This guide
was last updated on Monday, January 27, 2003
Special Thanks goes out to AlphaAlien
from Hardwaregeeks who wrote the original longhorn
guides. These expand on his guides which were an excellent base!
Tweaks
Uninstall Unnecessary
Components in Longhorn
This will allow you to uninstall all
unnecessary components in Longhorn that make it slow and/or unstable.
Open the file
C:\Windows\Inf\sysoc.inf in notepad
Delete all instances of the word
hide and save changes and exit notepad.
Click Start > Control Panel
Click “Add or Remove
Programs”.
When the Add or Remove
Programs dialog appears, click “Add/Remove Windows Components”
The Windows Components Wizard
should appear within a few seconds/minutes depending on the speed of your
computer.
Uninstall
the following components:
MyGames
Tablet PC Components
Automatic Updates
WinFS (Windows Future Storage Services)
After you have done this
reboot for the changed to take effect.
Note: When uninstalling
components DO NOT uncheck the blank entry at the top. This is NT Core Components, which consists of
Avalon, WMI, Windows Messenger, IE, COM+, and Distributed Transaction
Coordinator.
System
Performance Tweaks
This will fine tune the performance of Longhorn and make
things NOTICEABLY faster.
Right click on My Computer and go to Properties.
Click the Advanced tab and under Performance click
Settings.
Uncheck
all items except for the following:
Show shadows under mouse pointer
Use Drop shadows
for icon labels on desktop
Use visual
styles on windows and buttons
After this is done proceed to the My Computer window.
Go to Tools > Folder options and click the view tab.
Apply the following settings to the following components
(Check/Uncheck)
- Automatically search for network folders and printers –
Uncheck
- Choose smart icon size when opening new windows – Uncheck
- Display File Icon on Thumbnails – Uncheck
- Display file size information in folder tips – Uncheck
- Display simple folder view in Explorer’s Folder list – Uncheck
- Display the Contents of system folders – Check
- Hidden Files and Folders – Select Show hidden files
and folders
- Hide extensions for known file types – Uncheck
- Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) – Uncheck
- Use breadcrumb bar – Uncheck
- Use Domain folder sharing wizard – Uncheck
- Use simple file sharing (Recommended) – Uncheck
Remove IDWLOG from your
start-up
As far as I know, this is
like an “ET, Phone home” kind of thing, and I feel a bit better knowing its not
loading at start-up. Here is how to disable it:
Click Start, and then right
click My Computer. Select Properties.
Click the Advanced tab, and
under “Performance” click Settings.
Click the “Start-Up
Applications Monitor” tab.
Uncheck IDWLOG, and then
right click it and press Delete.
Select yes to delete the
IDWLOG file.
Install Windows Media
Player 9 Series
Normally, Windows Media
Player 9 series wont install on Longhorn, but there is a way to make it
install.
Download the Windows XP
version of Windows Media Player 9.0 from http://www.download.com
Save the file to your
Desktop.
Once downloaded, go to your
desktop and right click MpsetupXP and select “Properties”
Click the Compatibility tab.
Check “Run this program in
compatibility mode” and then select “Windows XP” from the Dropdown list.
Press OK.
Run Windows Media Player 9
Series set-up.
Install
Nero Burning ROM
Normally
Nero will install but it will not see your CD Burner. Here’s how to fix this small issue:
Download
Nero.
Once downloaded, go to your
desktop and right click Nero set-up file and select “Properties”
Click the Compatibility tab.
Check “Run this program in
compatibility mode” and then select “Windows XP” from the Dropdown list.
Press OK.
Install and have fun burning!
Disable Un-necessary
services
You should disable some
services that you don’t need so that Longhorn will run a little bit better.
Click Start > Run.
Type “services.msc” (without
the quotes)
Disable the
following services:
Castle Service
Automatic Updates
Error Reporting Service
IPSEC Services
Logon Hours
Remote Registry
System Restore Service (unless you use System Restore)
Turn on/off the Sidebar
In my opinion, the sidebar is
one of the best components in Longhorn. And some new Longhorn users have no
idea where it is, so... here is how to turn it on/off J
Right click the Taskbar and
select Properties.
