vincentkong.com

Windows XP has been around since 2001, and after using it for such a long time, I’ve gotten really bored with the theme. Other than the blue, green, and silver theme, Microsoft does provide the Zune Theme, but that’s about it.

Microsoft load Windows XP themes (.msstyles) files by using a DLL called uxtheme.dll, unfortunately for compatibility and branding reasons, Microsoft made uxtheme.dll only run Microsoft digitally signed .msstyles files. Thus if you want to install a 3rd party theme, you’ll need to disable Microsoft’s digital signature protection for .msstyles. This can be done by installing the uxtheme.dll patch which can be found in various places if you do a search.

To Install the patch just overwrite the existing uxtheme.dll in the C:\Windows\System32 (make sure to backup the original) and reboot the computer. The harder part is looking for a theme you like there are many sources available such as:

• Deviant Art
• WinCustomize
• themexp.org
• WinMatrix

If you don’t want to go through all the hassle of patching the uxtheme.dll you may want to visit the website CyrstalXP.net which provides theme packages they refer to as Bricopacks, which are very easy to install. For me, I installed the Vista Inspirat Ultimate 2.

If you are updating Windows XP with a new service pack, it’s recommended that you uninstall the Bricopack first then reinstall after the service pack. Refer to About Bricopacks and Windows XP SP3 for more information.

Wine is a software application which allows Unix-like computer operating systems run programs that were originally written for Microsoft Windows. The Wine developers released the first beta version of Wine (version 0.9) on October 25, 2005 after 12 years of development.

Installing Wine

It’s recommended that you installed the latest version of Wine, unfortunately the version that is included in Ubuntu is often a few versions behind. To get the latest version you’ll need to edit the /etc/app/sources.list and add Wine’s own apt repository.

$ sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Enter the following at the end of the file:

deb http://wine.sourceforge.net/apt binary/

After the changes have been done, run the following command to update the package cache:

$ sudo apt-get update

Finally to install Wine with the command:

$ sudo apt-get install wine

During the installation it will recommend you to install the msttcorefonts (Micrsoft True Type fonts) and cabextract (a tool for extracting the conts of Microsoft .cab archives) as well.

$ sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts cabextract

Configuring Wine

To configure Wine run the Wine configuration utility:

$ winecfg

Note this utility doesn’t need a sudo user to run it.

Once the command is executed, the Wine configuration directory will be created in /home/username/.wine. As well, a tabbed Wine configuration interface will appear. The interface will allow you to adjust various parameters of your Wine installation for the currently logged in user, e.g, the version of Windows that you want Wine to behave like, but everything will work fine with the default settings.

If you want to add a CD-ROM drive:

1. Click on the “Drive” tab.
2. Click on the “Add” button to create a new Windows D: drive
3. Click on the “Browse” button to select the path to your CD-ROM e.g. /media/cdrom0
4. Click on the “Apply” button to finish.

Installing a Windows Application

To install an Windows application just type the wine command e.g.

$ wine "utorrent.exe"

If you are using an application that works with Wine, the installer will launch and install the application into the mock Windows filesystem in your .wine directory. After the installation has completed you will be able to find the installed program under the menu “Applications” -> “Wine”.

If it doesn’t show up you can run the application in the command prompt:

$ wine "c:\\Progam Files\\utorrent\\utorrent.exe"

In Japan, I brought myself a UMPC (Fujitsu FMV-BIBLO LOOX U50X/V). Unfortunately, the whole system was in Japanese, thus I had to convert things back to English by installing an English version of Windows Vista, and installing the English drivers for the Lifebook U1010.

One software package which I had remaining and wanted to install Microsoft Origami Experience Pack, a software package specifically designed for UMPC. After downloading the software from the Microsoft website.

When I attempted to run the installation I got the error “Origami Experience runs only on Ultra-Mobile PCs running with Windows Vista”. This was puzzling to me as my computers satisfied both conditions. Frustrated, I did some research and finally found a workaround.

1. Download the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit for Windows Vista. Apparently, the Origami installer checks the device screen sizes and disallow itself to be installed on any device with a screen wider than 7 inches. The SDK will be used to remove this restriction from the installer.
2. Run the SDK setup.exe file and under the Installation Options uncheck everything except the “Win32 Development Tools”.
3. After the installation has been completed go to the directory C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0\Bin and run the file called orca.exe which is the MSI Editor that we will use to hack the Origami msi file.
4. After the ORCA has been installed, run it from the start menu, and open OrigamiExperiencePack.msi by going to File -> Open from the menu.
5. On the left panel of the application, scroll down and click on InstallExecuteSequence and then on the right panel click on the LaunchConditions item and delete it.
6. On the left panel again, look for the InstallUISequence item and then delete the LaunchConditions item from the right panel again.
7. Finally save your changes, and run the Origami MSI file again. You should be now able to installation the package!

I’m an owners of two IBM Thinkpad; the T40, and the T42, both running on Windows XP. A few days ago both of were experiencing problems with the laptops.

With the T42 Thinkpad, I would lose my wireless connection a few moments after I have turned on the laptop. When I try to ping my router I would get a “Hardware Error” message, and when viewing the Network Connections under Control Panel, the Wireless Connection indicated that it was disabled. An attempt to re-enable the connection would result in the laptop hanging.

The T40 Thinkpad was even worse, as it was haunted by the Blue Screen of Death.The blue screen would appear randomly and very frequently, making it almost impossible to diagnose what was the cause.

It turned out the root case was the drivers for the Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG wireless card, which is the card that was installed on both our laptops.Apparently, the existing drivers which came with the IBM Thinkpad was no longer compatible with newer Access Points (I had also recently change my wireless network encryption from WEP to WPA).I downloaded the latest drivers from, and after installing it, both laptops were working again.

For more information refer to the Intel WiFi Product support page.

Back in Japan, I brought myself the Fujitsu LOOX U50X/V an UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC). The only problem was, everything was in Japanese, therefore I had to convert everything back in English. I went and got an English version of Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, and I downloaded the English drivers from the Fujitsu website for the Fujitsu Lifebook U1010. After a couple of hours, my new UMPC is now running perfectly in English.