Dancing Bears Theme for Win95

By Micah Leiff Nutt (e-mail via pattyf@u.washington.edu)

Version 1.5
07 May 1996

What's new:
Added some more icons ("Bear Dos.ico" and "Bear Dos 2.ico."  
Added sounds (wave files) for Window's system events!
Added ability for the saver to plays songs recorded as wave files.

Look also for my Steal Your Face Theme.

This package contains bitmaps, cursors, icons, sounds, and a screen saver for 
use with Windows 95.  You will need an unzipper such as WinZip which can extract
files with their long filenames.  You do not need MS Themes.  

This package is not for sale and if distributed must be distributed in its
entirety with no modifications to any of the files.  I may, however, change
my mind about all of this.  This package is not public domain.

To install:

If you are using MS Themes, merely unzip all the files (except the saver and the
two theme files) to a directory (you create) called "C:\Dancing Bears."  The 
saver file "Dancing Bears.scr" should be extracted to Windows' "System" 
directory (\Windows\System).  Place the "Dancing Bears.theme" and "Dancing
Bears (Alternate).theme" files in the "Themes" directory.  Use MS Themes to 
select the Dancing Bears theme.  You may need to select one of the other 
Dancing Bears bitmaps for wall paper if your screen resolution is not the same 
as the default wall paper.  See below about changing other icons and using the 
.reg files, as you can change other icons with this package that "themes" does 
not.  If you do not unzip the files to "C:\Dancing Bears," because you wish to 
use another directory, you will have to alter the two theme files by changing 
all references to the "C:\Dancing Bears" directory.

If you are not using MS Theme here is what to do.

Unzip all the files to "C:\Dancing Bears" except for the saver file 
"Dancing Bears.scr" which should be placed in the Windows' System directory 
(\windows\system).  To install the Dancing Bears theme double click on the 
"bears.reg" icon (looks like a bunch of cubes); reboot the machine and you 
should have lots of bears.  You will, however have to select the 
"Dancing Bears" screen saver manually.  Check out the alternate theme 
"bears2.reg" by following the above directions.  If you do not unzip the files 
to "C:\Dancing Bears," because you wish to use another directory, you will have
to alter the two regestry files by changing all references to the 
"C:\\Dancing Bears" directory (Note the use of the double slash!).

You can use the icons provided to replace Desktop icons by searching the 
regestry (run regedit.exe) for the item you want to change and altering the 
"DefaultIcon" string so that it reflects the icon you wish to display.  You 
will have to reboot before the changes are visible.  For example, if you wish 
to change the "recycle bin" icons, run regedit and find (ctr-f) "recycle bin" 
then click on the "+" next to the open folder (on the left); next click on 
"DefaultIcon" and then double click on any of the "names" (on the right) you 
wish to change and type in the path and name of the icon you wish to use.  The 
"Bear" and "Bear Rose" make good recycle bin icons. Use the "Properties" 
dialog box to change other files' (and shortcuts') icons. 

It is wise to save (export) a copy of the section of the registry that you will
be modifying for future use or reference.

Enjoy.

If you wish to "uninstall" the Dancing Bears theme you can double click on
the "reset.reg" icon (looks like a bunch of cubes) to reset all the shell 
icons; reboot. You may need to edit the "reset.reg" file so that all the paths 
are proper if your version of Win95 is not installed to "C:\\Windows," etc.

I appologize for the lack of any install/destall program; and for ommisions,
typos, and errors.  You use these files at your own risk; I am not responsible
for any use/misuse of the provided for files.

Trouble shooting!

Q: Why are my cursors black and white instead of really cute red bears with
green bandanas?
A: You need to set up your display for at least 256 colors.

Q: Why are my icons "Win95 Flags" instead of really cute bears?
A: You did not unzip the files to "C:\Dancing Bears" or if you did your 
unzipping program does not create long filenames.  Or for those of you who 
chose another directory besides "C:\Dancing Bears" you did not search
and replace the directory names in the .reg files properly, if at all.  Or
you did not unzip the "icons.zip" file.

