dougiefresh
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Posts posted by dougiefresh
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I've moved some posts to the GUI thread, as they were actually more relevant to the GUI than to the Green theme. I apologize to anybody if this confuses or irritates anyone.
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Would it make sense if I say the patch integrates more seamlessly than the gui?
In what aspect do you mean that it "integrates more seamlessly than the gui"?
Ok I don't know.. but the GUi adds shortcuts to the programs menu and stuff?
Yup. The GUI adds shortcuts, as well as other programs.
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anyone have made a backup of v2.0 ? if so please set a mirror!
:doh: I wasn't aware that the download link wasn't working. I've fixed it so that the file is now downloadable.... Really sorry about that!
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Might be little confused/lost on the spacing
I mean that I had to change the dialog text coordinates so that other languages will fit into the space provided, instead of being badly clipped and/or just cut off. Most non-English text equivalent is MUCH longer than the English text and requires a bit more space. I've had much success with using the Dutch OS with XPtsp, however, there are still some changes to the dialog spacing that need to be done.
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Are there big differences in content/files between GUI and patch anyway?
Most of the changes in the res files are spacing-related. Other than that, you probably won't see any change between the two.
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Ok I just pikced up playing with this again and NIS 2010 blocks a file, it says ICWONN2.exe is a trojan. Any ideas?
The issue you pointed out has been reproduced on my system. I don't understand why it is reported as such, as extracting the original is okay, but once the resources are replaced, it is flagged as a trojan. Maybe it's a signature issue.... I don't know. At the moment, I have no idea how to fix the problem except maybe to modify the icon(s) involved.... If anybody comes up with a solution, please let me know! Thanks!
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How's the development coming along? Has any progress been made? I know summer is the worst time for coding because everyone wants to go outside and do stuff.
"Go outside and do stuff"? People actually do that? Huh, it's everything I can do to stay out of the heat.... It hasn't.... I've been working 10 to 11 hours a day, 5 days a week out in 100 degree F (38 deg C) heat for the last two weeks, not mention trying to fix some computers that decided that they wanted to break down during a very busy time of the year.... This weekend, I worked on computers Saturday and rested Sunday. I literally did nothing on the computer....
I may get around to working on the patcher this week, but my workplace is doing a new model year hold on the 2011 vehicles. They may come off hold this week. If they do, then I won't be able to work on it for quite a while as I'll probably be working long days, 7 days a week.....
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:sweatingbullets: Work is trying to kill me with way too many hours in this fricken Tennessee heat.... I probably won't be able to do much of anything until next weekend.... :thumbsdown_anim: Sorry about the inconvenience, but I gotta pay my bills, too.... :shy:
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I'll do another integration just to make sure I didn't do something stupid. I'll send you the file it's choking on.
OK, now it's choking on a different file. :confused02: It's been hung for about 10 min on that one file.
SPRC041D.dll
All GUI settings at defaults this time.
You got PM.
Okay, I downloaded the file you sent me. It is exactly the same as an identically named file in my copy of Windows XP. I have no problems integrating the resources into my copy of Windows XP, so I am at a loss to explain why the patcher would lock up on that file.....
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qwesta, rr650, and Mr_Smartepants: Thanks for the feedback, guys! I really appreciate it!
I've been puzzled by the lack of success with Task Manager. So I started investigating again.... Fixit found that there was some overlap where it concerns the string replacement, so we rewrote the Task Manager hex-editing code again. Like before, seperate testing on the hex-edit code works correctly, but the visual errors continued to present themselves in the same manner that you described. So, I started looking at the res files responsible for Task Manager modding. It turns out that the TaskMgr.exe resource files were somehow corrupted. So I have had to copy the original resources from the batch version and will have to upload a new Green theme package....
Mr_Smartepants: Thank God that the logon/logoff screen bug is solved! Just so you know, changing the extra's packages has nothing to do with the Task Manager problem, as all of the resources are in the theme packages. Can you send me a copy of the original SPxx416xxx.dll file via PM so that maybe I can figure out what is going wrong? It would be greatly appreciated!
rr650: I can confirm and reproduce your findings. Corrupt res files are definitely responsible for the problems found, although I'm suprised that the NeonBlue theme package works fine....
Regarding the website, the extra's file were uploaded that day. But the website has a particular bug that doesn't update the MD5 and timestamp within the information file when new files are updated. In order to get the website to correctly update, I have to manually remove information from a particular file. I guess I goofed when I did my editing.... It's a bug that I haven't taken care of yet... I apologize about any confusion this caused you. I will update the website soon. Thanks for the feedback!
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What's Changed in v3.0.0.11:
- Theme Selection page now recognizes local modified versions of the theme package.
- Shortened waiting for window to close period from 60 seconds to 10 (WUAUCPL.MUI).
