NOTE: If you follow these instruction exactly, you will be taken to a couple of other Web sites where you will download trial versions of their shareware. If you like these applications and choose to continue using them, then please support their authors by paying the very reasonable registration fee :) Incidentally, no one at DarkStep is affiliated with any type of shareware; we just feel that high-quality, “independantly” created software deserves our support also :)
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WHY?
This page has been posted to help those of you that:
- May be new to the concept of shell replacements or even PC's in general
- May find all of the requisite manual configuration a bit confusing\tedious
- Simply want to use an alternative shell to reap the benefits of:
- Lower resource consumption
- Greater level of system stability
- Like the possibilities of the additional security that an alternative shell may offer
- Use an alternative shell just for the fun of it!
Well, you've come to the right place! Once you've completed all of the steps listed below, you will have a fully functional DarkStep shell with a very easily configurable Start Menu replacement (in the form of Icon3D), a nice, moveable System Tray and an easily configured, very versitile Virtual Window Manager (CoolDesk 99) which even allows you to select the number of Vitrual Windows that you would like! AND all of this on less resources than the default Windows explorer shell! Listed below you will find all of the information that you will need to get DarkStep, together with a few additional applications, installed, setup up and running within a very short period of time!
So, let's dive right in there and get this puppy started {:-)
What You Will Need For This Installation
- The core installation of DarkStep...
 DOWNLOAD NOW! {FREE download - 160k}
- A third-party shareware application called Icon3D...
DOWNLOAD NOW!
{off-site SHAREWARE download - 1.4M}
- A third-party shareware application called CoolDesk 99...
DOWNLOAD NOW! {off-site SHAREWARE download - 507k}
- Maduin's Systray 1.03...
DOWNLOAD NOW! {FREE download - 19k}
- This step.rc file, which simply loads and places the Systray in the upper left corner of your screen :)
Installation
Once you have all of the files listed above downloaded you can proceed with installing each package as follows:
- Create a new directory (“folder”) on your C: Drive as C:\DarkStep, the unzip the DarkStep download into that directory.
- Unzip Maduin's Systray 1.03 to that same directory (C:\DarkStep)
- Move the step.rc file that you downloaded earlier to the C:\DarkStep directory so that it will overwrite the existing step.rc.
- Run the installations of Icon3D and CoolDesk 99 by going into the Control Panel, selecting “Add\Remove Programs” then “Install” and browsing to wherever you chose to put the Icon3D and\or CoolDesk99 download. Once you've selected all of the above and followed the instructions as given, the installation will begin. If you're more comfortable working in the default Explorer shell for now, you can simply complete the installation and set up right there, but you'll want to make sure that Icon3D and CoolDesk99 are set to run at startup.
With each of the steps listed above completed, we now have only one more step to go before you will be operating in your new shell replacement!
While there are several ways to edit your system.ini file, for the sake of simplicity we will use a more widely known approach :) Just open Windows Notepad, select <File> - <Open> form the menu bar, then browse to your Windows directory (usually C:\windows) and double-click on the “system.ini” file. Once you have the system.ini file open in Notepad, look for the section labeled “[boot]”. Within the [boot] section you will find a line as shown below:
You will need to change this line so that it reads as follows:
shell=C:\DarkStep\darkstep.exe
Then, again from the menu bar, select <File> - <Save> then close Notepad :) Plase note that it is very important that the editing as shown above is completed exactly as shown, including all punctuation marks!
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DarkStep© is protected by International Copyright Laws and is the sole property of Fahim Farook.
WindowsTM is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
All other Trademarks (TM), Registered Trademarks (®) and Copyrights (©) are the property of their respective owner(s).
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