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Customize Your Jukebox
Demnos - 9-16-2003 at 04:05 PM

Not a WINAMP plugin, but I couldn't find a better section to recommend some add-on tools.

Since I run eJukebox on a dedicated standalone system, I have played around a bit to customize the look and feel. Here are some tips:

1) Obviously, eJukebox itself goes into the startup group so it loads when the PC boots, make sure it is set to start in Full Screen or Kiosk mode.

2) Also quite obviously, you will want to use TWEAKUI from the Microsoft Homepage in order to not have any password entry, the system can boot from POWER ON to eJukebox without any dialog boxes.

3) Next up, design yourself a nice Windows Background, maybe with the eJukebox logo and a "Please wait while loading" message. Activate it in Control Panel->Display->Background

4) A great effect is if you hide all icons from the main screen, so only your background is visible. In Win98 this was easy (Control Panel->Display->Effects). In Windows 2000, the same can be achieved by changing or adding this registry value:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorerNoDesktop (DWORD) from 0 to 1. While you're at it, make sure the task bar is set to "auto hide".

5) Another important step is to replace the standard Windows bootup logo by a nice "eJukebox" logo. Paint yourself a 640 x 480 screen with 16 colors. The best instructions on how to activate this can be found here: http://www.littlewhitedog.com/reviews_other_00027.asp

6) You can also change the logos that are displayed after the Windows splash screen comes up, i.e. the logos in message boxes "setting up network" etc. These are stored in MSGINA.DLL. Use the same Resource Hacker program from Step 5.

7) Another good idea is to get rid of the typical green-blue background color during the boot phase (i.e. before your background loads). You can change it to for example black by editing this registry entry: [HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTControl PanelColors] Background : REG_SZ : 0 0 0. If you are adventurous, you can also modify more colors here (e.g. the color of the boot messages box itself, or the gradient bar on the box)

I am still investigating what other modifications can be done, but so far I have a system that almost (not quite) looks like it is running some dedicated embedded OS, not MS Windoze...


Sloan - 10-27-2003 at 06:40 PM

Hey Demnos, these are great instructions. Just bought a new PC so i can devote my old one solely to eJukebox. Do you (or any others) have any more suggestions for such a venture?

I did make some el cheapo background logos and all, but if audiosoft has a eJukebox wallpaper they'd like to share, i'd be more than appreciative! :D


timmyotoole - 10-27-2003 at 09:59 PM

i made this one real quick....any suggestions for improvment?


timmyotoole - 10-27-2003 at 10:01 PM

sorry i posted the wrong one
here's the jpeg


Sloan - 10-27-2003 at 11:05 PM

Just a rough attempt...