[preview] FlyakiteOSX v1.0

Haha shmengie...

Well for another update on progress:

I just wrote from scratch a utility to patch uxtheme.dll for 35 different uxtheme.dll versions for XP and 2003. It will be integrated into FlyakiteOSX but also available as a seperate download.

I've also added the ability for the UXTheme patcher and the FlyakiteOSX Update system to self-update themselves. If there are important updates to either utility, they will notify you and allow you to download the new version, and then it will re-place the old version and re-run itself.

EDIT: Also I forgot to say. I have successfully tested FlyakiteOSX on Windows XP SP2 and Windows XP RTM (no Service Packs) and the uxtheme patcher and system files patching works perfectly

#232787

That is great man and that is a good news for the all of us.

That made us very excited .......

#232862

Update #238423455 1/2

Alright well I've finished the UXTheme Patching utility. It's only 167kb (Take that Neowin Multi-Patcher!) and as an added bonus it can be run silently. Run the utility with the /S switch and it will patch the file silently, meaning you can include this tool in software you are designing, in a custom XP cd, etc.

I've also tested the updater. I installed normal Windows XP with no service packs on a test machine. I installed FlyakiteOSX and restarted. Everything was changed. I then installed SP2, restarted, and everything was back to the XP version. I ran the updater, it updated 100 files, I restarted, and what do you know, everything was looking like OSX again .

The only things I have left to tackle are the bootscreen and the uninstaller. The uninstaller will take me maybe an hour to finish. Otherwise it's just simple code cleanup and lots and lots of testing.

#232879

damn sounds good buddy. good luck on the rest

#232880

Danimator I have sent you e-mails with my suggestions.

Please Read Them. I am looking for a bette Window Blinds Skin to suite the Mod Pack.

Good Luck.

#233289

Danimator I have sent you e-mails with my suggestions.

Please Read Them. I am looking for a bette Window Blinds Skin to suite the Mod Pack.

Good Luck.

Danimator has nothing to do with this mod pack.... :confused:

#233340

@sithan

First of all, I am flyakite, not Danimator. Danimator created the WinDVD skin in Flyakite, that's all.

Second of all, you don't need to post here telling me you sent me e-mail. I got the e-mail. MSN notifies me when I've got mail. That's like Instant Messaging your friend, and then calling them on the phone to tell them you just instant messaged them.

@everyone else

Here's some more progress. Thanks very much to Marco Walle who created a custom .exe file for me to set a system restore point. The old VB Script that set the restore point before was flagged by certain antivirus programs.

Also, the installer has the ability to wait for a program to finish running before moving to the next instruction, however this doesn't work with VB Script files, since they aren't real programs. This means the installer would go to make a restore point, and the installer would start installing files before the restore point was made, screwing up restore points. With the new .exe file, the installer can wait until the restore point is made, THEN install files. I've successfully tested it, and using the restore point created rolls everything back absolutely perfectly. The only thing you have to do is rebuild the icon cache when done

Let's see, what else... oh, the installer no longer deletes the files in dllcache and servicepackfilesi386. Instead it copies the new file into those locations, so now running sfc/ scannow or whatever it is still works properly. And system restore will restore those to the original if you roll back.

Otherwise everything else is done. Other than testing (the beta will be available sometime this weekend, and cleaning stuff up it's all working. Also I want to add maybe a few more skins, but that's it for the main pack. Then I just have to make the seperate FlyaPacks which won't be too bad.

#233377

I could help you translating it to Portuguese... That is if you want.

#233408

Sorry Flyakite. I got confused. Will flyakite OSX look better than Flyakite SP2.

Bye.

#233457

Fantastic. Good luck mate. I know that this will not be an easy task. Better fill up the coffee storage rooms.

#233465

He stores it all in an igloo - and has it guarded by ninjas!

#233499

Don't pay any attention to XalCore....he's... we'll he's XalCore, that's really all that needs said.

On another, more interesting note. The beta will be out later today. It's currently Fri, 1:40PM Chicago time, so hopefully a few hours or so from now.

I'm posting all of this info right now so people can read before they get the beta, since I know most people won't read the info I post with the beta, lol.

