Installing Themes

Which themes?? And do you have the programs to run those themes??

LCARS and what programs do I need to run it?

I have the same problem...plz help me too!!
I have the Dragonism theme in my computer, and after I extract it, it comes out w/ a lot of .png, .jpg files...
I also downloaded WinStyles (which I think is needed?) to change my themes...but when I opened it, it asked for .suite or .skin files...which I didn't have in the zip files.
Can anyone tell me what to do now??

Thanks a lot!!!

The LCARS stuff are for DesktopX. You can download the shareware version here: http://www.desktopx.net

If the file ends in a .dxpack extension, then the file contains one or more DesktopX objects (for example an animated icon which are often called "zoomers").

If the file ends in a .dxtheme extension, then the file contains an entire dx theme (which itself is contains a whole bunch of DesktopX objects, wallpaper and so on).

WinStyles is an application that that applies themes for other apps automatically all at once. You still need the other applications installed for it to work.

For instance, the WindowBlinds program is used to skin the standard Windows elements (titlebars, scrollbars...). IconPackger is used to install icons.

ObjectBar is used to install and display objectbar themes (which are usually taskbar menubar replacements).

So imagine you had a fancy desktop setup that used WindowBlinds,IconPackager,ObjectBar and DesktopX themes.
If you wanted to change the enitire setup, you would have to go to WindowBlinds config and pick a new skin, then use IconPackager and its config to load up a new bunch of icons, and so on...)

With Winstyles all the various skins are collected under a WinStyles suite or theme file. Then with the click of a button Winstyles will automatically apply these skins to WindowBlinds,IconPackager,ObjectBar,DesktopX,...). It automates the process of applying skins for you.

Thanks, Chris!

But I guess get a question...(sorrie, I'm dumb...) I don't see any .dxpack or .dxtheme after extracting the file though. Take dragonism theme as an example, after extracting the zip file, all I see is .bmp, .png, and .dll files...and when I try to apply .png files to WinStyle...it ask me to select a theme to begin (or some' like that)...Do you know how I can cope w/ that problem?? Thanks a ton again!!!

Hey, no problem guys. Let me see if I can clarify this a bit more. Don't extract the files.

*.dxpack and *.dxtheme files are really *.zip files (for DesktopX).

*.xptheme files are really *.zip files (for WinStyles).


So rename the file you downloaded. Change it from *.zip to *.whatever (for instance .dxtheme) depending on what app the theme is for.

Then simply double-click the newly renamed file and it should install properly. What this does is launc the appropriate app, DesktopX for example, and DesktopX automatically unzips the contents of the file and installs it for you.

As you start playing around with different skinning aps, you'll find that themes for skin apps are usually contained zip files that have different extensions. The reason for this is that when a skinnable app is installed, it associates certain file extensions with the app.

This is true of all files types under windows. For instance. *.zip files are usually associated with Winzip
*.txt files are usually associated with notepad.
*.doc files are usually associated with MS Word.

So if you have WinStyles installed, windows knows that *.xptheme is associated with WinStyles. That fact the file is actually a zip format file is irrelevant.

The one "gotcha" with WinStyles is that Winstyles is meta-theme in that it is a theme that holds skins for other apps. So if you have a WinStyles theme that contains a DesktopX theme and a complimentary WindowBlinds skins, in order for everything to work, you not only need the WinStyles program installed, you also need the WindoBlinds and DesktopX programs installed.

dybabee...... go to the section where you are downloading the theme, or skin, or whatever. Look up near the top of the page.....there are links there to help you. You are going to need the associated program to use any of this stuff.

Chris is much more wordy than me.........

Sigh.. I know. I can't seem to shut up. It just pours out. Why say it in 5 words when I can it in 10,000