How to make Windows XP look like Windows 7 and Vista

ERROR!!!A virus has been detected by VirusTotal and it has requested Windows XP to take action. This virus must be quarantined or deletedRemember to check the critical system file list and keep them.
Hello, do you want to make your Windows XP look more modern like Windows 7 and Vista? If yes, check out our epic tutorial about it!

### Why you must use this tutorial instead of real Windows 7

#### Price

While Windows XP is CURRENTLY 100% FREE because it is no longer sold, Windows 7 is VERY INSANELY PAID. But this tutorial is hopefully 100% FREE.

#### Look

1. Aero, the default look of Windows 7 and Vista is SUPER DANGEROUS because of many glass, which may shatter. You WILL go to the hospital after that glass shatters. Many users want the cute and fresh look from Windows XP. In Vista, it is HYPER DANGEROUS AS THE SHATTERABLE GLASS IS ALREADY SHATTERED and EVEN MORE ROTTEN than in Windows 7. Hopefully this tutorial will use just the Silver theme from Windows XP instead of Aero, so don't worry, this tutorial doesn't harm you.
2. Some users want the classic rotten and boring look from Windows 2000 for no reason. Vista made it DIFFICULT to apply it as you can't remove the sidebar (in Windows Explorer which is not the same as IE, not the desktop) anymore and the cool themes are removed. Windows 7 made it EVEN MORE DIFFICULT to apply it as the Classic Windows 98 theme is removed, the Control Panel Classic View is removed and the Classic Start Menu is removed. Windows 8 made it ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to apply it as the Classic Windows 2000 theme is removed completely. Windows 10 made it IMPOSSIBLE to apply it as the Classic icons were removed. Even worse is that along with the Classic icons, the cute icons from Windows XP were removed too. Hopefully this tutorial will keep it.

#### Compatibility

Many old computers have Windows XP as the latest Windows version for them as they pre-came with even older versions such as Windows 95.

## System Requirements

You must have Windows XP SP3 to do this. If you are not running it yet, upgrade to SP3. Also you must have the Professional version.

## Part 1. Basic look

This is how to make Windows XP look like Windows 7 and Vista enough to make it unrecognizable.

### Chapter 1. The Desktop

The Desktop is the 1st thing you see on the computer.

1. Turn on ClearType.
2. Change the Desktop icons to the Windows 7 ones: My Computer icon to the Computer icon, My Documents icon to the Seven folder icon and My Network Places to the Remote Desktop icon.
3. Download the Seven Recycle Bin icons and change the Desktop icons to them.
4. Change the wallpaper to the Windows 7 one.
5. Rename My Computer to Computer, rename My Documents to Documents and rename My Network Places to Network.
6. Apply the Silver theme.
7. Right click the Start button taskbar.
8. Pick Properties.
9. Unlock the Start button taskbar and turn on Quick Launch.
10. Click Apply and then OK.
11. Right click Quick Launch, go to View and turn on Large Icons.
12. Go to Quick Launch's location.
13. Open the Documents folder.
14. Create the Show Desktop folder.
15. Move the Show Desktop icon from Quick Launch to the Show Desktop folder.
16. Create the Show Desktop toolbar.
17. Right click the Show Desktop toolbar.
18. Disable the Show Title option and the Show Text options.
19. Lock the Start button taskbar back by right clicking it and picking the special option for that.

## Part 2. Advanced look

Someone may still recognize that this is Windows XP. Let's go further.

### Sub-part 1. Enhancing the Desktop and the security

#### Chapter 2. The Start menu

The Start menu is similar to Vista but it is VERY different from Windows XP. So we will change it here.

1. Press Win+R to invoke the Run dialog.
2. Type gpedit.msc there and press Enter.
3. Go to User Configuration and then Administrative Templates.
4. Pick the Start Menu and Taskbar option.
5. Enable Remove username from the Start Menu.
6. Right click the Start button.
7. Pick Properties.
8. Click the Customize button near the Simple Start Menu option.
9. Turn on the small icons option.
10. Click the Clear List button.
11. Set the recent apps list items number to 0.
12. Uncheck the check boxes near Internet and E-mail options.
13. Go to Advanced.
14. Uncheck the check boxes near the Search and Run command options.
15. Click the OK button.
16. Click the Apply button and then the OK button again.
17. Pin all the apps from the All Programs root.
18. Create the shortcuts which open Windows Explorer and open the shortcut's purpose folder in the folders' order. Name them identically as the shortcut's purpose folder.
19. Pin all the shortcuts.
20. Move all the shortcuts for apps in your All Programs sub-folders to the standard public All Programs folder.
21. Enable Remove the All Programs list from the Start Menu.

#### Chapter 3. Features: Action Center and the Superbar

Windows XP is missing many new features from Windows 7, for example the Superbar. Let's add them!

1. First, go to the Control Panel from the Start Menu.
2. Go to Add or Remove Programs and click Add/Remove Windows Components.
3. Uncheck the check boxes near Outlook Express and Windows Messenger, as they are absent in Windows 7.
4. Turn off Automatic Updates and turn on Windows Firewall in the Security Center.
5. To add the Superbar, install ViGlance.
6. Go to the Start Menu and open Accessories from there.
7. Open Notepad.
8. Type this: x=msgbox("2 important messages, 3 total messages: Virus protection (Important), Spyware and PUP protection (Important), Set up backup", 0+16, "Action Center"). Basically, this is an easy Visual Basic code that will show an Action Center error.
9. Save this in the Documents folder as "actionCenter.vbs".
10. Download a blue flag icon.
11. Create the shortcut for that VBS file you just saved, name it as Action Center.
12. Change the shortcut icon to that blue flag icon you just downloaded.
13. Move the shortcut to the Show Desktop folder and move it to the start as the 1st item.
14. Go to Windows Explorer and click the Search thingy. You may notice that the doggo is still there. To disable it, disable the character.

### Sub-part 2. The Control Panel redesign

The Control Panel was redesigned in years:

1. Prototype: Windows 1.0 (1985) - not known yet.
2. Beta: Windows 3.1 (1992) - a Mac OS 7-like preferences window.
3. Original: Windows 95 (1995) - now the Classic View but some items are missing.
4. Classic: Windows 98 (1998) - now the sidebar is here.
5. Hybrid: Windows XP (2001) - now the Category View is here!
6. Redesign: Vista (2006) - now the Category View is redesigned and the Classic View is large.
7. + Redesign: Windows 7 (2009) - now the Classic View is redesigned.

#### Chapter 4: The Control Panel folders

Let's first do the Control Panel folders.

1. In the Documents folder, we will create 2 folders: CPLs which is used for HTAs and Control Panel which is used for the shortcuts.
2. Make the Control Panel folder use the Tiles view.

#### Chapter 5: The System Properties

The System Properties are similar to Vista too, but it is VERY different from Windows XP too, just like the Start Menu. Let's add it!

TBA