LiteStep and application
Tuesday, August 20, 2002 by brazil | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
hello everyon,Can anyone tell me hoe to use LiteStep?I have downloaded the software but it is trying to run on top of DeskTopX and Object Bar.Should I disable all WinCutomize before starting LiteStep?And can anyone tell me how to switch between them?I'm on XP Home.Thanks for any help.brazil
brazil
Reply #2 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 3:08 AM
Reply #2 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 3:08 AM
heehaw!!I just read the thread posted earlier abut the Litestep brew-haw-haw!!No way for me homes!!Their website is just as confusing.I guess many must be successful with it but for me it was a DRAG!!System Restore and whatnot.Totally crashed my system.Litestep put a heavy foot on my butt.windows XP.
Jafo
Reply #3 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 3:24 AM
Reply #3 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 3:24 AM
Well...LiteSTEP and shell alternatives in general are not for everyone.....but as I post in my Themes' ReadMeFirst.txt....
"LiteSTEP doesn't kill computers, people kill computers."....
"LiteSTEP doesn't kill computers, people kill computers."....
brazil
Reply #4 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 3:37 AM
Reply #4 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 3:37 AM
I beg to differ jafo,looney tunes programming crashes computers,,sometimes people.It really should be a double click thing if it's on my WinCustomizer Browser!!I shan't click Litestep nomo!!
Jafo
Reply #5 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:51 AM
Reply #5 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:51 AM
brazil...there's nothing 'looney tunes' about LiteSTEP....it's the most popular and longest existing alternative shell out there, and also essentially infinitely customizable.
It's noteworthy to be aware that in a non-NT style OS it does absolutely nothing to the system....no freak coding anomalies, no registry hacks [unlike styleXP]...just one line in a text-editable ini file....a 5 year old could probably handle that these days...
With 200 and XP, use ShellON and you don't even have to know where your registry is or was.....it's so simple.
Just remember that a Shell REPLACEMENT is not a 'proggy' to enhance your desktop but a whole new and customizable way of interfacing with the OS kernel.
Horses for courses and each one to his own, but I gave up on 'Dangerous Creatures' and 'Microsoft Plus' desktop 'themes' years ago....
It's noteworthy to be aware that in a non-NT style OS it does absolutely nothing to the system....no freak coding anomalies, no registry hacks [unlike styleXP]...just one line in a text-editable ini file....a 5 year old could probably handle that these days...
With 200 and XP, use ShellON and you don't even have to know where your registry is or was.....it's so simple.
Just remember that a Shell REPLACEMENT is not a 'proggy' to enhance your desktop but a whole new and customizable way of interfacing with the OS kernel.
Horses for courses and each one to his own, but I gave up on 'Dangerous Creatures' and 'Microsoft Plus' desktop 'themes' years ago....
moshi
Reply #7 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 10:07 AM
Reply #7 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 10:07 AM
i tend to look what a program does and how it works BEFORE i install it. that helps. maybe that "Wincustomizer Browser" should have a built in IQ test, so it doesn´t allow to download LiteStep themes if you fail that test.
Luke de Sade
Reply #8 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 4:38 PM
Reply #8 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 4:38 PM
What's so hard about LiteStep? I have like three or four weeks with it, and now I'm already doing my own theme, using modules, scripting .rc files and the like. What's so hard about that?
Brazil, puh-lease read the LSDocs before trying to install LiteStep. There's a good "How-to-Install" section in there that could help you out.
And how can it crash your PC? LiteStep has never crashed my PC (well, except for the Smog theme which DID crash my PC until I uninstalled it.)
Brazil, puh-lease read the LSDocs before trying to install LiteStep. There's a good "How-to-Install" section in there that could help you out.
