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If you are using Windows XP.....

By Ray on May 16, 2008 - 8:54pm

If you, like me, are still using XP Pro, and you've been repeatedly nagged by Microsoft to download and install their SP3 cummulative update for Windows XP, there may be problems.

One of those problems is that any changes you've made to the appearance of your user interface (GUI) will be wiped out by the installation of that SP3. Many of us have been using third party themes, such as the Vista Transformation Pack, to give our reliable old XP Pro the newer appearance of an interface like Vista uses. There are free themes available for that. But if you've done that, and you install the SP3 update, none of those will work, because their enabling executive files have been removed by the update. To get those back, you must use 'System Restore' to revert to your previous setup. The good news is, now that you've installed that SP3, you shouldn't be nagged about it. So just leave it in a dark corner, and carry on as before. If you've been keeping up to date with your updates, then you probably don't need it anyway.

Here are three handy freeware programs for your user interface

By Ray on June 12, 2007 - 4:49pm

RK Launcher Screenshot
Stardock's ObjectDock screenshot
Winroll 2.0 screenshot
RK Launcher organizes your shortcuts on a sidebar application.
ObjectDock can replace your taskbar for icons, tasks, etc.
Winroll is like Windowblinds and "rolls up" a window by rt-click.

All of these are freeware, but ObjectDock comes in a Pro version
which you can purchase with more features for $20. if you like.
These jazz up your desktop without transforming the whole GUI.
If you love something different, try these. That Winroll program
is already built into this Vista Transformation Pack 6.0 that
I'm using on my XP Pro, so I can tell you it works great.
One right-click reduces a window to its title-bar, and one more
brings it back to full size. Check these out for something new.

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