Getting Started

Introduction
There are many ways to change the appearance of windows, some involve installing 3rd party applications, such as WindowBlinds, and using skins, others involve patching system files, and some all you have to do is run a file and sit back while it does the work for you. One thing I will say though, is there is no fixed way of going about changing your systems performance, there is also no right and wrong way to go about it. Its all down to personal preferences.

Don't worry though, because I've tried to cover all the ways I can in this tutorial. Okay so how can you change the way Windows looks?

Third Party Applications
One of the most well known ways to change the appearance of windows is using a third party application (basically a program you run in the background which changes the appearance of Windows). One of the most well known is WindowBlinds. Some of the programs are freeware, and others are shareware or commercial. In my experience using these third party applications produces the best results when changing the appearance of windows. Mainly for the fact that they are not restricted to the windows shell.

One the downside though, you've got programs running in the background, which means that they do take up resources, however with a modern machine it's nothing that you can actually notice, except maybe a few seconds added to the start up of windows. Also this can be an expensive way of changing the appearance, however there are cracks and keygens avaibable, but this is illegal, so if you like the software please do buy it.

Visual Styles
This way is one that older machines will find more appropriate. To do this you will have to patch the uxtheme.dll in your system. You can do this manually or you can do it with a automatic patcher. The advantages of this is that you don't use anymore resources than XP already uses to display the GUI (Graphical User Interface). But if you want transparent start menu like in Windows Vista, you will have to use freeware to do so.

The disadvantage of this method is that some skins (alot of the ones in this tutorial) will only work on Windows XP, as they use the origanal shell to display the GUI.

Shell Packs/GUI Replacers
Thanks to the new Brickopack technology, you can now download shell packs that will automatically replace all the system files so that your computer looks different. There are many packs availible and you guessed it theres a Windows Vista one floating about. These are great for newbies however some don't do that good a job of making windows look like vista.

The downside to these is that the files are very big for slow connections anywhere from 10mb to 50mb. Also many have been built upon the Windows XP shell and so will only run on the Windows XP shell. Also you can run into problems when uninstalling, as it involves the replacing of many system critical files.

On to the tutorial

First things first…Back-up!
BACKUP! I can't stress how important this is. You must back up before continuing with this tutorial. You shouldn't come across any serious problems while following this tutorial, but there is always the chance, so back up! I won't be held responisble if something goes wrong and you lose all your work. Also don't just do a system restore backup, although this is good, it doesn't save you documents to a seperate harddrive. Back up to a removable disk (A CD-RW is always handy to have) and then remove it! If you have a second hardrive you can copy your important files to that.

Updates
Make sure your computer is up-to-date, and has all the latest updates from microsoft. If you don't, then when you come to replacing icons and files, updates will restore them back to the origanals and you'll have a GUI thats half Windows XP and half Windows Vista. This also includes Office updates, if you have Microsoft Office installed then make sure this is updated too. You can update windows at http://update.microsoft.com.

Remove existing packs
If you have any programs, packs, or shell replaces installed already, make sure you uninstall them before you install any other pack or skin. This will stop you running into problems when you want to install/uninstall the new ones. If you don't uninstall them before hand, when you come to unistall programs that have replaced windows icons and files, they will convert back to the previous pack, and you wont be able to get the origanal windows icons back.

The first step – Which method to use
After reading the information above you should have some idea of which method you want to use. If not then here is a quick summary:

Third Party Applicatoins
Good Stuff:

• Will run on any operating system
• Does not replace important files
• Can change the GUI to look like anything you want
• Not consticted to the default windows shell look i.e can move maximise, minimise and exit buttons.

Bad Stuff:

• Uses up resources (Although not to a noticable state)
• Costs money, unless cracked

Visual Styles
Good Stuff:

• Doesn't use any more resources than windows does already
• Most skins are free

Bad Stuff:

• You have to replace the system critical file uxtheme.dll
• Consticted to the windows shell look
• Some skins will only work on Windows XP

Shell Packs
Good Stuff

• 100% Automated
• Uninstallers included
• programs included with packs

Bad Stuff

• System critical files are replaced
• Can run into problems when uninstalling
• Some don't look very good

Now that you have decided which method to use click the link below that corrisponds to the method you want to use.