Make XP look like Windows Vista / Longhorn for free!
Contributed by risherz 
Tagged: Microsoft Vista Change your boring old Windows XP theme to look like Vista using MSStyles (no shell-packs!) for free! Plus you don’t need to download any software to do it either (so your computer won’t get messed up!). You can do it all by yourself and when you are done it is surely going to look like Windows Vista.
Steps: 1. Theme 2. Wallpaper 3. The Fox 4. Cursor 5. Vista-ish applications 6. Fine Tuning 7. Shell Packs 8. Sidebar 9. Final Result
First make sure that you have patched up your uxtheme.dll file. So go read my other recipe if you haven’t so already. This recipe also tells you how to change your themes.
Now you are ready to do some downloading.
There are many msstyles themes out there that look super cool and look like vista/longhorn.
You can also get shell packs and windows blinds themes but some people claim that this can mess up your computer badly.
The theme that I found works best is VistaXP by -kol! (but it was so popular that MS got it removed). Just go to google to find themes that work well. These themes will make your computer look like Windows Vista for sure. So… go ahead and download it.
Then unzip or copy it to C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes
All right now you can change your computers theme to the Vista theme you chose.
There are lots of Vista wall papers available… chances are that you have one included with your theme as well. If you don’t then you can try your luck at WinMatrix’s great post for Vista wallpapers. If not then you can always search on Google for Vista Wallpapers.
If you want you can also get this wallpaper which also a CoolGrass wallpaper by ApacheUser plus it has the Windows Vista logo on it!
Another great way of getting an impression that you are in fact using Internet Explorer 7, just like how it is on Vista is to get Firefox, and then use one of the many user designed themes and changing the look of the browser. If you don’t have Firefox already, then make sure you get it along with the Google toolbar as well, as it will help you keep track of your e-mail and at the same time search the web!
Once you get Firefox install one of the many Vista like themes here. Vista-aero and myFireFox are one of the popular ones out there.
Changing the cursor
You can download the aero cursor pack over here. Just read the read me file supplied and enjoy. Additionally, you can go to How to change your mouse pointers article and change your mouse pointer to the 3D-White (system scheme), it looks very similar to the original cursor in Vista.
Getting Vista-ish applications
Now once you are done that. And you like some transparency on your computer get these two very cool tools.
Vista Explorer: Something like the original Vista explorer but for XP and plus it has….. transparency. YES! IT IS TRANSPARENT! Just like the original one.
Internet Explorer (transparent version!): This is also very similar to the real internet explorer. Plus the internet explorer button on the task bar says internet explorer 7 (good for fooling people)! You can also get the real IE 7 (no transparency though)
Now your system should look like Vista for sure, but why stop when you have come so far?
Get the Alt-Tab Replacement PowerToy! This shows you the windows you are switching to (sort of something like in the real windows vista)…
After that, fine tune your font settings and turn on ClearType fonts with the ClearType Tuner PowerToy (you can also do this online). Since the real Vista uses the font ‘Segoe UI’ which is a cleartype font, you can mimic the real fonts by using ClearType.
However, some themes already come with the Segoe UI font so don’t forget to enable it while you are using it.
Shell Packs
If you really want to get shell packs to do what you can already do on your own then here are some of them:
- Vista Customization pack by JoeJoe
- The brico pack by CrystalXP
- The Windows X longhorn Transformation pack by Windows X
Please keep in mind that the shell packs don’t customize your computer to look like the latest Vista/Longhorn builds, so your computer might not look like the recent Vista screenshots.
The Vista Sidebar
Since the links in Alex the Beast’s recipe do not work anymore, you can head on over to Thoosje’s website and get the Thooseje’s Sidebar version of Windows Vista’s Sidebar instead and put that on your computer too.
And when you are done that you can start celebrating! In fact you can claim that you have Windows Vista already, and nobody will doubt you. One last step enjoy and don’t forget to show-off your new look!
Take a look at these screenshots of how your PC will look once you are done. If I didn’t put that System Properties window up there then I’m sure I could have fooled you too!
note: I haven’t included a screenshot with the longhorn sidebar. If you want to view a screenshot of it then please go to Go to Thoosje’s website.
Screenshots:
Things I used in these screenshots: The YAFVC3 VS (and all the things included in the download, wallpaper from Winmatrix and icons for recycle bin and my computer from modified version of explorer found in YAFVC theme (install modified explorer.exe > right click on desktop > properties > desktop tab > customize desktop > change icon > type in ‘C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe’ > select icon > OK).
