BootSkin: problems and new ideas
Thursday, June 10, 2004 by Uncle Sporky | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Hi. I recently found this site, and have been amazed at the many ways you can customize Windows that I never knew about. I've been initially interested in BootSkin, because the skins are easy to make and apply, and the software is free.
However, I haven't yet been able to get it to work. The latest version will display the boot skin, flash an unreadable blue screen, and restart to a safe mode prompt the older versions display the skin and simply go dark and lock up. As if that wasn't bad enough, the same thing has happened to me on three seperate computers: a Compaq iPAQ with Windows 2000, a newer HP with XP Home, and an older Dell with XP Pro. You can't get much more varied than that, and yet it has never once booted correctly. In fact, I'm sad to say that I've hardly ever used a program so universally ineffective.
Despite the problems, though, I understand that it does work for some people, and I can at least view the skins as they are meant to be seen, which means I can still make them. Now, a lot of places online tell me that the progress bar has to be 22x9, and that seems to be the case with Windows 2000 (I've tested larger sizes and they act wierd). However, my Dell with XP Pro displays larger bars just fine, like that one earth balloon skin as a prime example. This has given me all sorts of cool ideas that I haven't seen implemented on this site yet.
For example, draw a full progress bar on the skin itself. Then, make the progress bar bitmap a black bar as long as the background progress bar. All other ini settings can remain the same. It'll end up looking like a real progress bar that's filling up over time, and if you customize it just right, it can actually tell you when XP will finish loading.
Some variations on the above idea: A syringe full of fluid that empties. Make a logo for it that says Windows RX. Or you could make a life support machine with a heartbeat monitor. Draw the heartbeat line ^v^v on the background, and let the progress bar slowly reveal it to make it look like it's drawing the line. There are all sorts of things that could be done with this.
I'm not yet certain that it'll work on all machines or versions of XP, but I'm going to play with it some more tonight. Has anyone else tried stuff like this?
However, I haven't yet been able to get it to work. The latest version will display the boot skin, flash an unreadable blue screen, and restart to a safe mode prompt the older versions display the skin and simply go dark and lock up. As if that wasn't bad enough, the same thing has happened to me on three seperate computers: a Compaq iPAQ with Windows 2000, a newer HP with XP Home, and an older Dell with XP Pro. You can't get much more varied than that, and yet it has never once booted correctly. In fact, I'm sad to say that I've hardly ever used a program so universally ineffective.
Despite the problems, though, I understand that it does work for some people, and I can at least view the skins as they are meant to be seen, which means I can still make them. Now, a lot of places online tell me that the progress bar has to be 22x9, and that seems to be the case with Windows 2000 (I've tested larger sizes and they act wierd). However, my Dell with XP Pro displays larger bars just fine, like that one earth balloon skin as a prime example. This has given me all sorts of cool ideas that I haven't seen implemented on this site yet.
For example, draw a full progress bar on the skin itself. Then, make the progress bar bitmap a black bar as long as the background progress bar. All other ini settings can remain the same. It'll end up looking like a real progress bar that's filling up over time, and if you customize it just right, it can actually tell you when XP will finish loading.
Some variations on the above idea: A syringe full of fluid that empties. Make a logo for it that says Windows RX. Or you could make a life support machine with a heartbeat monitor. Draw the heartbeat line ^v^v on the background, and let the progress bar slowly reveal it to make it look like it's drawing the line. There are all sorts of things that could be done with this.
I'm not yet certain that it'll work on all machines or versions of XP, but I'm going to play with it some more tonight. Has anyone else tried stuff like this?
Uncle Sporky
Reply #2 Thursday, June 10, 2004 1:05 PM
Reply #2 Thursday, June 10, 2004 1:05 PM
I see. Well, I don't have access to the comps right now, but I'll do it as soon as I can. So I should just write down what the BIOS calls itself in the boot setup utility?
Anyway, it doesn't really bother me that much. I can still make 'em, but it's just annoying, that's all. I could always use the riskier kernel-hacking method too.
Anyway, it doesn't really bother me that much. I can still make 'em, but it's just annoying, that's all. I could always use the riskier kernel-hacking method too.
Uncle Sporky
Reply #3 Thursday, June 10, 2004 1:09 PM
Reply #3 Thursday, June 10, 2004 1:09 PM
Oh, I forgot something interesting. After I removed the boot skins in safe mode, I ran a search for most recently modified files and found some kind of boot record. There were a lot of "did not load" messages, and one entry was repeated over and over. I assume that this was the point where it froze after displaying the boot skin.
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Reply #1 Thursday, June 10, 2004 12:54 PM
Good Luck getting it running!!