.TSK Viewer

[JoeMoon]

Does anyone know of a program that will allow you to view your .tsk files? I am looking for something that will allow me to browse the hundreds of today screens I have collected - not one at a time, but more in a tile fashion... Kinda like the explorer thumbnail feature...

Joe...

[Unreal32]

Try browsing them in Windows XP in the My Device Themes folder, using Thumbnail view!!!!

[JoeMoon]

I would prefer not to have to copy the 64 megs of today screens to the PPC again. I want to scan through the files, pick the one I am looking for and move it to the PPC.

Can I locate the files in a directory in WinXP and thumbnail view them there? If so, how? I have tried it with Thumbnails in WinXP File Explorer and I have troed several different paint programs.

Joe...

[spursdude]

So on your desktop PC, if you have Microsoft Theme Generator installed, using the Thumbnail view in Windows XP Explorer should let you see the theme thumbnail. It sure works for me.

I think the thing you may be missing is MS Theme Generator.

[Steven Cedrone]

In case you do need it, you can download the Microsoft Theme Generator here (http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/downloads/themegenerator.asp)...

Steve

[torgamm]

Does anyone know of a program that will allow you to view your .tsk files? Yes, I do :)
Its name is ThemesTool
You can find it at : http://www.zanchetta.net/pocketPC/ (site in french)

It's a DLL file which allows you to see the main image in your Windows XP File Explorer.
To install it, copy the file and launch regsvr32 to register it.

[JoeMoon]

Ahhhhh.... That is so nice! I spent too many hours searching the internet for a .tsk viewer... I should have come to the Forums first!

You guys are great! Thanks for the tip... It works beautifully!

Joe...

[JoeMoon]

One last question... Why do some of the files show in thumbnail - and others not... I tried a refresh and some of the .tsk files just don't want to show their stuff. They come up in the Theme Generator when I double click on them. What gives with that?!

Joe...

[prismejon]

ThemesTool (http://www.zanchetta.net/pocketPC/ThemesTool.htm) is another way to show your *.tsk files in the windows explorer. But my french doesn't allow me to find out if it does anything more than having Microsoft themegenerator installed.

[torgamm]

If you have Microsoft Theme Generator installed, Themes Tool is not very useful.
It's just a quick way to have a look at thumbnails from your explorer as if they were JPG or GIF image files : if you have many TSK files, ordering them in sub-directories with this tool is much easier.

BTW, it has been online here (http://ppcf.mklabs.com/index.php?setlang=english&soft=569) for a very long time but unhappily, I have no time to translate everything to english...

[disconnected]

I have the theme generator, but never realized that it was possible to view the themes in explorer, so thanks for the info.

I'm not at home now, so can't check this, but I seem to remember that some theme generators create .TSK files, rather than .tsk files, so maybe the .TSK ones are not visible? If this is the case, I think you can just rename them to .tsk instead.

[JoeMoon]

I seem to remember that some theme generators create .TSK files, rather than .tsk files, so maybe the .TSK ones are not visible? If this is the case, I think you can just rename them to .tsk instead.

Nope... The file ext is not the issue... Hmmmm...

Joe...

[spursdude]

One last question... Why do some of the files show in thumbnail - and others not... I tried a refresh and some of the .tsk files just don't want to show their stuff. They come up in the Theme Generator when I double click on them. What gives with that?!
I've noticed this too... unfortunately I'm on the "seeking an answer" boat with you.

[Unreal32]

Never seen that. All my tsk and TSK files show up just fine.

[oe1kenobi]

I have Windows 2000 and Theme Generator v2. My TSK files were mostly not displaying at all. So, I installed http://www.filematrix.xnet.ro/ideas/misc/gdiplus.exe (the Windows XP library required by ThemesTool.dll), placed ThemesTool.dll in c:\winnt\system32, and ran "regsvr32.exe ThemesTool.dll"
That fixed it for me. They all show up great!

I guess Theme Generator v2 has problems.

-Richard L. Owens

[TopDog]

With Windows XP and Theme Generator v2 you should get this:
http://www.pdanorway.com/images/screenshot_PPCThemes_previe.jpg
Some themes don't show up... these are not created with Microsoft Theme Generator v2 I think, because I can't get theme to work at work where I only have Theme Generator v1...

90% (74 themes do be exact) of all the themes I've downloaded shows up just fine, and 100% of those I've created myself show opp just fine (about 30 themes)...

[JoeMoon]

I have Windows 2000 and Theme Generator v2. My TSK files were mostly not displaying at all. So, I installed http://www.filematrix.xnet.ro/ideas/misc/gdiplus.exe (the Windows XP library required by ThemesTool.dll), placed ThemesTool.dll in c:\winnt\system32, and ran "regsvr32.exe ThemesTool.dll"
That fixed it for me. They all show up great!

I guess Theme Generator v2 has problems.

-Richard L. Owens

Okay, I installed http://www.filematrix.xnet.ro/ideas/misc/gdiplus.exe and did a search to locate the Themestool.dll and can't find the .dll file. Where do I get that dll file from?

(What a pain in the rump... Do people test their freakin' apps before they release them - or is the general public considered a bunch of hamsters to do tests on?)

Joe...

[oe1kenobi]

ThemesTool.dll:
http://www.zanchetta.net/pocketPC/default.aspx?page=ThemesTool.htm (original site in French)
or
http://ppcf.mklabs.com/index.php?setlang=english&soft=569 (English review)
Both these links were in the previous posts :wink:

BTW, for lots of info on custom building .tsk files, see my post here: http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=163545#post163545

-Richard L. Owens

[JoeMoon]

Okay, that did the trick. Thanks for the help guys and gals...

Joe...