Check/Uncheck “Enable the
sidebar” (depending if you want it on or off)
Add things to the Longhorn
Sidebar
By default, the Longhorn
sidebar is empty. Here is how you add/remove things to the Sidebar.
Click “Options” at the top of
the sidebar.
Click “Add a Tile >>”
Click the title of the
feature you wish to have on the sidebar. These include:
The infamous Longhorn Clock (Clock)
Virtual Desktop Management (DesktopManager)
Programs List (MFU)
Search
Quick Launch
Slideshow
User Tile (no real use yet...)
What each of them does:
Clock:
A nicely coloured analog clock, which sports the Longhorn logo in the
background with the date at the top. Probably one of the nicest things of the
Sidebar, in my opinion.
Programs List (MFR):
A list of your most frequently used programs. This
list changes as you use Longhorn.
Virtual Desktop Management (DesktopManager):
Longhorn has a new feature, which in my opinion is a
really good option to have. This tile adds clickable previews of your Virtual
Desktops. You can also switch virtual desktops by pressing the Windows Key and
a number between 1 and 4.
Note:
I recommend not using this feature because it causes a massive memory leak in
explorer.exe. It will easily eat up over
100 MB of memory.
Search:
You enter text that you wish to search for and then
press Enter, its like having Google or MSN Search available at all times.
Quick Launch:
This adds the Quick Launch toolbar (which premiered in
Windows 95 + Active Desktop and Windows 98) to the sidebar. You can customize
the items displayed in this bar so it can be like a static Programs List.
Slideshow:
This displays a slideshow of pictures in a folder that
you choose. A nice feature, but it is also a bit of a hog.
User Tile:
I think this is going to be for user switching in the
future. Currently it only displays the name of the person who is logged on and
their user picture. It is useless at this point.
The
sidebar is quite customizable even at this point, and is probably one of the
reasons people like Longhorn.
Got a program that works
fine on Windows XP but not Longhorn?
This is most likely just
because the Windows version has changed. Longhorn at this point is still
Windows XP with some add-ons and new features, but the version number has
changed to 6.0.3683, and not 5.1.2600, which some programs look
for. Run the program’s set-up in Compatibility mode and you should be able to
install the program fine. Here is how you do that:
Open My Computer, and browse
to wherever the set-up application is.
Right click the program and
select Properties.
Click the “Compatibility”
tab.
Check “Run this program in
compatibility mode” and then select “Windows XP” in the drop-down list.
Press OK.
Try to run the set-up program
now.
If
that doesn’t work, you could try another compatibility mode such as “Windows
2000” or “Windows 98”.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is new in Longhorn so far?
(Thank
you to Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows “Longhorn FAQ” for the information
used for “What is new in Longhorn so far?” – http://www.winsupersite.com/)
This info is partially inaccurate.
Get your shit straight Paul.
The Longhorn Start Menu and task bar will be enhanced with a new Sidebar
component that can optionally appear locked to one side of the desktop. The
Sidebar is an XML-based panel that includes links to local and remote
resources. This is TRUE.
Longhorn will include a database-like file system called Windows Future
Storage (WinFS), which is based on technology from SQL Server 2003 (code-named
Longhorn will take full advantage of 3D video hardware to render special
effects that will make the screen more photo realistic and deep. This doesn't
mean that the basic windows and mouse interface is being replaced; just that it
will look a lot better. The GUI Will be
3D accelerated but will NOT be fully 3D in any way, shape or form!
What Anti Virus Programs
work in Longhorn?
To my knowledge, AVG
Anti-Virus Professional/Free Edition and surprisingly, Norton Anti-Virus
2003 work fine on Longhorn. There isn’t too many problems with these;
(except NAV’s Tray icon is in 16 bit color)
Does Office 2000/XP/11
Beta work in Longhorn?
