Installation, updates, general problem solving and assistance.
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Steven W
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2013-11-08 03:36 »

You calling me an old man, "!" :P

Anyway, been reading on this stuff and I think that a program must be written in a way that takes advantage of the tech (files). The odds are that explorer (Windows Shell) in version of Windows below XP are not written that way. I'm thinking Tihiy (who I have the utmost respect for) must have gotten around this by using a wrapper in his RP, although I think he eventually gave up on getting it completely implemented. That does beg the question of whether or not a program written to take advantage of it could run utilizing it in 9x. Perhaps that is what whatever420 discovered.

In case it's not obvious, I'm taking somewhat uneducated guesses here. I've seen references to enabling it in IE6 on XP. That opens the question of if whether it could be enabled in IE 6 on 98-2000 (without a wrapper) and since IE and explorer are so closely linked, if IE 6 would be a pre-requisite for Cleartype on 98-2000.

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PROBLEMCHYLD
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2013-11-08 19:49 »

I bet if someone could patch the actual CTRAS.DLL file, we can have it universally enabled. The Win98 scene is dying faster than ever, so I don't see a future for this. Wrappers and stubs are very limited. We need full implementation when it comes to a lot of things.

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Steven W
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2013-11-09 03:55 »

PROBLEMCHYLD, do you know of functions that ctras.dll calls that are missing in 98?

I forgot to do a search for it before my last post, but as I suspected GDI+ and ClearType go hand in hand:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... 33818.aspx

Drugwash

2013-11-12 18:00 »

It's not that simple. I've looked through the RP9 sources and Tihiy appears to have implemented ClearType directly into RP8.dll, which hooks into each and every 32-bit application. The mere presence of CTRAS.DLL and some registry keys - which by the way are a bit different than what's been posted in this topic - will not enable ClearType on a 9x system. The functions in CTRAS.DLL must be imported by other libraries through an on/off switch and RP8.dll is that switch, along with the registry keys.

As I see it, it would be far simpler to install RP9, use a classic theme if so desired and enable/disable ClearType from RP9's control panel.

RP9 uses about 4 or 5 programming languages for its components and I haven't even begun to understand how it works or how to compile it as is, let alone modify/fix/add anything. I may not live long enough for that, so my advice is take the easy way out and use RP9. But it's your decision entirely.

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Steven W
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2013-11-12 23:37 »

Wow. That certainly is a possibility. BTW, you have the RP9 source? That would be nice thing to have available.

I have been poking around, in my own way (not too seriously) and I believe that in addition to ctras.dll and GDI+ that the files browseui.dll, shdocvw.dll and shlwapi.dll will come into play here too.

Oh yeah, what registry keys were mentioned in that post?

Thanks for posting Drugwash! :D

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PROBLEMCHYLD
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2013-11-13 19:28 »

If someone is ambitious enough, I'm sure one can get it working without RP9, nothing against it though. whatever420 was on to something and now we may have lost one possibility. I miss the good old days when skilled people used to patch the actual files instead of just stubbing and trying to reinvent the wheel with wrappers and such.

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TmEE
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2013-11-14 14:51 »

It is way harder to patch the stuff mainly because of no documentation or outright misdocumentation. It also why it is a whole lot easier to reinvent the wheel than trying to make the existings work.

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PROBLEMCHYLD
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2013-11-14 19:52 »

I think it has to do with a number of things such as funds, patience, motivation, ambition etc.... I will use rloew as a example. He has patched many files without reinventing the wheel. Some of his free patches are included with many of patched files from others around the globe. Me and jumper had a discussion about which version of MSIMG32.DLL to use, Windows ME or KEX. No one seems to find nothing superior over the other. Again pointless. What is the purpose to reinvent the wheel and have the same file, same functions that complete the same task. People can get mad if they want and think I'm bashing. I'm just stating facts. They don't like it, they can kiss my ass :P Some of those same people with create bugs, abandon ship, point the finger at us because they spent too much time reinventing the wheel. SMDH
You said it best TmEE, its a lot easier. These days people are spoiled brats and selfish and would like to be spoon-fed.

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TmEE
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2013-11-14 20:49 »

I would probably invest my time into something too if I were to gain some dough from it, like Mr. Loew is. I have great respect for him though, that guy has skill and patience.
In case of the file in KernelEx its a bit different. The file is a reimplementation to allow control over whatever is going on, rather than act as replacement or such. If latter was enough Xeno would have just chosen the file from a newer OS and made it work.
I personally would jsut reimplement the stuff, in the end I got something that is fuly under my control with no hidden secrets and nothing that fights back. It is also why I am working on my own hardware and software, so I got something that works just as I see fit, and if there's need to change something I can do it with ease. Anyway I am more of a creator than a hacker, at least as far as software goes (hardware I undestand way better, and modify to my needs as I see fit :P).

Also RP9 sources are available in my 98 goodies : http://www.tmeeco.eu/9X4EVER/GOODIES

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Steven W
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2013-11-19 02:35 »

Thanks for sharing TmEE. Lots of goodies in there indeed!

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