- Patching no longer occurs on a file when the res file is 0 bytes in size.
- Fixed the uninstaller so that backup files replace the modified files.
- Fixed the uninstaller so program folder isn't removed before reboot.
- Removed UXTHEME.DLL option in Component Selection for Windows 2000.
- Repatcher has been disabled from starting at Windows startup.
- /BOOTLOGO and /NOGUIBOOT switches removed from BOOT.INI while installing new kernel switch.
Hex-Editing support:
- Rewrote hex-editing function for UXTHEME.DLL, adding support for XP Gold and SP1.
- Rewrote hex-editing function for SFC_OS.DLL, adding support for XP Gold and SP1.
- Added hex-editing function for SFC.DLL for Windows 2000.
- Rewrote hex-editing function for TASKMGR.EXE to remove crashing problem.
- Removed hex-editing function for REGEDIT.EXE.
- Added messages to display if unsupported version is detected in hex-editing routines.
Additional Options page:
- Removed option to disable if resource translation should occur on English OSes.
- Removed option to deal with non-English XPSP?RES.DLL files in Live Install mode.
- Removed option to disable correcting PE Checksum during resource integration.
Translation Support:
- Corrected file locations for IE support on non-English OSes.
- Fixed the translation code so that all files are translated and installed correctly.
- Translation mappings changed in XPtsp.ini.
Updated Green Theme package:
- Modifications made to dialog boxes in several resource files.
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Mr_Smartepants: This should take care of the problems mentioned earlier.
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Okay, here's what is happening at the moment.
(1 & 2) Extra's packages have been uploaded, thereby fixing half of the problem with Task Manager. The other half, which is Task Manager itself, has been confirmed working properly.
(3) All resources are translated correctly.
(4) I am continuing to examine the resources once translated onto the Dutch OS in order to tweak the appearance so that the Dutch OS is readable to those users. Once corrected, hopefully the spacing will be appropriate for all users. No, I haven't uploaded them yet.
(5) Uninstaller has been fixed. Repatcher has been disabled during my testing because it has been telling me 300+ files need to be repatched and asks to reboot. Once rebooted, all modifications have been removed, which is not the object of the program. That's the uninstaller's job, not the repatcher utility's...
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Okay, here's what is happening at the moment.
(1) I couldn't duplicate the Task Manager problem right of the bat. It literally almost drove me insane until I realized that the CAD 2009 program was installed and it uses a debugger hook in order to capture the call to Task Manager. That realization led me to examine that add-on, which I found to have a corrupted intermediate program. That intermediate program was responsible for resizing the background image and then launching the actual CAD 2009 program. Recompiling the intermediate program fixed my issue of the Task Manager being reported as not a Win32 executable. Unfortuanately, this means another upload of the Extra's package.......
(2) Fixit and I rewrote the Task Manager hex-editing code in order to replace only the intended hex strings in the program. It took a while, but it works now. That was the cause of the problems that qwesta and Mr_Smartepants reported and Fixit confirmed.
(3) I spent some more time modifying on the resource translation code. At this point, the only res file that it fails on is the TIMEDATE.CPL file (responsible for setting the time and date). And I'm almost to the point where that file translates correctly, as well.
(4) There are some resources that are corrupted, most obvious being the Screen Saver tab on the Display control panel applet. I have to locate those resources and fix them. Unfortuanately, this means another upload of each theme package, because the issue is of CRITICAL importance.......
(5) Fixit reported yesterday that several components of the XPtsp uninstaller and control panel are broken. I think I've fixed the uninstaller, however, more testing needs to be done.
EDIT: I was asked in a PM about what the "Error compiling RC file using RC!" message meant. Since I can't respond to that message (conversation is closed), I will answer it here. I means that there is a problem with how the GUI transfers the non-English strings to the resource code. Please note that this DOESN'T happen on source files that are English, as no translation is necessary for those files. This next update should take care of most, if not all, of these messages.
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Those are the failure logs that should have been put in a subfolder in the temp folder. I searched through the code and found that the variable containing the location of temp folder was changed.... I fixed it...
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What's Changed in v3.0.0.10:
- Added a line to Installation Page to show detected OS type within the window.
- Reverted TASKMGR.EXE hex-editing code back to v3.0.0.2.
- Fixed the code so that all options aren't incorrectly disabled.
- Fixed the code to duplicate Home resources for Win2k/2k3 so that Pro doesn't also get them.
I made a change to the code earlier in order to make it easier for me to add support for Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 in the event that the files aren't present in the theme package. Guess what... I also forgot that Pro doesn't have it's own folder, but is the basis for all editions. A Pro folder was being created and the Home edition stuff was being copying or linked to it.... :shy: So, I fixed the code so that doesn't happen now.... I'm really sorry about that!
