Tips for new users!

Published on February 22, 2005 By Koasati In New Users

It was suggested that an article I put together should be placed in the New User section. I want to expand on that
What I hope happens in this thread is that the people I see helping others in the forums, will help me put together tips for the new folks.
This stuff can be confusing at first, and we see a lot of the same questions being asked often. So, we should be able to answer them in this thread, where they'll be easy to find.

The Problem:
Auto-installing Skin/Theme files are downloaded as zip files.

The Cause:
SP2 appears to be common factor here, but some people report no change after SP2.
What's happening is this... self installing file extension for most skinning programs are simply renamed ZIP archives. For some reason after SP2 is installed on XP, the extensions are renamed back to .zip when downloaded.
But it's easily fixed.

The Solution:

Step 1. File extension must not be hidden. If you're unsure what that means, open Control Panel > Folder Options > View tab > "Hide extensions for known file types" should be un-checked.

Step 2. Right-click the file and select Rename. Change the zip part of the name to the proper extenion. Example; skin1.zip = skin1.wba (for a WindowBlind skin)

DesktopX Themes = .dxtheme
DesktopX Objects = .dxpack
WindowBlinds = .wba
LogonStudio = .logonxp
BootSkin = .bootskin
CursorXP = .CurXPTheme
IconPackager = .ip

If you get a warning about changing the extention, click OK

Step 3. Double-click the renamed file.

Lantec pointed out that if you use Firefox (or Opera), this file extension won't be renamed when you download.

by Developer Lantec
Monday, January 03, 2005

Just a note;
I was having this problem constantly until I switched browsers.
Since I started using firefox all downloads autoinstall correctly and those that don't auto install have the right extension. There are a whole bunch of other advantages, but this one item makes it worth the trouble. SP2 has been a real pain.....

Jason Carver suggested this work around......... rename the files when you download.

by Citizen Jason Carver
Saturday, February 12, 2005

Heres a shorter shortcut ( well shorter in my opinion )

First write down the file extensions listed here. Next pick something to download. In this case , ill download a Window Blind file. When you click download. It shows the save as dialog. Below it , you have two choices from a drop down menu. "Zip files" and All files. Select all files , and add .wba to the end of the file name. When its done saving , you click open and TADA! its installed.

**UPDATE**

So, you like Internet Explorer....you don't want to switch browsers?
It appears that the problem can be fixed by installing a 3rd party archive program [WinZip, ZipCentral, IZArc, etc.] The problem seems to be caused by XP's built-in zip program.

Comments (Page 12)

166

Corky_O

on May 22, 2005

vitachick,

I have 2 suggestions:

(1) Set logon back to default XP logon via LogonStudio > uninstall LogonStudio > reboot computer > delete the LogonStudio directory > download a fresh copy of LogonStudio > install LogonStudio > start LogonStudio and test with one of the prepackaged themes to check install.

(2) If all goes well, download new copy of "Bottled Voyage" by clicking the download link > in the Save dialog, use the "Save as type:" list to select "All Files" (this will allow the file extension to remain the same after download), then save to say "My Documents".

Now just double-click the downloaded file to install.

I hope this helps.

167

_TAPPER_

on May 22, 2005

POOF! It's gone. Can some one help me? I'm trying to change the "poof" on object dock and now i don"t have a poof at all. What have i done wrong?

168

Corky_O

on May 22, 2005

TAPPER68147,

Have you removed the "poof.png" file located in "C:\Program Files\Stardock\ObjectDock" folder (where "C" is the letter drive)?

If so, either replace it, or reinstall the program to replace it (save any downloaded files to a temporary folder if you reinstall, so you can delete the old directory and cache for a clean installation of program).

You could try just clearing the cache (see my comment #7 in this thread for procedure), to try and return everything to the beginning state (though if you have deleted or changed things in the directory, this may not help).

Note - here is a portion of the read me file "Credit goes to Rick for the poof animation... find his animation and more over at: http://www.resexcellence.com/user_poofs.shtml".

Good luck.

169

vitachick

on May 23, 2005

deleted everything.......I mean all stardock programs etc...only one that would not delete was common folder/stardock which has 2 .dll in there...did clean install of everything....Bookskin works ok....Logon? no....even the default won't work..when I click to change logon I get the logon window saying comp is locked to log on...is this suppose to happen?..have 2 hd and networked to my other comp..this shouldn't be creating a problem should it? notice some of stardock programs want to go to C drive others to D (D has windows folder)another thing when I saved logon files as 'all files" instead of winzip it still opens with winzip...what I do is install in same folder I have the zip file..create new folder adding the logon name adding the files to it...then manually pasting into the logon folder....should I give up? oh just read in the FAQ..being part of a domain the program will not work....after all this I should of checked this area first....^%$#&*()+_^

170

_TAPPER_

on May 23, 2005

Corky O Did as you suggested. It worked. I now have my default poof back. Still learning this skinning stuff even after 2 years. Just now getting brave enuf to try stuff like this. Still don know how to run other poofs though.