Q: Why isn't the screen saver available/working and hypnotizing me?
A: You either did not copy "Dancing Bears.scr" to the windows' system
directory and/or you have not activated it via your display's "Properties"
dialog box.

Q: The screen saver is still not working, why?
A: You may be running out of memory; reduce the number of bears to be displayed.

Q: The desktop background *was* black but isn't any more, why?
A: The regestry files set the background to be black but you did not have a
"Black" pattern so when you changed some settings it defaulted to "None" as
the pattern.  Edit one of the existing patterns making it all black and save it
as "Black."

Q: I can't find any songs for the screen saver to play.
A: I am not providing any recorded songs.  If you have songs as "wave" files
you may select them and have the saver play them.  If you choose to record them
yourself (perhaps from your cd rom drive) I suggest recording them in 8 bit/mono
with a low sampling 11 kHz.  In order to play a wave file it must be able to
fit entirerly into memory at once, so a small wave recording is desired.  The
sound quality does not suffer too much if recorded from cd.

Q: I have songs recorded as waves and have selected them but they don't get
played by the saver!  What's up?
A: The songs you select must reside in a subdirectory that is being "pathed"
to.  Change the path statement in you autoexec.bat file to reflect where your
songs are (e.g., SET PATH=%path%;c:\windows\media) or move the songs to a
directory that windows is already pathing to (i.e., c:\windows).  

Q: My friend/honey/grandparent installed these anoying teddy bears and they 
make me puke.  How can I get rid of them?
A: In a directory most likely called "Dancing Bears" double click the 
"reset.reg" icon and then press the "ok" button; reboot your system and they
should be gone except for maybe the screen saver.  Disable that yourself via
the display's "Properties" dialog box.  You may wish to delete the files so 
they are not wasting space on your disk.

Q: I'm really uptight/ornery/fidgity, what's wrong?
A: You haven't gotten the "Steal Your Face" theme yet and/or you are not 
listening to 4-7-84.

The following is a list of the files which are part of the Dancing Bears
Scheme.  

Themes
Dancing Bears.theme
Dancing Bears (Alternative).theme

Regestry
bears.reg 
bears2.reg
reset.reg

Bitmaps (in Bitmaps.zip)
Bear (32).bmp 
Bear (640).bmp
Bear (800).bmp
Bear (1024).bmp
Bear (1280).bmp
Bear (Lots).bmp

Cursors (in Cursors.zip)
Bear Alternate Select.cur
Bear Busy.ani
Bear Diagonal Resize 1.cur
Bear Diagonal Resize 2.cur
Bear Handwriting.cur
Bear Help Select.cur
Bear Horizontal Resize.cur
Bear Move.cur
Bear Normal Select.cur
Bear Precision Select.cur
Bear Text Select.cur
Bear Unavailable.cur
Bear Vertical Resize.cur
Bear Working In Background.ani

Icons (in Icons.zip)
Bear.ico
Bear Basket.ico
Bear Basket 2.ico
Bear Dial Up 2.ico
Bear Dial Up.ico
Bear Dos.ico
Bear Dos 2.ico
Bear Dos 3.ico
Bear Gear.ico
Bear Hammer.ico
Bear Mail.ico
Bear Mail 2.ico
Bear My Computer.ico
Bear Network Neighborhood.ico
Bear Printer.ico
Bear Printer 2.ico
Bear Recycle Bin (Full).ico
Bear Recycle Bin (Empty).ico
Bear Rose.ico

Sounds (in Sounds.zip)
BIODTL.WAV
Casey.wav
Dancin.wav
Estimate.wav
FOTD.WAV
FOTD2.WAV
Franklin.wav
GoodNite.wav
Help.wav
Mexicali.wav
MornDew.wav
MornDew2.wav
Passengr.wav
PumpSong.wav
ShakeDn.wav
ShakeDn2.wav
SugarMag.wav
Terrapin.wav
TheWheel.wav
ToreUp.wav
ViolaLee.wav
Welcome.wav

Saver (in Saver.zip)
Dancing Bears.scr (Windows 95 saver)
