Thank you for selecting one (or more) of the Anuran Railroad Desktop Themes to install on your computer. The following instructions describe specifically how to get and install the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) desktop theme on your computer. However, this example is applicable to all of the themes available at this web site.

When you download the theme file, you will get a single "zipped" file (ACEtheme.zip) saved to your computer. This file is a compressed collection of many files which together make the ACE theme. In order to open the zipped file, you will need to use a decompression program such as WinZip (http://www.winzip.com). Once you have this software, follow these instructions:

1. Unzip the ACEtheme.zip contents file to the c:\ (root) directory. The theme file ("ACE.theme") will be automatically unzipped to a directory called
     C:\Program files\PLUS!\Themes\

The theme documents will be automatically unzipped to two new directories called
     C:\Program files\PLUS!\Themes\ACE\
  and
     C:\Program files\PLUS!\Themes\AnuraN Shared\

To apply the theme settings to your computer, you have one of two options:

2a. For Windows 95 users, you will need a theme software program such as "Desktop Themes" by Johnathan Potter/Left Side Software (http://www.lss.com.au/lss/lss_main.htm). This program should be installed to a directory called C:\Program files\PLUS!\Desktop Themes\. Once you have installed this software, simply use it to select your theme. The settings will be applied automatically.

2b. For Windows 98 users, you may use the Desktop Themes utility found in the "Settings" folder of the Windows 98 Start Menu. In my experience with Win 98, this utility will install all of the train theme settings EXCEPT the startup, wait, and shutdown screens! In order to activate these screens, Windows 98 users will also need additional software such as "Desktop Themes" by Johnathan Potter/Left Side Software (http://www.lss.com.au/lss/lss_main.htm).

I have not used Windows 2000, but I hope that you can use the instructions for "Windows 98 users" on Windows 2000 systems.

If you have installed the theme and some of the cursors do not look legible (their colors are off), or the Window colors are blending (i.e., the color of text matches the color of a window frame), you probably have your computer set at 256 color resolution. If so, change the color settings on your display (using the "Display" utility found in the "Settings" folder of the Windows Start Menu) to reset your computer screen to high (16 bit) color. These desktop themes are designed for use at 800 x 600 pixel resolution with high (16 bit) color.

Still having problems?
If you are still having trouble downloading, installing, or applying the features of these desktop themes on your computer, email me (Eric Thomas: ethomas@pacific.edu) and I will try to help you solve your problems.

This page was created 6 Mar. 2000.