And how can it crash your PC? LiteStep has never crashed my PC (well, except for the Smog theme which DID crash my PC until I uninstalled it.)
brazil
Reply #9 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 5:07 PM
Reply #9 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 5:07 PM
I duuno Luke,Litestep froze my system on every reboot.I did do alot of reading before and after install.I also went to the Litestep website and joined a couple of forums to try and figure it out.I posted some very simple questions both there and here but only got responses to the effect that I'm an IDIOT and should'nt be trying to use something I don't understand.Please forgive my frustration because I really like the Litestep look and interface.I thought it was a double click kind of thing like most everything else here on the Wincustomizer browser,but my skin IQ is too low for this I guess.I have used with succsess Aston,DesktopX,Hoverdesk,but I guess those are all low skin IQ formats.The shellon app. that was suggested here did not work for me either.Please take no offense Litestepers.You know I'm an idiot with a low shell IQ.
snarph
Reply #10 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 5:57 PM
Reply #10 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 5:57 PM
Brazil do not feel bad. i can make Litestep only funtion on 9x machines, it always gives me promblems on any NT based machine Shellon to
Jafo
Reply #11 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:30 PM
Reply #11 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:30 PM
brazil...it's not a matter of 'being an idiot', or not......LiteSTEP 'should' be easier for people to 'install' these days....with ShellON, OTS andmuch more 'stable' build releases...it's much like Linux....getting a little more 'main-stream'.
In its early days you were in for a rough ride...every theme required quite a bit of 'tweaking' to get them to work on your machine...even though their functionality was so much more basic and primitive.
These days things are easier, though if you are in the midst of coding your own theme and make a mistake, seeing that the Litestep.exe process is using 780 meg of rame and 92% of your CPU can be a bit of 'fun'....
But, the learning curve can be a little 'steep' in resolving 'errors' such as these, and reading all you can really helps...I've had 5 years of reading and still manage to get enjoyment out of odd LS behaviour.
It's a 'beta'...'open-source', and has managed to get from b23 to [almost] 0.24.7 in 5 years....but it's still the 'best' shell for Windows...
Just 'RTFM', and give it another go...
In its early days you were in for a rough ride...every theme required quite a bit of 'tweaking' to get them to work on your machine...even though their functionality was so much more basic and primitive.
These days things are easier, though if you are in the midst of coding your own theme and make a mistake, seeing that the Litestep.exe process is using 780 meg of rame and 92% of your CPU can be a bit of 'fun'....
But, the learning curve can be a little 'steep' in resolving 'errors' such as these, and reading all you can really helps...I've had 5 years of reading and still manage to get enjoyment out of odd LS behaviour.
It's a 'beta'...'open-source', and has managed to get from b23 to [almost] 0.24.7 in 5 years....but it's still the 'best' shell for Windows...
Just 'RTFM', and give it another go...
brazil
Reply #12 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:32 PM
Reply #12 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:32 PM
Thanks snarph,You better lookout though,the Shell Idiot IQ squad will set you straight.They are sooo helpful and people friendly!!Such great advice and all for free!So far I have posted several very simple questions with nothing but negative resonses or no responses at all.The implication of low IQ's and not doing research before install and givin' it a go are way off base.I did everything just as it was written and presented.I guess a 5 year would fare better.
brazil
Reply #13 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:39 PM
Reply #13 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:39 PM
Thanks for your detailed response Jafo,I'm not giving up on it yet!!Just gonna give it a rest fer a while.I do indeed think i will get it.It does appear that LS is the bleeding cutting edge and poses quite a challenge.The themes and interface really do intrest me!I wonder if there will ever be a day when Litestep will download with a click and apply with a double click like much of what is available on the Browser??Thanks again for trying to help.
Jafo
Reply #14 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 10:18 PM
Reply #14 Wednesday, August 21, 2002 10:18 PM
brazil....I used an installer proggy compiler thingie to make a self-installer...but people don't like the idea of a third-party proggy writing to, and altering the registry...particularly when it's an issue with shell replacement....but it IS possible.
Installing ShellON instead is a much better solution, then the shells are just a copy-paste 'installation'...no reg settings required at all...
Installing ShellON instead is a much better solution, then the shells are just a copy-paste 'installation'...no reg settings required at all...
Luke de Sade
Reply #15 Thursday, August 22, 2002 8:35 AM
Reply #15 Thursday, August 22, 2002 8:35 AM
Or, what you can do, Brazil, is get a computer with Win98 and install it there. It's SO easy installing and configuring LiteStep for Win98. I've had no problems with it yet (except for the stupid systray only showing the Task Manager icon...grrrr!)
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Reply #1 Tuesday, August 20, 2002 6:12 AM
switching between shells (LiteStep and your normal explorer desktop) can be done with a shell swapper. the most common one is ShellOn.