Cant afford Vista but still feel the wow!!

Well iv been wanting to write this for a long time but never actually got the time ... actually it took me a lot of time to find all these applications which wud make my xp look almost like vista

Screenshots check out the aero effect
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Do u want to make ur XP look like Vista and believe me it has stark resemblance ... i am using this on my xp and honestly i sometimes forget which OS iv booted into ... cant give u screenshots coz im currently in vista ... however here is how u do it ...

To achieve this we will make use of 6 3rd party softwares:

1. Vista Bricopacks ... il tell what it is and how to get it
2. Windows Blinds 5.5 (If u want the aero effect, else a lower version of windows blinds will do but u wont be able to use the aero effect)
3. Vista Theme
4. Stardock Logon Studio
5. Vista Drive Status Icons
6. Stardock Bootskin
7. A patch
8. Vista Sidebar
9. Flip 3d

Now who will do what ...

1. Vista Bricopacks:
Download from #-Link-Snipped-# - (size= 38.39 MB)

What will this do ... this is a shell pack so basically it will change the icons, and default window images to resemble the ones by vista ... note as this is a shell style it is not a resource hogger

and u will get:

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2. Windows Blinds:
I dont think application needs any introduction it ia the best theme manager for XP and is a beauty ....
Unfortunately this not being free u will have find ur own way of obtaining it
Please note only versions 5.5 above support aero-like interface

For more info ... Stardock WindowBlinds: Skin and Theme your Windows Desktop

3. Vista Theme:
now this theme has not been made by me but i have edittd it so i am giving links to both ... u can use which ever u feel is better major difference between both is that vista has a search bar in the start menu and in the windows ... so the original creator of the theme included that but unfortunately u cannot search it is just an image which i did not like so i edited and removed it and some more minor tweaks to give it the exclusive vista feel

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All credit to him for creating such a meticulous replica of vista

4. Stardock Logon Studio:
As the name says it will change the default logon of windows xp to look like vista
Price: Free
Size: 1.82MB
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LogonStudio: Software from Stardock Corporation

Now once downloaded and installed use this logon screen as it is almost similar to the one with vista:
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5. Vista Drive Status Icons:
Now 1 feature that i like about vista is that when u open my computer u get ur hard drives with a status bar below the drive which tells u how much of the drive is filled ... now this package does the almost the same ... the results are pretty close
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6. Bootskin:
Now to get the boot screen that vista has ... download this software:
Price: Free
BootSkin: Software from Stardock Corporation
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7. A patch:
Now in vista when u click on the start bar u get log off and shut down as text next to the buttons but vista doesnt have this text and that is what this patch does ... it removes the text it even allows u to restore it if u wish to
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8. Vista Sidebar:

There are 2 ways of getting this

Method 1:

1. Download the #-Link-Snipped-#, and decompress it (it’s a RAR file).
2. Copy the decompressed folder into the Program Files directory (C:\Program Files\).
3. Now go to the Users folder, and under your username create a new folder named Parts (C:\Documents and Settings\Martin in my case), and copy the files from C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Parts into this folder.
4. Download #-Link-Snipped-# and put it in the Windows Sidebar folder mentioned above, then run the file named Patch (and do as it says).
5. Next up, download #-Link-Snipped-# decompress it and place it into the Windows Sidebar folder. This file is part of Internet Explorer 7, so if you have that beta, just get it from your own IE7 folder.
6. Now just run the sidebar (C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe) and click the plus sign to load the widgets!

Screenshot of my desktop:

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Method 2: (im using this) coz like the vista sidebar this also blends itself to the desktop

DesktopX - Custom Windows Desktop unfortunately this also not being free u will have to find your own way of obtaining it

Download this widget #-Link-Snipped-# (screen shot on the page)

Screenshot of my desktop:

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9. Flip 3d
Well 1 of the most time pass feature of vista that i enjoy is the flip 3d ... its brother for xp
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.... a long tut that is 1 reason y i had not written it earlier ... i have compiled all this by myself its my copyright ... wanna share it do so but just give me some credit

Also this is not resource hog like the vista transformation pack ... that being a resource hog i took all this trouble to make my xp look like vista

PLease note if u put ur PC under pressure then u will have to be patient