"The logo screens don't seem to work with Windows XP!"

Unfortunately, theme logo screens are not compatible with Windows XP. Microsoft has made it increasingly difficult to change their startup and shutdown screens, but if you would like to try it, I have now added XP boot screen downloads for each of my themes. Please be aware that XP screens only allow 16 bit color, instead of the 256 colors of logo screens, so they may seem a little blah in comparison. Visit my themes page and just click the links to download any of my matching XP Boot Screens (which are merely zipped bitmap images) then just drag and drop them into your chosen boot screen program.

There are a variety of programs out there for changing your boot screens (Changer XP, BootSkin, ScreenBooty, etc..), many of which are available for free download, demo and/or purchase at ZDNet Downloads. I use a free boot screen overlay program called BootLogo, and although it seems to work just fine for me, please be aware that changing your XP boot screen MAY be risky to your system. Just FYI. Please read ALL of the instructions and information if you choose to install any sort of boot screen modification program.

"How do I get rid of that Gator program that downloads with your themes?"

EZ Themes is apparently now opening and repackaging themes to include spyware programs such as Gator. Visit Tech TV's site to learn more about Gator spyware, how it operates on your computer, and most importantly, how to remove it. Once you have deleted it from your computer, try downloading Lavasoft's free ad scanning program, Ad-Aware. This will allow your computer to automatically detect and delete those spyware programs as they try to attempt to load.

"Why don't you do a theme for my favorite movie, (insert title)?"

My only criteria for creating a theme is that I love the film. That's it! Yes, there are many costume films out there, and I'm always working on new additions, but if I don't really love the film, I just have very little interest in creating a theme for it. However, I'm always interested in viewing new films, and maybe your favorite is just one that I have yet to see, so please don't hesitate to recommend films to me!

"When I try to install a theme I get a 'Missing msvco60.dll file' message."

If you are using the new Desktop Architect version 2.11, this missing DLL file is a bug. Try visiting Net Resources and downloading the necessary DLL file there.

"Why do some of your download links begin an immediate download, while others redirect me to the EZSkins site?"

Geocities servers are busy at best, and unreliable at worst. I have finally uploaded all of my theme and screensaver files to a third party server at EZSkins/EZThemes. As of May 1, 2001, EZThemes now provides a direct download link for files, so the download will begin immediately. Files which I uploaded prior to that date are available on the EZThemes site, and you will be redirected there when you click to download. If you ever have any problems with my downloads from either server, please e-mail me and let me know.

"Will your screensavers work on my Mac computer?"

My apologies to all you Mac users, but the answer is no, my screensaver program will not run on a Mac. I use the Webshots Toolbox screensaver program, and it is compatible only with Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, ME and XP.

"O.K., I've downloaded a theme....now what?"

You will need two programs to utilize my themes -- Winzip to decompress and open the downloaded themes, and a theme management program to install them. I recommend Desktop Architect ; it's very easy to understand and use, and it has some nice features. My themes are self-extracting, which means Desktop Architect will automatically place the theme in the correct directory when you click to install. All you have to do after that is open Desktop Architect, find the newly listed theme and click Apply.

"I've installed a theme but I can't hear the sounds."

My themes utilize MPEG Layer 3 sounds, which reduce file size while maintaining sound quality. Although your computer is probably set up to hear wav sounds, they are much larger, and consequently require a much longer download time and create larger theme files. Try downloading the MPEG decoder HERE. It takes less than a minute!

"I've installed a theme, but I when I turn my computer on or off, I don't see the matching startup and shutdown screens."

You must install the startup, wait and shutdown screens (known as logo screens) separately after you install the desktop themes. After you unzip and install the theme file, go back to the unzipped theme folder and locate the Logo folder. Open it and click on Logo.exe; it's a self-extracting file and it will automatically install your matching logo screens for you. I've included a Help file for the LogoZip program as well, so check it out if you have questions about how it works.

"Why don't you just use the click and load method on your Hotbar skins?"

O.K., there are a couple of reasons for this. Yes, Hotbar offers a javascript program that will enable users to click on a skin and have it automatically load directly on their browser. However, Geocities does not (yet) support their zipped skin file format, ".xip." I would have to upload BMP skin files directly to my site, which would take up a lot of space. In addition, for whatever reason, the Hotbar javascript kept crashing my browser and causing errors, so I decided to implement their .exe file and use a regular zip file for the skins instead.