BOOT CAMP 510 (05/02/08)
Poor Man’s Vista, part 2
Upgrading an older XP
computer to Windows Vista can be a tricky business with the potential for all
sorts of hardware and software conflicts, not to mention lacklustre
performance. If you want Vista, and there’s much to commend it, fine, just make
sure the PC is question is brand new and up to the job.
If you are not yet ready to
buy a new PC you can still benefit from the best bits of Vista, in particular
the eye-catching visuals and over the next couple of weeks we’ll look at some
free utilities that can transform your XP computer into convincing Vista
look-alike. The changes are mostly superficial and you should only install
these programs if your machine is behaving normally, and don’t forget to backup
any important data first; the changes we’ll be making are mostly very safe, but
don’t take any chances…
This week we’ll begin with
a full makeover that includes a set of Vista-like desktop themes, backgrounds,
icons and sounds, transparent windows and dialogue boxes and the handy Mac
feature we mentioned last week. They’re all combined in one convenient package
called BricoPack
Vista Inspirat Ultimate 2. It works best on PCs with 2GHz or faster
processors; it should still work on slower machines but you may have to switch
off one or two features or suffer a reduction in performance. By the way, if
something does wrong and you need to uninstall the program see this week’s Top
Tip.
In addition to adding to
Windows XP’s repertoire of visual and audio effects BricoPack also installs
four stand-alone components called RocketDock, Y’z Shadow, TransBar and
UberIcon, more about those in a moment.
So let’s get started and
install BricoPack. The download is around 28Mb so it can take a few minutes on
a slower connection; otherwise it is all very straightforward, just follow the
prompts. If you have an older machine select the Classic option, otherwise choose
Total, for all of the available packages. When it has finished extracting files
it will ask to reboot the machine, click Finish and as the new and rather
ethereal Exit Windows tune plays, wave goodbye to your old XP desktop. When
Windows returns you will notice a lot of changes, including a new Welcome
screen and Windows Start sound
If you want to change back
to your original background or theme, or try something else then right-click on
the desktop and select Properties. You’ll find the old, and new options listed,
as usual on the Themes and Background tabs, and if you want to try another set
of Vista styles, select the Appearance tab and click the Windows and buttons
drop-down menu. To revert back to standard Windows pointers and system sounds
go to Start Control Panel and make your changes in Mouse > Pointers or
Sounds and Audio > Sounds.
Apart from a new desktop
theme one of the biggest changes is the appearance of RocketDock at the top of
the screen. This is a fairly blatant copy of the Mac OSX Dock and if you move
your mouse over it you will notice how the icons ‘balloon’, click on one and
the selected program or utility opens – impressive eh? Personally I find it a
bit too large and intrusive in its default position. To move and resize it click
the Settings icon on the docking bar and have a fiddle with the Icons and
Position adjustments. You can easily add icons to the bar by dragging them from
the desktop or All Programs list, and remove them by dragging them off the bar.
To configure or change an item on the bar just right click on it and select
Icon Setting.
Y’z Shadow is the one most
likely to cause problems on slower machines as it uses a lot of resources,
creating a smart-looking drop-shadow around windows and dialogue boxes, and
adding transparency to program menus. If you find your PC has suffered a
serious post installation slowdown, switch it off by clicking the Vista
Inspirat 2 Config icon, which appears on the desktop. To adjust the shadow and
transparency effects right-click on the Y’z Shadow icon in the System Tray
(next to the clock). It will probably be on the default French language
setting, in which case click ‘Langage’, select English, and then OK.
Right-click on the icon again, click Setting and play around with the controls.
You find the transparency adjustment on the Menu tab, a value of 230 works for
me.
TransBar is arguably the
least interesting BricoPack feature; all it does is apply a variable
transparency effect to the Taskbar. The control panel – for changing transparency
level -- is very well hidden. On my PC it is in C:\WINDOWS\BricoPacks\Vista
Inspirat 2\TransBar; I found a setting of 75 percent about right.
Finally UberIcons and this
adds an animation effect to desktop icons. When you click on them they appear
pulsate and expand. It doesn’t do much for me but it might tickle your fancy
and it is worth a quick look. Once again you can change the effects by right
clicking on the icon that appears in the System Tray.
Next Week – Poor Man’s Vista, part 3
JARGON FILTER
DROP SHADOW
Shading along the left
and bottom edges of windows and dialogue boxes, giving a 3D effect
MAC OSX
The current Apple Mac
Operating System, first launched in 1999. The most recent version (v10.5),
released in October 2007, is widely known by its codename ‘Leopard’
THEME
Collection of visual and
audio customisations to change the appearance of Windows or an application
TOP TIP
If you
don’t get on with BricoPack or it disagrees with your computer then don’t try
and uninstall it from Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel as parts of the
program may be left behind. The best way to do it is from the BricoPack Config
menu, which should be on your desktop. If you don’t see it go to Start >
Programs BricoPacks > Vista Inspirat2 > Vista Inspirat 2 Config and click
the Remove button.
Don't forget, there's a
full archive of previous Boot Camp Top Tips at www.pctoptips.co.uk
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© R. Maybury 2008, 0701
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