EDIT: Before you ask what "linking" is, I try to create a NTFS hardlink to the Home Edition folder. If that fails, then I copy the Home Edition folder to the specified folder. Doing it this way saves some seconds that (i believe) could be better spent elsewhere....
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qwesta: I've been trying to figure out why Task Manager appears to be corrupted. In my tests, even the backup is getting corrupted.... I'm at a loss to explain what is happening....
I'm still looking into this issue....
Mr_Smartepants: If you integrating the resources into a source folder, then you may want to check for WIN51IC in the root of the source folder.... If that file exists, it would make the GUI believe that it is a copy of XP Home, hence what you're seeing.
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On the "Additional Options" step, "Misc" tab; "Enable Resource Translation" option is now greyed out on my XP Pro ENU. Not really a problem since I was disabling that option (English-only sources), but the checkbox is checked and I can't un-check it now. Is this by design?
Maybe.... I failed to remove a condition that blocks on Integration, which will cause that checkbox to be greyed out. That's probably causing the issue here, since I know you're downloaded the latest copy of the theme package that you're using.
But something that might cause the issue is using an older theme package. Any non-Green theme package before this weekend, or any pre-Beta Green theme package, will cause this issue as well. This is because some of the dialogs are not maximized for space and probably won't translate right. As for whether it's affect your integration, it shouldn't. However, my English XP source that I've been testing on uses resource language ID of 1033 (hex 0409). I haven't tested any other English locale, so it's still POSSIBLE that it may affect it.... :g:
As for the rest of the dialog, those options shouldn't be disabled, either.....
hmm, I have been also testing out this since version 3.6:-
I'm using the purple version for the tests on "WINDOWS XP PRO SP3" .
Version 3.6 /a were somewhat OK, but since then these versions 3.7,8,9 have problems with the task manager. It seems not properly patched and a click on the menu of the task manger, it "disappears" like thunder.
I haven't seen any issues with Task Manager, but just to be safe, I'll pull the code from some version older than v3.0.0.6 and use it in the script....
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What's Changed in v3.0.0.9
- Fixed the bootscreen issue introduced with v3.0.0.7.
- Moved some code around so that Hex-editing messages appear before patching messages.
- Fixed SVCPACK code so that theme package gets copied to a XPTSP extension, not THEME.
Additional Options page:
- Fixed code in new tab (v3.0.0.7) so that controls are disabled when they shouldn't be.
- Log-keeping feature introduced in v3.0.0.7 removed in favor of logging only errors.
- Option to enable debug GUI mode removed from "Misc" tab.
- Added code to correctly set "Use Professional Theme" flag within the code.
- "Create System Restore Point" option moved from Optional Components to Additional Options.
Translation Support:
- Added code to properly detect background and most default XP sound filenames.
- Corrected the code so that translations actually take place. Most files are now translated.
- When compiling a RC file fail, the RC files are copied to Logs for diagnostic purposes.
Mr_Smartepants: This version fixes the bootscreen issue you mentioned a few posts back.
Bad News: Fixit ran the GUI on a Dutch copy of XP, with dismal results. Backgrounds and sounds were missing, amongst other issues. It was eventually determined that I had made the assumption that the filenames for both were in English.... Silly me....
Good News: I fixed the filename bug. During the translation testing, a LOT of progress was made in getting the GUI to actually translate the text from the Dutch files to the RES files. Currently, there are 4 files that have not been successfully translated, those being MMSYS.CPL, NETID.DLL, SHELL32.DLL and SYSSETUP.DLL. I'm not happy about these files, but I am continuing to try to fix the GUI where it concerns those files.
Bad News: I sent the GUI over the Fixit for further testing. The translation of the resources went without a hitch (with exception of those 4 files previously mentioned). However, he found quite a few issues with the resources themselves.... and I figured out that it's not just with the translated versions. So either I've managed to screw up ALL the theme packages this weekend (which means I'm gonna have to track down which res files were affected, correct them, then upload of theme packages), OR I need to fix the GUI so that ALL of the resources are plugged in properly. Maybe some of both.... I dunno yet...
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I fixed the code regarding patching using the proper bootscreen resource file. I had inserted some code that was intended to make sure older theme packages was compatible. Turns out that code was after the code moving the revised bootscreen res into the resource folder, instead of before.....
EDIT: Man, this is ridicilous..... 5,800 lines of code and growing! No wonder it's easy to insert lines incorrectly....
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What's Changed in v3.0.0.8:
- Added minor code in order to continue supporting older theme packages.
Updated Theme Packages - July 17, 2010
- Updated all theme packages to v2.0.
- Copied visual theme files from batch versions in order to correct appearances.