Thanks much for your help sorry it took me so long to get back to you.

171

Koasati

on May 23, 2005

Logon? no....even the default won't work..when I click to change logon I get the logon window saying comp is locked to log on...is this suppose to happen?..have 2 hd and networked to my other comp..this shouldn't be creating a problem should it?

You can't use the Welcome Screen if your computer is on a domain. No Welcome Screen, no pretty logon screen....

172

Koasati

on May 23, 2005

Still don know how to run other poofs though.

Poofs are PNG bitstrips. Bitstrips are a series of images in a single file. Hard to explain, but if you'll open the poof.png in a graphics editor, you'll see what I mean.

173

_TAPPER_

on May 23, 2005

Wizop Koasati...Yes i see. But how do you get one poof to run versus another. This is the prob im having. I'm running XP Home. Also technicaly challenged. Need to hit the sack now so thanks in advance for any more help given. Will chk again tomorrow eve.

174

Koasati

on May 23, 2005

Simplest way is to replace the default "poof.png" with another........ make sure the name is the same.

175

stiltzkin

on May 24, 2005

i go to install the darkside skin but it says "There appears to be no .uis file in this skin. Are you sure it is a windowblinds skin?"

what do i do?

176

Ebichuhamster

on May 24, 2005

So this is the customizing busines,,,its cool and all but i seem to have found something i cant get through my own,, its stupid really,,

ive got cursor xp but some of the cursors ive dloaded dont have the .cursorxp format,,, they are either in .curzip or jus .cur, wich is the normal xp format for a cursor i would gues,,,,,

-concerning the .curzip: is there a program that changes the extensions?

-concerning the .cur: these are sort of cursor screen shots,,, like the normal ones located in the C:/windows/cursors folder,,,, but how can i get these new hot cursors into the cursorxp app?

im sory if this problem has allready been issued and solved,,, but im kindof in a hurry

thx,,

Ebichuhamstercantfigureoutthecursorthignys....

177

Koasati

on May 24, 2005

Ebichuhamster.... you can't use standard cursors with CursorXP. Standard cursors don't support alpha transparency, which is what makes CXP special.

Don't really know what curzip is....

178

Corky_O

on May 24, 2005

Ebichuhamster,

Not sure what is going on there.

Have you tried the following:

(1) changing the file extension to ".CurXPTheme" and moving the file to "C:\Program Files\CursorXP\Themes" (where "C" is the letter drive), then start Cursor XP > clear any check marks in the "Disable All" box at the bottom of the CursorXP tab > select the theme from the drop down list > click "Apply".

- or -

(2) change the file extension to ".zip" > extract files > see if there are ".png" files or ".cur" files.

If I am not mistaken, the file types inside a Cursor XP Theme file should be ".png", though I may be wrong.

If the extracted files are all ".cur" files, you could place them in "C:\WINDOWS\Cursors" folder, then go to Control Panel > Printers and Other Hardware > Mouse > Pointers tab > Highlight the pointer you want to modify > Browse button > select the cursor pointer you want > click "Open" > click "Apply".

Repeat for each cursor (obviously this is a time consuming process).

Not sure what else to offer here.

179

dj_cityboy

on May 24, 2005

hey hey i jus wanted to say i have been using windowblinds fer like 2 years now with no problems (thankfully yet)and i jus wanted to say you guys are awesome as hell with helping people out i have jus gone through almost all 5 pages of this thread and you all have helped each other out very nicely and have made alot of people happy (hats off to you) and if i ever have a problem i fer sure know where to go!!!

wicked job dudes and dudettes

oh yeah STARDOCK ROX

peas cityboy

180

charms55

on May 25, 2005

Hey everyone,

Been a while since I posted. Many of my problems have either sorted themselves out or been taken care of but I have a couple of funky issues that have cropped up. Maybe someone can give me a hand (usually Corky saves the day)

1. Minor Annoyance category: On my desktop (DesktopX "Office 1024") all my icons in the Systray appear but one - WindowBlinds. It is there, as if I scroll too far and click again or right click, it opens or I get the menu. But the icon does not show. Now, as near as I can tell, of the items that load into the tray, WB is the first to load. As I boot the screen appears w/the current skinning prior to other objects, etc. loading. So it is the first icon in line.

2. Major Problem category: on the current desktop, none of the scripts to call a web or search page run. They all result in a script error (line 7 object not found?)Now....many of these links just now ran with the browser open first...is this expected behavior? Makes no sense to have the searches available on the desktop when I can have them available in the browser that is already running.

What say ye, oh wise ones?

Thanks!
Charms55

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