Enjoy!
You may also like -
Make Vista Look Like Windows 7 for Free
Windows 7: How to Enable or Disable Integration Features in Windows XP Mode
Windows Server 2008: Install Desktop Experience to Utilize Vista Theme
Vista: Use BCDEDIT to change boot up options (dual boot w/XP Prof)
Windows: Get a List of All Running Processes from the Command Line
Windows XP: How to use Videos as Wallpaper or Background
Vista: Disable Clicking Sound
SystemInfo is a powerful tool for displaying information about a system
hashem said on October 2, 2008
thank you very much
Lilshado said on October 3, 2008
it has a infostealer.gamepass
r342s said on October 3, 2008
Your Vista start menu sucks man
threema said on October 3, 2008
working 100%
sameh said on October 11, 2008
thank you very much
Jerson said on October 13, 2008
Thanks a lot I been looking for this one!
Leomagas said on October 19, 2008
If you want Vista look, try window blinds!
raf said on October 22, 2008
thanx
Anonymous said on October 25, 2008
cool
fuck u said on October 27, 2008
Get more proof and pics
RAK said on November 3, 2008
why i can not get the Vista themes …who know to tell my about this pleaseeee on my msn Dishonest_Person@msn.com…….:@:@:@:@
windrazxor said on November 8, 2008
Hey. Can You Uninstall This Easily?
Thankks and great recipe too.
Anonymous said on November 14, 2008
i like this theme
Xpuser said on November 15, 2008
I got the start menu but the log off and Turn off computer buttons got disorted or something while i was TRYING to replace the explorer thing. Unfortunatley i couldnt get all transparent windows. HELP!
qwertyacme said on November 19, 2008
just use the google desktop sidebar, it may not be EXACTLY like the vista one, but it’s better.
qwertyacme said on November 19, 2008
UberIcon – Google it.
Tanish said on November 20, 2008
can’t downloadable
SMS said on November 23, 2008
Very good
Thanks
Undisclosed said on November 26, 2008
Nice instructions given there. =D
Briguy said on November 30, 2008
Why dont you use BootSkin and LogonStudio to make the “Vista” look more Vista? I use that and i have my logon screen set to Vista Ultimate and my bootskin set to Vista Ultimate. It’s sick. Another thing, you should use Res Hacker and hack your Start menu text to nothing,that way it’ll really look like vista, because after all, vista doesn’t have start menu text. Check out the real screenshots of them.
Briguy said on November 30, 2008
just use System restore
David Parsons said on December 1, 2008
I can’t see why anyone using XP wants it to look like Vista.
saveang lychea said on December 2, 2008
the boot screen or start manu is good looking
tasos said on December 2, 2008
thanx
Rideon mower guide said on December 7, 2008
Yes i agree with ya mate
windows32 said on December 12, 2008
it works!
Veronica said on December 13, 2008
i love it.. im so desperate of the Vista look. i want it badly for my xp. thnks:)
Phil said on December 18, 2008
I have service pack 3, what do i do??
Anonymous said on December 19, 2008
Will it make my PC slow???
faizan said on December 30, 2008
hiiiiii
BiGAnZz said on January 1, 2009
Dont download, its virus!
Jack said on January 3, 2009
I use vistamiza…the only problem is that it slows down your computer
yuvaraj said on January 5, 2009
Ya its nice
aw said on January 13, 2009
Wew, I Like it!!! xDxD
Anonymous said on January 17, 2009
hw 2 dwnld vista theme
PortalGod said on January 18, 2009
Nice! i tried using the crystal xp/bricopack app before this tut, and it lagged me so bad that i couldnt run any apps at all. almost any window that popped up would freeze. i couldnt change the settings, so i tried running the uninstall and that froze. but i used msconfig to boot to safe mode and uninstalled it that way. oh well. Nice Tut!
Name said on February 12, 2009
that’s cool Bricopack SUX!
amar said on February 21, 2009
it is fantastic software
Ashley Thomas said on March 3, 2009
I have tried all this but its still not what i want. I have purchased the full version of Windows Blinds (by Stardock) and i love the package i have. I have also purchased fences (by Stardock) and iconpackager. These really help, but i want a program so that my desktop icons are single click, but all my other icons stay the same.