- Copied all dialog boxes from Green package into each theme package.
These updated theme packages should take care of any remaining issues with the GUI. I apologize for any inconvenience caused by having to download new packages, but it was necessary in order to fix the issues with the GUI.
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What's Changed in v3.0.0.7:
- Updated space requirement info on Live Install and Integration Source pages.
- Fixed the version check code when it checks for updated GUI versions.
- Restored visual elements of Extra's GUI Page back to v2.2.0.4.
- Rewrote internal code dealing with duplicating Home resources for Win2k/2k3 when necessary.
- Fixed code that moves theme-specific visual styles from resource folder to extra folder.
- Added code to build dated CAB of all logs made when keeping log files option.
- Re-Added location of BLISS.BMP to XPtsp.ini (Somehow it got deleted).
Additional Options page:
- Added "Misc" tab with more options to the Additional Options.
- Moved option to disable resource translation from Extra's page to new tab.
- Added an option to not translate non-English XPSP?RES.DLL files during Integration.
- Added an option to keep all logs regarding resource file integration.
- Added an option to enable GUI debugging mode from within the GUI.
- Added an option to use Professional visual theme instead of Home on non-Pro OSes.
- Added an option to disable correcting checksum values in files on Live Install.
Everybody: Fixit raised the issue that non-Pro users might find it confusing if they saw the pictures that we have in our gallery, downloaded the GUI and packages, applied it and found something completely different than what they expected. So I added an option to allow the user to force the GUI to use the XP Professional's visual theme instead. The other options are mostly to make any future debugging easier, and may or may not be useful to other people.
This version also fixes a fairly major issue with Live Install, mainly that of the incorrect visual theme getting applied to a system. I had to strip out the visual theme from the Extra's package and properly include them in the resource package in order to fix the issue with the Green theme. I will be working on the other themes this weekend in order to correct the visual theme problem, as well as to update the dialog coordinate information so that translations will be allowed within the GUI.
Once that is complete, I will be investigating x64 installs to see what needs to be modified in order to get the GUI to integrate the theme packages into the operating system correctly. I expect it to take a while... However, the logonui.exe.res explicitly for x64 will be included in each theme. Unfortunately, this means yet another download for y'all, but it really is unavoidable in order to fix these issues....
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Regarding the "virus" message that you received, I am running Norton 360 on my machine and I can verify that SAV Norton AV reports an trojan during patching. I don't understand why it does though, as the only thing it changes is one icon.... I can only suggest that antivirus software be disabled prior to patching....
Okay, I changed v3.0.0.6a back to 3.0.0.6 on the server in order to remedy this version checking bug at the moment. I've got some new code put in to deal with the version upgrade bug you found, however, it can wait until the next version is released. Is there anything else I should look at?
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LOL, testing now...
3.0.0.6a gets stuck in an infinite loop of "3.0.0.6a is available to download. Do you want to update?" Clicking yes results in "downloading **kb of 0kb" then restarts the whole process again.
BTW, I like the autoupdating function. Is that new?
:thumbsup_anim: Okay....
I introduced that feature in v3.0.0.3, i think... :doh: Stupid version numbers.... Just click no... :shy: -
What's Changed in v3.0.0.6a:
- WUAUCPL recompiling code modified to wait up to 60 seconds for Reshacker to close.
What the :censored: ?! OMG, that's a new one.... Even if the theme package had changed, it still doesn't make any code changes in any files, with exception of TASKMGR.EXE, REGEDIT.EXE and the kernels. Both TASKMGR.EXE and REGEDIT.EXE are hex-edited to enable high-res icons within each program, a trick I found on the WinCert forum. The kernels are hex-edited to replace the palette for bootscreens.Symantec AntiVirus is flagging C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\7Zipsfx.000\Temp\icwconn2.exe as a trojan.
I've made an additional modification so that the patcher waits up to 60 seconds for Reshacker. Refreshing current copy online now....After the flag, XPtsp crashed hard with reshacker popping up with the wuaucpl.mui dialog open and locked up the whole machine.
EDIT: Current copy uploaded.
"Go outside and do stuff"? People actually do that? Huh, it's everything I can do to stay out of the heat.... 
I introduced that feature in v3.0.0.3, i think... :doh: Stupid version numbers.... Just click no... :shy:
XPtsp GUI v3.0.0.26 - February 27, 2012
in XP Theme Source Patcher
Posted
I understand.... I think I've messed up the resources sufficiently that starting over with the batch resources is a good idea.
So what I've done is extracted the new dialogs from the "old" Green theme and placed the info in a new folder in the theme package. If a file needs translated and the dialog info file exists, it will delete the dialogs from the res file, then include & translate the dialog info file. Hopefully, this will take care of the visual problems with the English text, as well as the non-English text.....