ShellOn v2

Back in the early 2000s, there was a thriving scene of different desktop “shells” for Windows. These replaced the Windows taskbar and desktop with different interfaces, some inspired by Linux, others NeXT’s LiteStep and finally even BeOS. ShellOn v2 allowed you to choose between any alternative shells when your computer started up. It was the first app I published, and, as far as I recall, was well used within the alternate shell community.

Original description

ShellOn v2 is the stable version of my shell-switching program for Windows 9x, NT, 2000 and XP. It has not been tested on Windows Vista; I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried it. ShellOn v3 has more features, but is less tested.

Well, the main event. What doesn't ShellON do? Well it won't make you a cup of coffee (sorry), but it will enable you to try out laods of different Windows interfaces in the time you could otherwise spent making some of the precious black stuff.

Incase you need them, there are manual uninstall instructions below.

Download ~ 732kB

Here's a quick run down, for more info, download it and check out the readme!

Requirements: Windows 9x, NT, 2000.

Shell Management features

• Define as many different shells as you want to choose between.
• Have ShellON load a default shell at start up or let you choose a shell when you boot up.
• A completely safe way to change you shell.
• Easy to add and delete shells.
• Timer to load a shell automatically when you are away from your PC.

Load a Shell based on User Name

• Define a shell to load for everyone who uses your PC.
• Choose a default shell to load if ShellON doesn't recognise a user name.
• Define LoginScripts for each user - load programs, copy files and more when you login.

Wallpaper Changing Features

• Change your wallpaper on startup, in a random order or sequentially.
• Import and export your wallpaper lists.
• Apply your wallpapers as and when you want them.

Start up and Shutdown Screen Manager

• Easily change your boot screens.
• Organise screens into sets for quick access and changing.
• Backs up your original screens, in case you want them back.

So there you have it...!

Uninstalling

Here's how to uninstall manually ShellON should you need to, just to assue you its a painless process!

For 9x:

1. Go to Start - Run and enter system.ini
2. Find the line that says shell=C:\shellonv2\shellon.exe
3. Change it to boot=explorer.exe
4. Reboot and you are done.

For 2k/XP it's abit more complex:

1. Use Run -> gpedit.msc.
2. Go to: User Configuration - Administrative Templates - System
3. Edit the Custom User Interface value to explorer.exe. This should work :)

If this doesn't work, you can go into the registry and change it yourself.

1. In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER key: Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
2. Look for a string entry called 'Shell'. If it is not there, create a string entry and name it 'Shell'. Set this value to 'explorer.exe'.