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Tricks & Tips is a collection of things that I've come across while messing about with desktop themes and logos etc. I hope you may find them interesting and helpful.

Trick  Do you want to display a different skin in windows and a different skin in internet explorer. It's easy but you will need to use the registry to do this. Even the freeware program ie personalizer  in the XTRAS menu won't allow you to do this. Locate the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar ] in the registry (see the help menu if needed). Change the string data in the BackBitmap field only to a different skin file name. Exit the registry and open a new window. It will be the new skin and internet explorer will have the 'old' skin.

Screen Shot of ie and windows skins

Tip  Keep all of the skins and logo files in the one folder e.g. C:\windows\b52stuff, as this makes it much easier when locating files and altering the registry.                    

Trick  Use the same file name in both BrandBitmap and SmBrandBitmap fields to ensure windows and ie use the logo size you want. If using ie personalizer, use the same file name in both big and small logo fields. The reason being ( I read ) that ie/windows only uses the 'big logo' when it is needed and usually uses the 'small logo' as the default size.

Tip  To restore windows and ie to default skins and logos, delete the string values found in BackBitmap, BackBitmapIE5, BrandBitmap & SmBrandBitmap found in the registry key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar ].

Trick  Do you want to replace the text at the top of your internet explorer window to something more cool. It's easy. If you have downloaded ie personalizer, it will do it for you, otherwise, open the registry and navigate to the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
and find the key Window Title and if it doesn't exist create a new string value, (Edit/New/String Value) or modify the existing value. Double click on the Window Title name and enter the text that you would like to appear. Restart ie for the changes to take effect.

Tip  Do back-up your registry before doing any alterations. See your windows help file on how to do this. Damaging your registry could be fatal to your PC!!

Tip  You can make your own ie skins using your favorite imaging program. Create an image from scratch or import a photo etc, play around with it and save as a bitmap image 800w x 135h pixels and there you have it. I won't go into animated logo creation or I won't have any hair left, It's quite frustrating!

Trick All sound files used in my themes, including additional sound files use MPEG-1 Layer 3 Wav files (not to be confused with MP3). This allows me to use large WAV files ( eg. windows start up/shut down) and save you heaps of disk space. A 2.37Mb wav file is squashed to a paltry 220k with no loss of cd quality sound!

Tip  Save the HELP menu page to your PC for later reference. In ie, just click on the file menu and select 'save as'. Later, when your offline, just double click the saved document and you will have the help file.

Trick  Some ie toolbar add-on's and plug-in's can play havoc with the way explorer displays your skins, usually displaying the skin mixed up. In most cases to correct this, right click on an empty area of the toolbar and a menu will show what tool bars are active. Deactivate the one that is causing the problem, then repeat above and reactivate the toolbar. Sometimes selecting the option to lock toolbar also stops the problem.

Tip You Can easily make your own 'static' logo by using your favorite imaging program. Either start from scratch or import a photo etc and save as a bitmap image 38 x 38 pixels (big logo) and 22 x 22 pixels (small logo). Then either install by using the installation program or via the registry.

Tip** Please note that in some versions of internet explorer (seems to be version 6) that you may need to re-boot your computer for the changes to take effect, rather than to just re-start internet explorer **

Do you have any Tricks & Tips that can be added to the above list, just email me below.

Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. I cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use this information provided at your own risk.

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