A COUPLE OF THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE YOU WAIT:

0) This pack WILL work on all versions of XP, 2003, and any language. Do not ask "Will this work on *yourlanguage* XP Home?" or anything else like that.

1) This does NOT modify the dialogs or strings in Windows. So if you install this with no previous Flyakite pack installed, you will not get different right-click menus or wider dialogs, etc. Those will be available as seperate (much, much smaller) packs on the day of release.

2) This pack will work best on Windows without previous Flyakite packs installed. If you have SP2 v1.0 or SP1 v7.0 installed, I highly recommend COMPLETELY uninstalling them if you would like to use this new version. Or, if you've been wanting to reformat lately and haven't, now would be a good time.

3) Before you even THINK about asking to beta test when ready, make sure you are going to at least provide some feedback, even if only to say everything worked. The beta is not intended for you to just use and that's it. It's intended for me to receive information about what doesn't work, what does, what you'd like to see added, improved, etc. This is not "Hey I want the new version so I don't have to wait until Dec. 31st", this is "Hey I'd like to help you improve FlyakiteOSX by testing and providing helpful feedback".

4) If you are installing this pack fresh, I highly recommend turning on System Restore for testing. I have fixed the system restore problems that occured in previous versions (tested). So now you can create a restore point, test whatever you want, and rollback to before FlyakiteOSX. (FYI: If you use system restore to rollback, you will have to rebuild your icon cache manually after rollback)

5) The bootscreen will only get installed if you have your Windows installation on the 1st partition of your 1st hard drive. I'm sorry but this is the way the new method works. I can't patch the ntoskrnl.exe file because the palette has to be written to the file, which is not worth the effort seeing as how the location changes for almost every boot screen version. Instead the bootscreen bmp is extracted to the computer, and the commands "/noguiboot /bootlogo" are added to the boot.ini file. This is much safer, and completely uninstallable as well.

WHAT'S CHANGED:

Okay so now for what's changed...

1) Well the major thing is this is completely universal. It will work on XP Home, Pro, RTM (no service pack), SP1, SP2, Media Center 2004 & 2005, and Server 2003 Enterprise, Standard, Data Center, and Web. It will also work on any language of XP. You do NOT need an English version.

2) There are no moddified dialogs or strings in this release. As of this moment even the shut down and log off dialog isn't moddified (available in RC1). Also not changed are Open/Save/Browse toolbar bitmaps. I'm still working out the proper way to change it in all existant folders (it's hard to explain why I can't just do it easily with this version)

3) Added an update system. This system will scan for files that have been changed since installing FlyakiteOSX, and repatch them. What this means is, if you install FlyakiteOSX and decide you want to change more icons/bmps/avis to your liking, the updater will recognize this and try to repatch the file. (Something to keep in mind). The updater however only repatches files that FlyakiteOSX installed. This mean, if you had FlyakiteOSX install only shell32, and you modded explorer.exe, msgina.dll, calc.exe etc. on your own, the updater will still only update shell32. It won't touch files that have changed that it didn't modify to begin with.

4) Because of the patching system you will need about 100mb free of extra space (in addition to the backup files) on your hard drive, because the file resources are stored locally so the update can do it's magic fast.

5) Nothing is stored in Program Files now. It is all in a folder in the Windows directory called FlyakiteOSX (that is hidden after installation).

6) "Extract Files Only" is no longer the default install type. IF you for some weird reason choose to use Extract Files Only you will be surprised. No actual system files are included. Everything is raw resources. So you will find folders named after the file, that contain the resources for the file.

7) Windows File Protection is completely bypassed with the new install system. Also the cache reflects what is on the system. If you run SFC /SCANNOW the file in the cache is the same as the actual file on the system, so it will not run into any problems.

CURRENTLY KNOWN ISSUES:

1) On restart the Welcome Screen has a square in the top left corner that shows a portion of the wallpaper. I have NO idea why it's happening but I'm looking into it.

2) Installation time is sometimes reported as negative seconds.

#233544

Topic Closed.

Please continue on-topic discussion in the new thread.

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Stevie BM

#233601