bottom automatically. 8. Progress Dialog Box: Vista progress dialog box is different from XP. But we can make our XP dialog box to look-a-like Vista one by using my favorite Resource Hacker. Just open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then goto: Dialog -> 1020 -> 1033 Now replace the existing code in right-side pane with the following code: Code: 1020 DIALOGEX 20, 20, 237, 124 STYLE DS_FIXEDSYS \| DS_MODALFRAME \| DS_NOIDLEMSG \| WS_POPUP \| WS_CAPTION \| WS_SYSMENU CAPTION "" LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US FONT 8, "MS SHELL DLG" { CONTROL "", 103, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 70, 30, 155, 10 CONTROL "", 102, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 70, 45, 155, 10 CONTROL "", 104, "msctls_progress32", PBS_SMOOTH \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 10, 75, 217, 13 CONTROL "", 105, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 70, 60, 155, 10 CONTROL "Time Left:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE \| WS_GROUP, 10, 60, 50, 10 CONTROL "File Name:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE \| WS_GROUP, 10, 45, 50, 10 CONTROL "Location:", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE \| WS_GROUP, 10, 30, 50, 10 CONTROL "", 106, "SysAnimate32", ACS_TRANSPARENT \| ACS_AUTOPLAY \| ACS_TIMER \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 0, 0, 236, 25 CONTROL 404, 0, STATIC, SS_BITMAP \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE \| WS_CLIPSIBLINGS \| WS_GROUP, 0, 95, 60, 60 CONTROL "", 0, "SysDateTimePick32", DTS_LONGDATEFORMAT \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE \| WS_BORDER, 10, 103, 130, 14 CONTROL "", 0, "SysDateTimePick32", DTS_SHORTDATEFORMAT \| DTS_UPDOWN \| DTS_TIMEFORMAT \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE \| WS_GROUP, 167, 103, 60, 14 } Click on Compile Script button. You'll also have to replace existing AVIs in the file with new Vista ones. Just download following Zip file and extract it: Download AVIs After extracting the Zip file you'll get 3 AVI files. Replace existing AVIs in shell32.dll file with these new ones in following manner: AVI -> 160 ->1033 with 160.avi AVI -> 161 ->1033with 161.avi AVI -> 162 ->1033with 162.avi AVI -> 163 ->1033with 162.avi AVI -> 164 ->1033with 162.avi And also download a BMP file from here: Download BMP Mirror After extracting the BMP file from it, add it at 404 location in file. Just click on Action -> Add a new resource and then click on Open file with new resource button. Select the downloaded BMP file and click on Open. Now in Resource Name enter 404 and in Resource Language enter 1033 and click on Add Resource button. Thats it. 9. Shutdown/log off dialog box: Windows Vista doesnt have any shutdown/logoff dialog box just like XP have but XP default dialog box doesnt look good. So here I'll tell you how to change it in XP? Download required BMP files from here: Download Shutdown BMPs Mirror Extract the file and you'll get 4 BMPs with the name: 1.bmp 2.bmp 3.bmp 4.bmp Now open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the mentioned BMP files: Bitmap -> 14351 -> 1033 with 1.bmp Bitmap -> 14353 -> 1033 with 2.bmp Bitmap -> 14354 -> 1033 with 1.bmp Bitmap -> 14355 -> 1033 with 2.bmp Bitmap -> 14356 -> 1033 with 3.bmp now save the file and open %windir%\System32\msgina.dll file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the mentioned BMP files: Bitmap -> 20140 -> 1033 with 1.bmp Bitmap -> 20141 -> 1033 with 2.bmp Bitmap -> 20142 -> 1033 with 1.bmp Bitmap -> 20143 -> 1033 with 2.bmp Bitmap -> 20150 -> 1033 with 4.bmp Now save the file. 10. About Windows box: To change the About Windows box you'll have to change 2 things: The BITMAP file and the text of box saying Windows XP. Download the required BITMAP file from here: Download About BMP Mirror Open "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the downloaded BMP file: Bitmap -> 131 -> 1033 (For XP Professional) Bitmap -> 147 -> 1033 (For XP Home) Now open %windir%\System32\msgina.dll file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the downloaded BMP file: Bitmap -> 101 -> 1033 (For XP Professional) Bitmap -> 107 -> 1033 (For XP Professional) Bitmap -> 128 -> 1033 (For XP Home) Bitmap -> 129 -> 1033 (For XP Home) Now to change the text of dialog box, open "%windir%\System32\xpsp1res.dll" file in Resource Hacker and then goto: Dialog -> 14352 -> 1033 Now replace the existing code in right-side pane with the following code: Code: 14352 DIALOGEX 20, 20, 275, 198 STYLE DS_FIXEDSYS \| DS_MODALFRAME \| WS_POPUP \| WS_CAPTION \| WS_SYSMENU CAPTION "About %s" LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg" { CONTROL 0, 12297, STATIC, SS_ICON \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 7, 55, 21, 20 CONTROL "Microsoft® %s®", 13568, STATIC, SS_LEFTNOWORDWRAP \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 35, 55, 200, 10 CONTROL "Copyright © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.", 13578, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 35, 75, 210, 10 CONTROL "", 13581, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 35, 85, 180, 20 CONTROL "This product is licensed under the terms of the End-User License Agreement to:", 13586, "SysLink", 0x50000000, 35, 105, 180, 20 CONTROL "user name", 13575, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 45, 125, 180, 10 CONTROL "org name", 13576, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 45, 135, 180, 10 CONTROL "", 13095, STATIC, SS_ETCHEDHORZ \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 35, 147, 235, 1 CONTROL "Physical memory available to Windows®:", 13570, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 35, 152, 133, 10 CONTROL "", 13571, STATIC, SS_LEFT \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 170, 152, 88, 10 CONTROL "OK", 1, BUTTON, BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE \| WS_TABSTOP, 220, 178, 50, 14 CONTROL "Version 6.0", 0, STATIC, SS_LEFTNOWORDWRAP \| SS_NOPREFIX \| WS_CHILD \| WS_VISIBLE, 35, 65, 235, 10 } Click on Compile Script button and save the file. 11. System Properties dialog box: To change the System Properties dialog box, you can follow this tut: Hacking System Properties Dialog Box (Sysdm.cpl file) in Windows XP 12. Windows Classic Startmenu Leftside Image and Start button Logo: To change them first download required BMP files from here: Download Startmenu and Start button BMP Mirror After extracting the BMP files, open %windir%\Explorer.exe file in Resource Hacker and then replace following BITMAPs with the mentioned BMP files: Bitmap -> 166 -> 1033 with 1.bmp (For XP Home) Bitmap -> 167 -> 1033 with 1.bmp (For XP Professional) Bitmap -> 176 -> 1033 with 2.bmp *Now a few more tricks:* 1. Windows Vista shows the "View" menu on desktop too, you can also enable it in XP using following tut: How to enable "VIEW" Menu on Desktop in Windows XP 2. Windows Vista's All Programs menu is different from XP, you can follow following tut to make ur XP Programs menu similar to Vista: Change Look-n-Feel of Windows XP Start Menu 3. In Windows Vista an animated Vista Logo is also displayed before the Login screen. You can also do a similar thing in XP. Just download required BMP file from here: Download ORB BMP Mirror Open regedit and goto: Code: HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop In right-side pane change the value of Wallpaper String value to the Path of downloaded BMP file. e.g., if you saved the BMP file at "D:\Startup.bmp", then set the value of Wallpaper to D:\Startup.bmp. Now you'll get a similar Vista Logo just before the Login screen in XP too. 4. In Windows Vista explorer, A small horizontal progress bar is displayed under each drive icon showing the filled/remaining space in the drive. You can also do the same in XP by using a 3rd party utility, which I have uploaded here: Download Vista Drive Status Utility Mirror Just run the file and it'll add the progress bar in each drive. 5. In Windows Vista explorer, we get Bread Crumbs in addressbar which is quite useful. You can also get the same feature in Windows XP using "QT Addressbar": QT Addressbar: Windows Vista Addressbar Clone for Windows XP 6. Windows Vista also contains a Sidebar, which is displayed on right-side on desktop (by default and can be changed to be displayed at left-side). You can also use a sidebar in XP. Just download it from here. 7. If you have any problem with Resource Hacker and want to know about it, then please go through following tuts: All About Resource Hacker in a Brief Tutorial List of Files to be hacked using Resource Hacker List of a few Locations in Windows XP System Files to be Hacked using Resource Hacker 8. If you get error while saving the system files, then its happening because of the WFP (Windows File Protection) service, which can be disabled using WFP Patcher or you can use Replacer to replace system files with ur hacked ones. You can get all these utilities from following topic: List of Some Useful System Utilities! Thats all for now guys. If you have more suggestions then please post them. *Remember this tutorial is for doing the task manually and not using the transformation packs.*

