Win Customize Windows 7 for 'Complete HTPC feel'
#1
Lightbulb 
You assembled your dream HTPC with Windows 7 and XBMC. You have set XBMC to start automatically by setting it as shell to hide desktop. Everything is up and running great. But you feel something is still not right. You can see those Windows 7 animation and texts like 'Starting Windows 7' which reminds you that it is still a Windows 7 PC and you are not getting that appliance feel that HD media players give. In this thread I will describe how I configured my Win 7 to complement XBMC.

Warning: Eventhough I haven't experienced any problem while customizing my PC, remember that the steps described below changes system files which may lead to system instability. I'm in no way responsible for any damage that may arise to your system.

Tools Needed

This hack makes use of different tools. Click the links to get the tools. The linked webpages have descriptions on how to install and use them.

Step 1: Change BIOS Logo

Changing bios includes flashing of bios rom. So use it very carefully. Most motherboards can be flashed from within Windows 7 itself using tools provided by the mobo vendor. For example asus provides MyLogo2 to change bios logo. There is a similar tool for Gigabyte E350N USB3. You can use any image as the bios logo and the application will resize it to fit your system. If your motherboard has no such tools then skip this step.

Step 2: Change Windows 7 Logon Background

Start Windows 7 Logon Background Changer and choose the folder where your background image is located. Select the image you want and Apply it.

Image

Step 3: Create Boot Animation

You can use the tool Video2PNG to create boot animation from video files. Drag and drop any video file onto the 'video2png.bat' file and it will generate 105 png image files. You can download the animation file I'm using from https://www.box.com/s/de7829c837ffddef1aec

Step 4: Change Boot Animation

Open 'Windows 7 boot Animation Updater' and select the folder where you have created the image files. Change the message to 'Starting XBMC'. If you use '.bs7' file then select it from File > 'Load Boot Skin'. You can also save your animation to .bs7 file. Apply it to change the animation.

Image

Step 5: Change "Welcome" Text Message at Log On

I'm not going to describe the steps here as it is explained clearly in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/126...hange.html

Step 6: Change "Shutting down..." Text Message at Shut Down

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/126...hange.html


Step 7: Remove “Branding Logo” and “Ease of Access” (Accessibility) Button

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-remove-brand...n-screens/
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#2
Following
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#3
Great work

Thanks
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#4
It remind me of this- Customizing Windows for XBMC.....
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
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#5
Oops! Never knew such a thread was already there. Thanks bluray for pointing to that thread.
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#6
(2012-08-21, 11:30)baijuxavior Wrote: Step 3: Create Boot Animation

You can use the tool Video2PNG to create boot animation from video files. Drag and drop any video file onto the 'video2png.bat' file and it will generate 105 png image files. You can download the animation file I'm using from https://www.box.com/s/de7829c837ffddef1aec


Any chance you share that same boot animation but a bit larger?
Its very cool but its too small i think Wink

Also disabling windows sounds??
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#7
You can disable windows sounds by using a tool like Ultimate Windows Tweaker

Image


As regarding the animation duration and size, this is what is given in the website:

Quote:If you choose to change the animation you will have to make an animation! The animation is:
105 frames (if there are less frames the last frame will be repeated as necessary)
Each frame is 200x200px (resized if necessary)
15 frames / sec
First 4 seconds play once then the last 3 seconds play in a loop

The program loads a folder containing all the frames as PNGs, GIFs, BMPs, TIFs, or JPEGs images. The files will be played in alphabetical order. If you are numbering them, use the same number of digits for all numbers (e.g. 001, 002, ..., 103, 105). For 'historical' reasons, the animation can also be a folder containing a single BMP named "activity.bmp" that is 200x21000px.
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#8
(2012-08-24, 06:17)baijuxavior Wrote: You can disable windows sounds by using a tool like Ultimate Windows Tweaker

Image


As regarding the animation duration and size, this is what is given in the website:

Quote:If you choose to change the animation you will have to make an animation! The animation is:
105 frames (if there are less frames the last frame will be repeated as necessary)
Each frame is 200x200px (resized if necessary)
15 frames / sec
First 4 seconds play once then the last 3 seconds play in a loop

The program loads a folder containing all the frames as PNGs, GIFs, BMPs, TIFs, or JPEGs images. The files will be played in alphabetical order. If you are numbering them, use the same number of digits for all numbers (e.g. 001, 002, ..., 103, 105). For 'historical' reasons, the animation can also be a folder containing a single BMP named "activity.bmp" that is 200x21000px.

So is your boot screen 200x200?
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#9
the size is windows related. check it here under HOW TO USE
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#10
(2012-08-24, 10:38)Nimo Wrote: the size is windows related. check it here under HOW TO USE

I know, but i ask if its already at max size...
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#11
Would be nice to get the boot animation from XBMCbuntu.
Anyone has something similar?
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#12
the full screen size is 1024x768 so 200x200 is "big" Wink

MSDN Wrote:We started with the Win7 boot loader using a different mechanism to display the boot animation. It gets a pointer to the frame buffer from the firmware (either BIOS or UEFI firmware), and displays a higher resolution image (1024 x 768). It animates the image while the kernel and boot critical device drivers are loaded into memory. Since the native graphics driver for the display is not loaded into memory and initialized yet, the animation is run by using the CPU, and by updating the frame buffer for the graphics display.
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#13
(2012-08-24, 09:15)Skank Wrote: So is your boot screen 200x200?

Yes. It is 200x200. I think the size is limited by OS. Same case even if you choose a single static image.
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#14
ok thx, will make it empty then
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#15
The only thing i cant never remove is the "language bar" or something like that...
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