Tips for new users!
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 by Koasati | Discussion: New Users
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.
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.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Heres a shorter shortcut ( well shorter in my opinion ) Â
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.
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Reply #222 Tuesday, June 21, 2005 8:18 AM
Ela re patrida !!!! Elladara gia panta ! To get weather information for any city you could use a mozilla extendions. It is easy to use and very light
Reply #223 Tuesday, June 21, 2005 8:37 AM
For a POP3 account, you normally use 4 fields of information. I believe Yahoo! Mail uses the following:
1 - Account (user) name = your e-mail ID without the "@yahoo.com" attached (without the quotation marks).
2 - Password = your yahoo mail password
3 - Outgoing mail server = "smtp.mail.yahoo.com" (without the quotation marks).
4 - Incoming mail server = "pop.mail.yahoo.com" (without the quotation marks).
If the Object has these fields, you should be able to fill them in and configure the Object to interact with your e-mail account.
Note - you can also set-up Outlook Express to contact the Yahoo Mail servers by setting up a new POP3 account and filling in the fields listed above (see Yahoo Mail help for more information if needed).
I hope this helps.
Reply #224 Tuesday, June 21, 2005 8:50 AM
Thanks for the information.
ogiatros,
Geia soy ellada..
Reply #226 Tuesday, June 21, 2005 12:38 PM
Reply #227 Tuesday, June 21, 2005 6:33 PM
| For a POP3 account, |
thanks corky that was a great help.
billy
Reply #229 Monday, July 25, 2005 10:13 PM
Reply #230 Monday, July 25, 2005 10:20 PM
Reply #231 Monday, July 25, 2005 10:58 PM
| sysmetrix extension |
.SMX
If it is a .zip then unzip to a temp folder and move the last sub folder to: C:\Program Files\SysMetrix\Themes
Reply #232 Thursday, July 28, 2005 8:29 PM
Reply #233 Thursday, July 28, 2005 8:50 PM
Reply #234 Thursday, July 28, 2005 8:52 PM
Backgrounds must be extracted to the Backgrounds folder in the ObjectDock directory.
Docklets belong in the Docklets folder.
Images (png, and ico files) can actually be anywhere in the OD directory, but I find it best to organize them in their own folders.
Reply #235 Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:47 PM
Reply #236 Saturday, August 6, 2005 10:55 PM
Reply #237 Sunday, August 7, 2005 12:04 AM
Step #1 = Install the Stardock Central program, then start it up and log on using your Stardock account (e-mail address and password needed).
Step #2 - After successfully starting and logging on to Stardock Central, go to "Tools > Register Products" and select the Object Desktop in the Register section of left-hand pane > In the right-hand pane, select Object Desktop subscription from the drop-down list, enter your e-mail address, and enter the serial number that you received (probably via e-mail) and used to install Stardock Central > click the Register (Update) button to register your product > click OK to close registration dialog.
Step #3 - on the bottom edge of the Stardock Central window, I suggest deselecting the "Show pre-release versions" option to prevent having an "Alpha/Beta" version of the various softwares installed. These versions are still being tested, and probably contain bugs. It is usually best to start with the officially released versions to use and see how you like them.
Step #4 - Select the Object Desktop category in the left-hand pane of the Stardock Central window.
Step #5 - Click on a program in the main pane (left) and click the "Install" button. This will start the downloading, extracting, and installing process for that program. I personally recommend installing WindowBlinds, Icon Packager, and DesktopX to start with, as well as ObjectDock from the Misc or Free category.
These programs will allow you to do the following:
WindowBlinds allows you to select and apply a skin for the explorer shell (Start Menu, Taskbar, and Window frames), buttons, and toolbar icons.
IconPackager allows you to select and apply an icon packager which will change most all of the system icons and file type icons.
DesktopX allows you to run widgets, apply alternate desktop themes, and create your own desktop objects (you might start with running a couple widgets, you do not need DesktopX running to do this).
ObjectDock allows you to have a dock (anchor point) for icons (which can be displayed in large sizes with high quality graphic images). These dock icons can be added or removed as needed, and their images can be changed to any ".ico"file (standard icon file) or any ".png" (image file).
SkinStudio and IconDeveloper programs are design creation programs, that when combined with an image editing program such as Photoshop or CorelDRAW, allow you to create your own WindowBlinds skins and IconPackages.
This should get you going, and there are many other programs and goodies available through the Stardock Central program, which is more or less the control center for installing, archiving, and removing Stardock programs.
Stardock Central is also a web browser, Newsgroup link, and IRC chat link.
After installing the programs, go ahead and download some content from the libraries here at WinCustomize to use. I have written a mini tutorial on downloading content for beginners here Link
I hope this helps, and definitely post again any time you need help - someone is always dropping by to see if users need assistance.
Reply #238 Monday, August 8, 2005 5:25 PM
Reply #239 Monday, August 8, 2005 5:51 PM
Reply #240 Monday, August 8, 2005 7:34 PM
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Reply #221 Tuesday, June 21, 2005 8:16 AM