USB Devices Viewer 1.01. Start Menu 8. ADVANCED Codecs. Version History for Ultimate Windows Tweaker for Windows 8. May 14, 2013 Wallpaper of start menu in Windows 8. Archived Forums A-B.

• Windows 8 Start Free

Introduced back in, themes were the strongest customisation elements that any not-so-technically savvy user could add to his/her operating system. Themes modified every visual aspect of the OS, including the icons, the taskbar, the background wallpaper, the mouse cursor and sometimes even the boot or the. Those were the dangerous ones. In Windows 8, the first baby steps were taken by DeviantArt, the ones that also developed the and other interesting applications. The first themes arrived here and although they don't make such an impression, they help you change the Metro UI background colour.

The installation procedure is not so straight forward as in other Windows versions. You will have to manually download the themes and replace some files in the System32 folder. Some of them may only work for the 64-bit Windows 8 so be careful what you choose. At the moment, there are only a couple of themes, that change the Metro UI background colour to purple, gold, grey, blue and dark blue.

More will appear soon so don't worry. Here is what you need to do: 1.

Download one of the files below and save it on the desktop. (64-bit only) RAR c. (64-bit only) RAR d. (64-bit only) RAR 2. Unzip the file, navigate to the compatible version and right-click on 'takeownership.bat', then select 'Run as administrator'. Navigate to 'C: Windows System32 ' and rename 'uxtheme.dll' to 'uxtheme.dll.old' and 'shsxs.dll' to 'shsxs.dll.old'. This will help you get back to the normal style, whenever you want.

4.Now copy and replace the uxtheme.dll and shsxs.dll from the theme folder into System32. 5.Restart and the themes should be applied. Whenever you want to revert to the classic view, delete the two files from System32 and change the names of the previously renamed files (during step 3) by removing the.old from the extension. Those that want more than a simple colour-change in the Metro background, a software tool called ZIP has been compiled.

Amongst its features, it allows you to add most image files and set them as wallpapers. The only problem comes with resolutions, because Metro UI stretches these images and they may look a bit odd. As an example, for those having a 1280x800 resolution, a picture with a minimum height of 1600 must be used for a decent view. The width doesn't matter that much. The program is only compatible with the Windows 8 Developer Preview version, build 8102, and it basically does the same things as discussed in the first part of our guide. Do not try it on Windows 7 or other operating systems, as it may damage the System32 files. All you have to do is download the application, unzip the file and run the executable.

A menu like below will appear. If you know of any other themes for Windows 8, please let us know by leaving a comment below.

Silvaco athena. Hello everyone, As far as I am concerned, and after reading some threads in this forum, TCP Optimizer version 3.0.8 does not fully work with Windows 8 and does not work at all with Windows 8.1 (almost all menus are blanked out). So I would like to ask, whether anyone knows any way I can find and implement automatically various TCP optimizations for Windows 8/8.1 - for example; has anyone created their own registry key that bundles various fixes together or is there any other alternative to such an idea? I regularly format multiple computers for testing purposes, and I need TCP optimizations across all platforms, unfortunately it is very time consuming to manually go through every single setting posted here: and I am also unable to find any special tweaks for Windows 8, assuming there are any.

Thanks in advance. I too am interested in this discussion.

I am not suggesting anything. There isn't a reason to 'tweak' anything.That is something you assume. I can tell you that there are plenty of setups where it helps a lot to disable Receive Windows Auto-Tuning Level.

MSDN downloads are just one out of a few examples where you will see the difference when you don't have support for auto-tuning all the way. And believe it or not, very few have support for it all the way trough. Besides that, there are a few other things that can be set to fit better with the network equipment a given PC is connected to, even on Windows 8.1. That is something you assume. I can tell you that there are plenty of setups where it helps a lot to disable Receive Windows Auto-Tuning Level. MSDN downloads are just one out of a few examples where you will see the difference when you don't have support for auto-tuning all the way.

And believe it or not, very few have support for it all the way trough. Besides that, there are a few other things that can be set to fit better with the network equipment a given PC is connected to, even on Windows 8.1.Again, tell me how much faster your connection is since implementing these 'tweaks'.

RaisinCain, please stop trolling all tweaking discussions with that opinion. The fact that you believe there is no room for improvement does not prove anything. If that were the case, Microsoft would have had a perfect TCP/IP stack since before XP. I agree that recent OSes are much better at handling broadband without much tweaking, however, the same does not work for all cases/connections, and there are newer algorithms (like CTCP) that are not turned on by default that can make a lot of difference in the presense of packet loss, for example.

As to the original question: most of the Windows 7 tweaks still apply. There may be some minor differences in the way some are configured, i.e. Netsh command syntax, and it's been suggested that a couple of settings are now per application, rather than global.

Again, tell me how much faster your connection is since implementing these 'tweaks'.Regarding the Receive Window the difference is HUGE, from very slow to not be able to complete downloads to working downloads at the speed they should be. Or just try to take and old router with Receive Side-Scaling enabled and track dropped packets Just because your complete network setup works fine with the default setting doesn't mean that it works out for everyone.

Even Microsoft, the company that implemented the default settings, states that the same default settings can cause issues in several scenarios. As to the OP's question regarding an automatic tool, automatic tools are bad practice, you need to test and analyze to get the best possible settings.

Do you have any issues since you want to 'tweak'? If everything works smooth and flawless there isn't a reason to do anything, in case you have issues you need to analyze first, check the net-flow etc.

Windows 8 Start Free

Besides that, on Windows 8 / 8.1 some settings will fall back to default at reboot unless you remove their profiles write protection and edit them via PowerShell, or create batch script that runs on every startup. Regarding the Receive Window the difference is HUGE, from very slow to not be able to complete downloads to working downloads at the speed they should be. Or just try to take and old router with Receive Side-Scaling enabled and track dropped packets Just because your complete network setup works fine with the default setting doesn't mean that it works out for everyone.

Even Microsoft, the company that implemented the default settings, states that the same default settings can cause issues in several scenarios. As to the OP's question regarding an automatic tool, automatic tools are bad practice, you need to test and analyze to get the best possible settings. Do you have any issues since you want to 'tweak'? If everything works smooth and flawless there isn't a reason to do anything, in case you have issues you need to analyze first, check the net-flow etc. Besides that, on Windows 8 / 8.1 some settings will fall back to default at reboot unless you remove their profiles write protection and edit them via PowerShell, or create batch script that runs on every startup.That's my point. You're referencing an 'old router' which the current technology doesn't have issues with.

That's my point. You're referencing an 'old router' which the current technology doesn't have issues with.Side-scaling yes, cause of 1Gbit to 100Mbit differences, not everyone can afford to upgrade you know. I have even seen differences when going to a 1Gbit office switch and then routings out via a 100Mbit Zyxel Firewall, packet drop like crazy with side-scaling enabled on the NIC (pretty easy to track via the switchs log). Regarding Auto-Tuning, it's a pretty general issue, as example Enterprise Firewall routers (We are talking ASA and alike here, not cheap home crap) cause it with practice restrictions regarding auto tuning. You can also see loads of examples regarding the difference with Auto Tuning level on and off with newer home routers, even those that are considered top end, just check the Netgear forum as example. Also, connections to quite a few Akamai servers seem to have issues with it, not to mention HP. I am not trolling.

I haven't witnessed any improvements from Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 using the 'optimizer' tool. Don't get offended because it is your software.I am not offended because it's our software, and I don't mind you sharing your experience. However, you are also suggesting that your experience is the one everyone should follow, everyone should just stop tweaking their connection in the 'Tweaks Help' forum. It's like repeatedly telling everyone at the running track there is no point in them running.