Nathaniel

Codename "Longhorn" build 4074 Aero on newest VMware versions guide

Proving once and for all you don't need 6.5-7.X to achieve it.

This was adapted from my guide here.

Playing around with prerelease Windows versions?

No I'm not the software police. I (used to) do it myself. When I used to do it, I constantly saw misinformation being spread saying activating the DWM on 4074 was only possible on VMware under Workstation versions 6.5-7.X. I found out that was simply not right, and this guide shows you how wrong everyone else is.

PLEASE NOTE: I last tested this back when Workstation 15.5/16 were current, and have not tried it since. I do hope this guide still works.

Setting up the VM

Create a new Virtual Machine in VMware Workstation. Set the VM Compatibility to 6.5-7.X, the OS type to Windows Vista, and the Hard Drive controller to IDE. Proceed to install Windows as normal. Longhorn's driver detection phase might take a very long time, please be patient, it has not hung.

Getting the drivers

You now need to obtain and install the correct set of drivers. They target version 6.5-7 of VMware, but they work just fine on the newest versions. I have provided a virtual disc image (ISO) containing all the drivers you need:

Download Drivers

Once the drivers are downloaded, mount the ISO image in the VM and install them. I assume you know how to install Windows drivers, so I'll skip that part.

After all the drivers provided are installed, restart Longhorn.

Renaming themes

Longhorn will only activate the aero effects if it's running a theme named 'Aero'. While the actual Aero theme from this time period hasn't leaked yet, the Jade theme can activate a placeholder Aero theme if renamed. You can either do this, or download a custom Aero theme from the Internet and use it instead.

If you've installed the TWIWMTB modified ISO, you can skip this step, as it includes a custom Aero theme with a recreation of the official Aero window frames.

First, copy and paste the Jade theme in C:\Windows\Resources\themes\. Rename all instances of Jade - Copy to Aero

Open the newly renamed Aero.msstyles in Notepad, and change the display name line to DisplayName=Aero. Apply the new Aero theme using either Display Properties or double clicking on Aero.theme.

Activating Aero

Create a new batch script and insert this into it exactly as shown:

@echo off
rundll32 %systemdrive%\windows\system32\uxdesk.dll,DwmStartComposition
%systemdrive%\windows\i386\sbctl.exe start

Save the file.

Run the batch script. If all goes well. the DCE should be activated, and you should have the Aero theme.

Slightly better Aero effects.

For slightly better Aero effects, open the Registry Editor and navigate to the Explorer key in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\. Create a new DWORD value, call it MILExplorer and set its value to 1. Restart Explorer.

You'll immediately notice that the Taskbar and Sidebar are now transparent, and Explorer windows will not show anything. In order to fix this problem, run the batch script again to start the DWM.

PROTIP: place the batch script in the startup folder so the DWM activates upon log on.

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