Yes, it does. You might have
a few difficulties, but yes, they work.
Where can I get Longhorn?
I’m not really going to help
with this, but I know you can get it from IRC. You’ll need mIRC (http://www.mirc.com), and knowledge of where
this stuff would be.
What editions of Longhorn
are there going to be?
This is unclear, but so far
there is supposed to be:
Longhorn Home Edition - UNCONFIRMED
Longhorn Professional - CONFIRMED
Longhorn Tablet PC Edition – UNCONFIRMED
What is with the new look in
Longhorn?
That
is the theme currently being used for the testing stages of longhorn right now,
and it is called “Plex”. Longhorn will bear little or no resemblance to this by
the final product.
The
Windows XP visual style is still available, as well as Windows Classic.
Just
open up the (old) Display Properties dialog and then click the Appearance tab,
and then select Windows XP style or Windows Classic style.
Where is the Windows XP default
background (Bliss)?
This
doesn’t seem to be in Longhorn, but you can restore it by using a Windows XP CD
and extracting it from the I386 folder.
Open
up a Command Prompt, and type this exactly the way it is here (substitute the
drive letters and Windows folder):
C:\>expand X:\I386\bliss.jp_ C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Bliss.jpg
Remember,
C:\> is the root of your hard-drive and D:\ is your CD-ROM.
Does
Remote Assistance work in Longhorn?
Not
by the looks of it.
Worms
World Party does not work correctly
Right click the short cut to Worms
World Party and Select Properties.
Click
the Compatibility Tab, and check “Run this program in compatibility mode”.
Select Windows XP from the Dropdown list.
Under
Settings, check “Run in 256 Colors” and “Run in 640x480 Screen Resolution”. The
latter may not be needed. Try it, if it works, try un-checking it to see if it
works.
SmartFTP
does not work!
At this point, we don’t know how to
fix this problem. For us, SmartFTP just crashes when we try to start it. Use FlashFXP for the time being.
Where
can I get the “Plex” style for Windows XP?
You’ll need a 3rd party
UXTHEME.DLL to use it. Click here to get the
Plex visual style; click here to
download the UXTHEME.DLL patch (Click “UXTheme Patch for Everything”)
Bugs
I can’t change my User Icon!
If you have enabled the Sidebar and have ever enabled
the User Tile, your user picture could be stuck. There’s no way to change it
except create a new user account, transfer your files to it, etc. Change your
user picture before you enable the sidebar or user tile. It’s the one you’ll be
stuck with.
Right clicking a page in Internet
Explorer and Selecting “Properties” don’t work!
This is a known bug, and
I don’t think there is anything that can be done to fix it.
I can’t download anything in
Internet Explorer!
That’s
because some bitmaps are missing from windows – this includes the download
animation in Internet Explorer. You can fix this by clicking here. I recommend getting this
BEFORE you install Longhorn, or use another browser such Mozilla to download
the fix.
Paint
crashes on Exit!
God
only knows why it does this.
User
Control Panel crashes when I close it!
Same as above. We don’t know why
they crash on exit.
When
I change themes, sometimes the start menu text changes to “st”
Reboot your machine, it should
return to normal.
MMD3
skin for Winamp3 doesn’t work right!
Run Winamp3 under
Compatibility mode setting “Windows XP”. It should fix it.
SETUP Questions
Why does it ask for my
Windows XP CD when I try to install Longhorn?
It
does this because Longhorn is built upon an XP install. You need to rename your
CD to WXPVOL_EN in order to fix this problem. You can also copy all of the
files from the ISO or from your Longhorn CD to your desktop and install it from
there.
I
get non-fatal errors after setup has finished
Don’t
worry about these. Longhorn still works fine.
Is
it possible to install Longhorn from my Hard Drive?
Yes,
it is. Extract the ISO to a folder on your hard drive. Try to make sure you
have 2 partitions, and then run SETUP.EXE and install Longhorn to the Second
Partition.