Can anyone please help me??
mike said on March 4, 2009
hey wats up guys, im mike, a simple coder from nc, e-mail me at mikegrady@rocketmail.com for free tips, software, and some pretty awesome pranks, and not the noobish pranks like on youtube/….
ashley said on March 12, 2009
how do i download this theres nothing to click on
jim said on March 13, 2009
dont try vista transformation pack u have to reinstall windows
atul goswami said on March 17, 2009
jkgf jfjf ufghg
atul goswami said on March 17, 2009
and i go to ps 117
kenn said on March 30, 2009
yeah yeah yeah..great :) “KOL”
krishna said on April 6, 2009
so coollllllllllllllllllll
mina said on April 9, 2009
it is excellent
Jordan said on April 13, 2009
It is not working where the heck do i download the freakin theme?
MANNY said on April 17, 2009
Yeah! Cool but can this theme be removed afterwards
elevat said on April 19, 2009
good job if work!
umesh said on April 25, 2009
its goood
Rudy said on April 25, 2009
You can get some more original Vista and Windows 7 applications for XP here (port):
http://www.winmatrix.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20480
and
http://www.winmatrix.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21246
Good luck & long live XP!
:D said on April 28, 2009
people dus it work????
Bravo said on April 29, 2009
i m not able to change my themes in that way what but other things are working thanks….
asd said on May 8, 2009
get
a
life!
abin said on May 14, 2009
Nice! i tried using the crystal xp/bricopack app before this tut, and it lagged me so bad that i couldnt run any apps at all. almost any window that popped up would freeze. i couldnt change the settings, so i tried running the uninstall and that froze. but i used msconfig to boot to safe mode and uninstalled it that way. oh well. Nice Tut!
faisal said on May 20, 2009
nice article
praneeth said on May 21, 2009
super thnx a lot
praneeth said on May 21, 2009
i think its making my sys slow[:o][:x]
mauricio said on May 30, 2009
hey can anybody tell me if this works or not?
Anonymous said on June 2, 2009
Verry Nice. I like it
Reagan said on June 17, 2009
I am using Window XP. It really i can change it look loke Vista
jpenny said on June 22, 2009
i have service pak 3 what uxthremdll do i use
Anonymous vista fan said on June 22, 2009
really good, absolutely brilliant, 10/10 must get
cedric said on June 23, 2009
do you know which website that give sidebar free download for xp???
adnan said on July 7, 2009
very cute
HeNdRi said on July 12, 2009
thx this is wat i want from before…………i can make my XP to vsta,actually i have downloaded the Windows XP sp 3 coz i thought it looks like vista but then its not,so i tried finding in google vista appereance,then this websites comes first,i choose it and these information helps me.. ! Thx
Anonymous said on July 12, 2009
its very nice
J**** K*** said on July 26, 2009
YOU FORGOT ONE THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TO TRULY MIMIC VISTA, YOU MUST DOWNLOAD A WINDOWS VISTA SOUND SCHEME!!!!!
dev1333 said on July 27, 2009
Thank you Very much!!!
Aaqib Khan said on August 10, 2009
boooring
Anonymous said on August 11, 2009
can you help me find a sp3 vista/longhorn theme cuz i cant use the uxtheme cuz im not administrator
Anonymous said on August 12, 2009
its not in the theme tab as a *.theme file but u will find it in appearence tab.
its mentioned in “how to patch uxtheme.dll” recipe.
i recommend u read it one more time.
Anonymous said on August 12, 2009
when u go to properties from right clicking on dekstop ur installed theme is not in theme tab but in appearence tab.(if u have installed it in resources folder of windows)
Anonymous said on August 12, 2009
try yahoo widgets……
works for me..
if side bar is better then please tell me
Anonymous said on August 12, 2009
when u go to properties from right clicking on dekstop ur installed theme is not in theme tab but in appearence tab.(if u have installed it in resources folder of windows)
Anonymous said on August 12, 2009
crack the administrator account if u want to.
reply for the link.
u need bart-peBuilder(3.2 mb)
windows sp2 cd
and a cd writer.
hack the account and the admin will not even know
Connor Smith said on August 18, 2009
I found a better and easier to understand way to do exactly what you explain on youtube but if I never looked at this site I would never have got this far
Anonymous said on August 26, 2009
NiCe!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glance World said on September 21, 2009
Nice Sharing
Anonymous said on October 4, 2009
it is very nice.