March 4th, 2008	Top \| #2
Dark Atheist I never said I was nice Joined: April 2003 Location: In The Void Posts: 6,496 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 1877 Power: 167	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac i must be doing something wrong as resource hacker/tuner just doesnt want to open any dll or any other file for that matter - nice guide though, could do with tarting up xp/vista

March 4th, 2008	Top \| #3
Vishal Gupta Microsoft MVP Joined: February 2008 Location: AskVG.com Posts: 103 Reputation: 395 Power: 29	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac ^^ Thanks for your comment buddy. Are you getting any error message while opening the file? Are you logged in as Administrator? May be you don't have permissions on the system files.

March 4th, 2008	Top \| #4
Dark Atheist I never said I was nice Joined: April 2003 Location: In The Void Posts: 6,496 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 1877 Power: 167	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac tried all that - i run the prog as admin - i own the file - it opens i just dont get any info from it. edit: just had an error - resource info not found - or something like that - thats a first edit2: this is on vista btw - xp works fine, yes i know i can download all i need from above - im just messing about with it as im bored and its something new to learn

March 4th, 2008	Top \| #5
perris OSNN Godlike Veteran Joined: January 2002 Location: new york Posts: 12,039 Reputation: 4333 Power: 263	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac visual gupta, this looks like great stuff, if carpo can get it to work I'm gonna stick the thread nice work
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March 4th, 2008	Last edited by Dark Atheist; March 4th, 2008 at 10:52pm. \| Top \| #6
Dark Atheist I never said I was nice Joined: April 2003 Location: In The Void Posts: 6,496 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 1877 Power: 167	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac going to try later - just re-installing the laptop atm - was doing an experiment on it earlier, and you sure about sticking the thread last time you did that no one posted to it edit: could it be because im using sp1? im getting no resources in either program ? edit2: am going to mess about with a few bits before i go to bed, and if VG doesnt mind i may update a few links to his guide Bootskin 1.05a - http://www.download.com/BootSkin/300...-10257781.html edit3: im up to step 10 - few icons missing in ico file - easy to fix just needs theme updating, bootskin is messed up but that is a known bug, and i didnt like the vista sounds too much so i borrowed the real ones from my vista pc

March 4th, 2008	Top \| #7
j79zlr Glaanies script monkey Joined: February 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 2,758 Reputation: 1520 Power: 129	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Personally I think the easiest way to transform XP into Vista is to just take out half of your RAM.
	http://www.j79zlr.com

March 4th, 2008	Top \| #8
Sazar F@H - Is it in you? Joined: April 2002 Location: Between Austin and Tampa Posts: 14,941 Reputation: 4110 Power: 287	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Nice guide. Some items are obviously not going to be the same due to inherent differences in the shell but overall a nice/detailed guide Carpo, stop being a narb and get it working already. j79zlr... constructive comments please
	Media Server: Intel Q9450 \| 8GB Corsair XMS2 \| 4870 1GB \| 1.5 TB Storage \| Logitech G-15/G-9 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 HTPC: AMD 4400+ \| 2GB Corsair \| 2 TB Storage \| 8800 GTS (G92) \| Logitech Edge \| Hauppauge 1600 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x86 Notebook Dell E6400 \| Core2Duo 8400 \| 4GB \| Encrypted 160GB with FFS \| WXGA+ LED \| Quadro NVS 160 \| Windows 7 Enterprise x64 Folding @ Home \| XBL / PSN / Steam : SAZARIUS \| Zune Social : SAZAR99

March 4th, 2008	Top \| #9
Dark Atheist I never said I was nice Joined: April 2003 Location: In The Void Posts: 6,496 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 1877 Power: 167	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac i will finish it in the morn - its getting late here, also i have a few tweaks i can add to the guide myself - mainly to get around copy protection on the files (no external tools required ) and a few other things that were missed

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #10
madmatt Bow Down to the King Joined: April 2002 Location: New York Posts: 13,328 Reputation: 4090 Power: 270	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Originally Posted by Sazar Nice guide. Indeed. Nice work.

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #11
LordOfLA Godlike! Joined: February 2004 Location: Birmingham, UK Posts: 6,818 Blog Entries: 5 Reputation: 3651 Power: 179	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Thread stuck. Carpo can't follow instructions. PM me when you want the additions adding to the main post and give details of what to add and where.
	If HK-47 and GLaDOS had a child, the character they create would cause the video game world to overdose on awesome. -sheridanmovieguy: Dragon age forum user.

