J44xm said:
How do Windows shells work? I'm looking at GeoShell right now and the idea
is intriguing, but I'm wary to download anything that affects a most
integral part of my OS (XP). Suggestions or comments?
I was wary too, for years I hesitated to try using a shell.
It is not so much to worry about actually.
In system.ini there is a line in the beginning that says
shell=Explorer.exe
This line starts the explorer shell, after all the driver routines have
been loaded and the computer is ready to be used.
The explorer shell creates a desktop area where there can be icons, like
My Computer.
It creates a taskbar, a system tray, and a quick launch bar, all these
three bars and the start menu are joined together in windows to one
combination bar.
If you use an external shell instead of the explorer shell that line in
system.ini is changed so your new shell starts instead.
The new shell must now provide you with a taskbar, a system tray, and a
way to start programs. And a desktop area if you want it.
You can use a shell selector program to shift between the usual explorer
shell and other shells.
A good one is called shellsel.exe.
If you use that you replace the line in system.ini with
shell=C:\shellsel.exe
When shellsel.exe starts you can choose what program to use, and make
shellsel remember it as a choice. Select windows\explorer.exe as one of
the choices.
If you make a mistake while experimenting with shells you need a way to
edit the file system.ini back to its usual shape.
You can boot from a floppy and go into C:\Command\ folder and start
edit, the go to the system ini and change the shell line back to
shell=explorer, reboot and you are back in your old windows setup again.
(If you use shellsel.exe this is much simpler to fix, because it lets
you decide what program to start every time you reboot.)
My advices are valid for win98, I do not know much about what
differences there may be in NT systems.
Litestep is the most used shell, so try that if you want to start with
external shells.
I often put a link to a file manager in the startup folder so it starts
automatically while using shells, it can simplify things a lot to have
such a program running if the launch mechanisms are not working as they
should.
