ZiPaper Version 1.0 Copyright (c) 1990 by Daniel Thomas 10-10-90 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Warning ------- For people that don't like to read instructions (as well as everyone else), read this: 1) You really should read this entire file. 2) If you have a .BMP file called WALPAPER.BMP, YOU SHOULD RENAME IT! 3) If you have a file called ZIPAPER.DAT, YOU SHOULD RENAME IT. Introduction ------------ ZiPaper (that's "Zip Paper") is a program that chooses one of your .BMP files for use as Windows Wallpaper. There are several programs out that do that, though. ZiPaper is different - it lets you place all your .BMP Wallpaper files in a .ZIP file, reducing disk space dramatically. Features: 1) Group all your Wallpaper .BMP files into one .ZIP file! Save on disk space! 2) Get a randomly-chosen Wallpaper file each time you start Windows. 3) ZiPaper remembers all the Wallpaper files it has chosen, so it makes sure that you get each file an equal number of times. Requirements for running ZiPaper -------------------------------- ZiPaper is a DOS program, and therefore does not require Windows. However, it is designed to select Windows .BMP files for use as Wallpaper, so if you don't have Windows, you don't need this program! You need PKUNZIP.EXE from PKWARE, Inc. 7545 N. Port Washington Rd. Glendale, WI 53217 It is available on many BBSes as Shareware. You'll also need PKZIP.EXE to create the ZIP file. How does it work ---------------- You run ZiPaper each time before you start Windows (usually in a batch file). You tell ZiPaper the name of your ZIP file that contains .BMP files for use as wallpaper. It will extract a .BMP file randomly (into the same directory as the ZIP file), and change its name to WALPAPER.BMP . You make a one-time change to Windows, telling it to use the file WALPAPER.BMP as wallpaper. That's it! Installation/Running -------------------- Move all the .BMP files you want to use as wallpaper into a ZIP file. See PKZIP's instructions for this. Place the ZIP file in the Windows directory, or anywhere else you wish. NOTE: Because of a problem with the Windows Control Panel, some people have found it almost impossible to get Windows to load wallpaper that is not in the Windows directory. If you don't want to hassle with this potential problem, place the ZIP file in the Windows directory. If you're willing to tackle this problem, put the ZIP file wherever you wish, and pay attention to the upcoming notes. Place the file ZiPaper.exe in any directory on your path (actually, if you specify the path when you run the program, you can place ZiPaper anywhere on your hard disk). Since ZiPaper should be run each time you run Windows, I suggest you place the line that runs ZiPaper into a batch file that you use to run Windows. Here's the syntax for running ZiPaper (anything enclosed in brackets [] is optional): ZiPaper [d:\path\]walpaper.zip [[d:\path\]pkunzip.exe] "d:\path\walpaper.zip" is the drive, path, and file name of the ZIP file that contains your .BMP files. "d:\path\pkunzip.exe" (optional) is the drive, path, and file name of PKUNZIP.EXE. You don't need to specify this if PKUNZIP.EXE is located along your current path. Run Windows, click on Control Panel, Desktop. In the box titled "Wallpaper", click in the box that is labeled "File". Delete what is in there (if anything) and type in the name "WALPAPER.BMP". If you have *any* Wallpaper that you would like Tiled, please read the section on Tiled Wallpaper, below. For now, click on "Tile". Click on OK and you're done. NOTE: If you placed the ZIP file somewhere other than the Windows directory, this is where you MIGHT have problems. Instead of typing "WALPAPER.BMP", type "d:\path\WALPAPER.BMP" (where "d:\path" is the drive and path of your ZIP file). If Windows doesn't load the Wallpaper file, you will have to modify WIN.INI. I suggest doing it outside of Windows, with a text editor. Find the line that indicates "Wallpaper=", and change it accordingly. Tiled vs Centered, and ZiPaper ------------------------------ ZiPaper doesn't do anything with the "tile" option, but here's how *I* handle it: I leave the setting on "Tile". That way, if the wallpaper fills the screen, the "Tile" setting doesn't matter. If the wallpaper doesn't fill the screen, it gets tiled. If I have a small wallpaper that I DON'T want tiled, I paste it into a full-screen .BMP in Windows Paint (explained below), and use this new file. This has 2 advantages. The first is it lets *me* decide where to put it (not just centered). The second is that I can make the rest of the screen any color I want. Some small wallpaper looks better with black background, others white, etc. Although this new file is larger, it will be reduced quite a lot when you zip it. The constant color of the background compresses very nicely with PKZIP. How to paste a small Wallpaper .BMP into a full-screen .BMP ----------------------------------------------------------- Open Windows Paint. Click on Options, Image Attributes. Click on "pels" (pixels), and set the Width to 640 and the Height to 480 (for VGA). CLick on OK. Exit Windows Paint (this saves the settings and makes them active). Open Windows Paint again. Click on View, Zoom Out. Click on Edit, Paste From. Select your small Wallpaper file. It will appear on the screen as a "hashed" box. drag it to where you want it, and click on any of the tools. Click on View, Zoom In, and then View, View Picture to see what it looks like. You can use the "roller" tool to change the background color. Save this new file, and PKZIP it into your Wallpaper ZIP file. You're done! Yes, the resulting .BMP file will be larger than the original. But PKZIP will do a remarkable job of shrinking this file, because of the constant color of the background. You'll hardly notice the difference . Life with ZiPaper ----------------- Once you've done the installation steps, you need never bother with ZiPaper again (except maybe to send in a shareware fee ). You may add and remove .BMP files from your ZIP file with no fear of upsetting ZiPaper. ZiPaper creates a file called ZIPAPER.DAT in the directory that contains your ZIP file. This file keeps track of what .BMP files it has chosen, so that you get a more even distribution of Wallpaper choices. If you have any problems, you may delete this file. It will be re-created the next time ZiPaper is run. How to Pay for/Register ZiPaper ------------------------------- If you like ZiPaper, please send $10 (US Bank) to: Daniel Thomas 2301 North Huron Circle Placentia, CA 92670 You may reach me on Compuserve at: 72301,2164 Enjoy! Dan Thomas