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 #322 Wednesday, February 15, 2006 10:58 PM
Reply #323 Wednesday, February 15, 2006 11:07 PM
No?...click the software tab above and go get it.
Yes?...double click the .wba and it should self install.
Reply #324 Wednesday, February 15, 2006 11:07 PM
ok im an idiot but ty very much i didnt have the program 
Reply #325 Thursday, February 16, 2006 3:55 PM
Reply #326 Sunday, February 19, 2006 10:18 AM
Afraid another new user here...lol Sorry if I haven't read through all the posts in this section and if this topic has already been covered!
I'm having trouble working out how to change my logon screen via 'Logon Studio'... I have downloaded the logon screens that I want to try and they are all sitting in the 'LogonStudio' file. When I open LS there are the logon's I want to use and I can preview them! But thats about as far as I get! Applying does nothing just brings up current wallpaper and my XP logon box and changes nothing!!
I'm sure there is something I'm not doing right! Does anything have to be done to the file before you can use it. I've tried making sense of the tutorial - but I must be a n00b as I cannot make heads or tails of whats needed. Do I need to convert it to a 'logoniu.exe' and if so how? Looking at a particular logon file it's just made up of bitmaps, a theme file, a UIFILE and a uifile.oldLayout file...
So any help from you guys would be extremely appreciated...
Reply #327 Sunday, February 19, 2006 2:20 PM
| I'm trying to install a theme called alien, but when I unzip the file it's in a .msstyles format. |
You can't use msstyles with WindowBlinds, but with SkinStudio https://www.stardock.com/products/skinstudio/downloads.asp , you can convert the msstyle to the WindowBlinds format.
Night Diver ... are you on a domain? If yes, LogonStudio isn't going to work for you.
Otherwise, you need to have "use welcome screen" enabled in User Accounts Settings.
Reply #328 Thursday, March 2, 2006 3:52 AM
When I open any one of these files it just opens up wierd letters and numbers. There is nothing else to extract. I don't know what to do. I think I tried everything else, I can't get it to work.
Reply #329 Thursday, March 2, 2006 3:04 PM
Reply #330 Friday, March 3, 2006 4:52 AM
I hope you can help me
Thank you
Reply #331 Friday, March 3, 2006 7:01 PM
I am trying to add a weather docklet too my ObjectDock bar, but for some reason, none of the weather docklets are working. am I missing something? My other docklets (calender/CPU/Hardware) docs are working just fine.
Any help is greatly appreciated
and I still cant get SYSSTAT dock to work either.
Reply #332 Saturday, March 4, 2006 6:47 PM
smashmode ... Your problem with weather doclets could be firewall related also. Weather docklets need access to the internet. (btw... I've never had much luck with SysStats either)
Reply #333 Saturday, March 4, 2006 7:46 PM
Thank you anyway
Reply #336 Wednesday, March 22, 2006 12:53 PM
Reply #337 Thursday, March 23, 2006 12:29 AM
Reply #338 Thursday, March 23, 2006 10:29 AM
Trevor Grant ... you need a preview image (jpg format), and the .logonxp file.
Reply #339 Thursday, March 23, 2006 11:02 AM
and thanks 
Reply #340 Thursday, March 23, 2006 11:12 AM
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Reply #321 Wednesday, February 15, 2006 10:16 PM
Nope.