Hack to Run DreamScene in Vista Home Premium, Basic, Starter, Business and Enterprise

Own a non-Ultimate edition of Windows Vista, but very like the DreamScene application featured in Ultimate Extras package? With most OEM brand computers factory installed Windows Vista Home Premium or Home Basic, and corporates go for Windows Vista Enterprise edition, Microsoft will be earning a lot if everybody upgrade to Ultimate version with Windows Anytime Upgrade just for DreamScene. There’re alternative programs in VideoLAN’s VLC Player and BS.Player that can be used to set video as desktop background wallpaper, however, this is a hack to allow users in any editions of Vista to run native and original Windows DreamScene from Microsoft.

Hack to install Windows DreamScene in non-Ultimate Vista

1. Download the patched DreamScene dll files package NonUltimateDreamScene.zip (alternative link).
2. Unpack the archive content to a folder.
3. Right click on InstallDreamScene.bat and select “Run as Administrator” to install Windows DreamScene on your non-Ultimate version of Vista. Answer “Y” to continue.You can also open elevated command prompt with administrator rights and type InstallDreamScene.bat to execute the batch script.
4. Restart your computer.

Voila, your system now will run DreamScene without paying hefty Ultimate price. If you prefer to manually to install the patched DreamScene DLL files, here’s the step-by-step guide:

1. Download the patched DreamScene files as above and unpack to a folder.
2. Copy DreamScene.dll to %WinDir%\System32\ folder.
3. Copy DreamScene.dll.mui to %WinDir%\System32\en-US\ folder.
4. In Windows Explorer, navigate to %WinDir%\System32\ folder.
5. Right click on themecpl.dll file, and click on Properties on right click menu.
6. Select the Security tab, then click Advanced.
7. Subsequenly select the Owner tab, click Edit button. Press Continue (or log in if you’re not Administrator) on any User Access Control prompt.
8. Select your Vista logon user name, then click OK button. Then click OK in any dialog window that pops up, and press OK again at Advanced Security Settings window.
9. On Security tab, click the Edit button. Press Continue (or log in if you’re not already an Administrator) on User Access Control prompt.
10. Click Add button, and click on Advanced button. Next press Find Now button, and then select your logged on user name. Press OK when done.
11. Click OK again on Select Users or Groups dialog.
12. On Permissions for themecpl.dll window, highlight your user name, and check the box next to “Full Control” under “Allow” column. Hit OK when done, and confirm any message. Click OK twice to exit from ownership taking process.
13. Rename the file themecpl.dll in %WinDir%\System32 to themecpl.dll.original.
14. Copy the patched version of themecpl.dll to %WinDir%\System32\ folder.
15. Repeat step 4 - 12 on themecpl.dll.mui file located in %WinDir%\System32\en-US\ folder.
16. After taking ownership, rename the file %WinDir%\System32\en-US\themecpl.dll.mui to themecpl.dll.mui.original.
17. Copy the patched version of themecpl.dll.mui to %WinDir%\System32\en-US\ folder.
18. Create a new folder in %windir%\Web named “Windows DreamScene” (without quotes).This is the location to place all your videos want to set as DreamScene wallpaper, and can be easily configured via Control Panel Personalization applet.
19. Lastly, import and merge DreamScene.reg to registry.
20. Reboot computer.

Using DreamScene

After patching, right click on any blank space on Desktop, select “Personalize”, then click on “Desktop Background”. Under location, select “Windows DreamScene Content”, and then select a animated video you want.


News source: UnfocusedOne