Smart Person said on October 16, 2009
Here: http://jonnyw1989.wordpress.com/2007/01/01/vistaxp-by-kol/
Found it in google, it has the VistaXp download links
Anonymous said on October 29, 2009
thank you for this prodect
iam very need to it
b cause i head the one themes every time i was change it
msn cams said on November 13, 2009
WINDOWS 7 is best.. try it..
Anonymous said on November 27, 2009
ownage :L
Anonymous said on December 3, 2009
good pack
Anonymous said on December 10, 2009
Nice :]
Anonymous said on December 11, 2009
this is a best
Health Tips said on December 16, 2009
wow…thanks for this tutorial, very nice
Anonymous said on December 16, 2009
What Will I Download….To Make The Start Button New how to make it new
Anonymous said on December 29, 2009
there may be any problem with dll sir i had the same problem with my pc but when i format my now its working wery good t
Anonymous said on December 31, 2009
is this just a screen shot or an actuall theme?
Anonymous said on January 20, 2010
this isn’t helping me at all.
i am am trying to play wizard 101 but my computer is not allowing it i tried installing updates llike it told me to and i changed the compatibility and on it it had different types of computers except mine and thats y it isn’t working how do i put windows vista in the list. i really need it to work or else it was all for nothing. please help me.
Anonymous said on January 21, 2010
is there any way to do this even when im not administrator? please help me…
lord_of_yuan@hotmail.com
High Five said on January 22, 2010
Seems cool.
Anonymous said on February 5, 2010
HOW TO MEKE WINDOWS XP LOOK LIKE WINDOWS VISTA
Anonymous said on February 10, 2010
izat se aik jaga par icon rakh day. ta’ k wahan se download karlein . itni bakwas karne ki kya zaroorat hai
A said on March 7, 2010
Uhm… trojanized as expected…
Scan Started Sat Mar 06 23:26:04 2010
——————————————————————————-
C:Documents and SettingsMDesktopYAFVC3 1.5VistaStartVistaStart1.3.exe: Trojan.Dropper-10500 FOUND
———– SCAN SUMMARY ———–
Known viruses: 726053
Engine version: 0.95.3
Scanned directories: 26
Scanned files: 59
Infected files: 1
Data scanned: 104.30 MB
Data read: 84.95 MB (ratio 1.23:1)
Time: 55.172 sec (0 m 55 s)
————————————–
Completed
————————————–
Anonymous said on March 13, 2010
evan easier than all of that google search download vista transformation pack
Mr. Angga Yudha said on March 18, 2010
Thank’s My Friend ….
Anonymous said on March 25, 2010
I am very Happy For Downlode if +923323144917
Anonymous said on May 15, 2010
Kool but the Vista Explorer Link does not work
Spoddle said on May 16, 2010
Very, very impressive! This is guaranteed to trick people into thinking you have Windows Vista (Though some might consider Windows 7, lol). I like it!
iwanttaskbar said on June 6, 2010
where can i download a taskbar because my taskbar didn’t change
Büyü Bozma said on October 6, 2010
cool, have you checked the bricopack? It changes all and makes your xp look more like vista/longhorn. It also changes the default icons and other stuff.
LIKITH00001 said on October 18, 2010
I DONT NO WOW INSTALL A VISTA LIKIE THEAM FOR XP2
Saadalgbaly said on October 19, 2010
شكرا كتير وميرسى
Khan Bhurgri said on October 25, 2010
give window vista
Nad said on November 1, 2010
ur preview is a real vista. look at your start button. :)
yeayeabonel said on December 3, 2010
it seems no.5 step links doesn’t work anymore
Fred Bullet said on January 10, 2011
I patched ‘uxtheme.dll’ file and then copied the folder to ‘C:WINDOWSResourcesThemes’, but it won’t show up in my list of installed themes…?
Renee' said on January 24, 2011
Erg! I just CAN’T get it to work! When I downloaded the VistaXP theme (yes, I found someone’s hidden link to it ^_^) I unzipped it to C/ WINDOWS/ Resources/ Themes. Then, I checked on which SP (Service Pack) I had. It was SP #3. I didn’t see a like for the #3 file, so I downloaded #2, and also replacer. I changed it so everything was okay for my computer could change themes. When I went to change to VistaXP, the unzipped file said 0kb. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Help me! O.o
rohan said on September 11, 2011
nice share