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #12
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,692 Reputation: 2960 Power: 234	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Originally Posted by Carpo i will finish it in the morn - its getting late here, also i have a few tweaks i can add to the guide myself - mainly to get around copy protection on the files (no external tools required ) and a few other things that were missed Yeah, go for it.

March 5th, 2008	Last edited by Dark Atheist; March 5th, 2008 at 11:31am. \| Top \| #13
Dark Atheist I never said I was nice Joined: April 2003 Location: In The Void Posts: 6,496 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 1877 Power: 167	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Originally Posted by LordOfLA Thread stuck. Carpo can't follow instructions. PM me when you want the additions adding to the main post and give details of what to add and where. bend lord over use right eye to aim for arse swing right leg back and a far rate of knots at optimum angle force right leg in a forward motion adjust motion of leg to miss the area of the buttocks you were aiming for and hit the bean sacks see i can follow instructions Attached Images

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #14
Vishal Gupta Microsoft MVP Joined: February 2008 Location: AskVG.com Posts: 103 Reputation: 395 Power: 29	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Thank you so much for making the thread sticky. Really appreciate it. @Carpo I'm also using Vista SP1 and both Resource Hacker and Tuner work properly here. There must be some other problem. Thanks again guys for your nice comments.

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #15
Dark Atheist I never said I was nice Joined: April 2003 Location: In The Void Posts: 6,496 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 1877 Power: 167	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac i know what it is - im using 64bit sp1

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March 5th, 2008	Top \| #16
Vishal Gupta Microsoft MVP Joined: February 2008 Location: AskVG.com Posts: 103 Reputation: 395 Power: 29	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac ^^ Sorry. I think you misunderstood my comment. I meant I can use both software without any problem. May be some other problem in your system?

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #17
Dark Atheist I never said I was nice Joined: April 2003 Location: In The Void Posts: 6,496 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 1877 Power: 167	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac who knows - anyway if some one can get me a 32bit version of the dll i will grab a few of the icons that are missing - IE is one, network folders is another So far i have done up to the changing the system properties box, havent dont that yet, as i want to use a few different pictures, and they need to be resized. Things missing from guide - Icons ------- Some missing some information ----------------- explaining things clearer make back ups --------------- res hack does do this although i find it also a good idearto copy all dll's and exe's to a separate place File protection -------------- seeing as this was a fresh install that was on wih a vengence, best to copy the dll's to a non system folder and work on them there, then when complete copy them to c:\windows\system32\dllcache and also c:\windows\syste32, by copying them to the dllcache first when you over write them in system32 the file protection will kick in and copy the "good" files from dllcache - and then ask you if you want to keep the unrecognised versions, this also helps to avoid the problem of "cant copy the file as its in use "error". Replacing AVI's --------------- Information was missing here about having to put the resource type, name and language, if you didnt put this in it seemed not to like it too much other than that, the guide has been easy to follow and has changed my xp quite nicely - my only pet peve is where the files are hosted, i hate mediafire with a passion due to all the cookies it wants to put on your pc, and if you refuse one it wont let you download the files - i have 50meg of free isp webspace i may offer that up

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #18
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: Stonehenge Posts: 18,896 Blog Entries: 49 Reputation: 3652 Power: 325	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Originally Posted by j79zlr Personally I think the easiest way to transform XP into Vista is to just take out half of your RAM. Oh no, I have less idle ram?

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #19
Dark Atheist I never said I was nice Joined: April 2003 Location: In The Void Posts: 6,496 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 1877 Power: 167	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac have also gone and hunted down a few different logos and such, and will try to sort them out today - but am busy today

March 5th, 2008	Top \| #20
LordOfLA Godlike! Joined: February 2004 Location: Birmingham, UK Posts: 6,818 Blog Entries: 5 Reputation: 3651 Power: 179	Re: TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista Without Using Customization Pac Originally Posted by j79zlr Personally I think the easiest way to transform XP into Vista is to just take out half of your RAM. And why would I do that? Vista uses ram properly in the sameway that linux, BSD and Unix do. XP is the one that can't use memory properly.
	If HK-47 and GLaDOS had a child, the character they create would cause the video game world to overdose on awesome. -sheridanmovieguy: Dragon age forum user.