Program setup

Program configuration is made by using Aston Options (Start>Aston Options, Ctrl+Alt+F12).
It's also possible to set up each element by right-clicking on it and calling out its context menu.

 !   This program is used to configure and fine-tune Aston, and to create/edit Themes.
In order to get more detailed information about Theme creation, texture formats, etc, refer to our online tutorial.

Autoload from "Startup" folder

Enables or disables the automatic start of programs from the Autorun (Start>Programs>Autorun) folder.

Autoload from Windows Registry

Permits or blocks programs from starting from the autorun sections of Windows registry.

Autoload shell objects

Automatical load of shell objects can help to solve some problems which might occur at startup. You may also need to check this option if you don't see network connections in your Tray area.

Autoload from Win.ini

Permits or blocks applications from starting from autorun Win.ini

Disable transparency for all elements

Enable this option if you want to switch off transparensy completely. This is very convenient in case your video player (TV tuner, game) works incorrectly with transparency enabled.

Show keyboard layout indicator

When using multiple keyboard layouts (like both Russian and English), the keyboard indicator allows one to know what layout is being active at a certain moment. Disable this option if you're using third-party keyboard layout indicators.

Path to configuration files (aston.rc and plugins.rc)

This field provides the infor about your configuration files location.

Taskbar size

Taskbar scale value. Set

0 to disable Taskbar
1 to set it to the default size
2 to get double Taskbar
3 to get tripple Taskbar
etc...

Position

Taskbar position: At the bottom, On top, On the left or On the right.

Taskbar height

Taskbar height in pixels. This value is usually set when making a theme.

Icon offset

Icon offset for task buttons relative to the left edge of task buttons.

AutoHide

Enable this option to hide Taskbar automatically when not using it. This can be helpful when working on computers with small screen resolution.

Taskbar on top of all windows

Taskbar, set on top of all windows, will not be overlapped by them so you will always have access to it.

Smooth Taskbar emerging/hiding

Smooth Taskbar sliding in/out with animation effects when AutoHide option is enabled.

Minimize the active task by the left click on its Taskbar button

When this option is enabled you can minimize/restore any window by clicking its Taskbar button.

Show hints if the text fits the button size

When pointing a Taskbar button, hints (tooltips) will be displayed, even if the task name fully fits the button width.

No bevels on tasks

Disabling Taskbar bevels can slightly improve its appearance.

Disable animation on minimizing/restoring

This option lets you disable animation effects on windows' minimizing and restoring.

Lock Taskbar size

Locking the size of Taskbar gives you an opportunity to avoid changing its size by accident.
 !   When necessary, you can adjust this size by changing the corresponding parameter in Taskbar>Taskbar size.

Taskbar transparency

Taskbar transparency level.
 !  Windows 2000/XP and above only.

Active task

Active task's texture and the color of the text, displayed on top of this texture.

Inactive task

Inactive (background) task's texture and the color of the text, displayed on top of this texture.

Minimized task

Minimized task's texture and the color of the text, displayed on top of this texture.

Empty Taskbar skin

Empty Taskbar's texture (when it has no buttons on it) and the way of its imposition.

Tray skin

Tray area's texture and the way of its imposition.

Skinless Taskbar color

Taskbar's default color of the text, used for areas, not covered with a texture.
 !   It is never displayed if a properly impositioned texture is used.

Tips of the day color

Default color for the text, displayed on the Taskbar (only used for displaying "tips of the day" from Tips.rc).

Skinless Tray color

Default color for Tray areas, not covered with any texture.
 !   It is never displayed if a properly impositioned texture is being used.

Active task label's font

Font parameters, used for the text, displayed on the active Taskbar button's text (usually a window title).

Inactive task label's font

Font parameters, used for the text, displayed on an inactive Taskbar button's text (usually a window title).

Minimized task label's font

Font parameters, used for the text, displayed on a minimized Taskbar button's text (usually a window title).

Tips font

Font parameters, used for displaying "tips of the day".

Normal

Start button texture, displayed when the button is inactive.

Highlighted

Texture, displayed when the cursor is positioned above the Start button.

Pressed

Texture, displayed when the Start button is pressed.

Position

Tray position on the Taskbar: Right (Bottom) or Left (Top).

Tray icons size

Size (in pixels) of icons, displayed in the System Tray. I.e. 16 corresponds to 16x16 pixel icons.
 !   With values, different from 8, 16, 24, 32 and 48 most applications' icons will be displayed distorted. 16 is the most common recommended value.

Setup tray icons

Setup tray icons calls out a dialogue which lets you point which icons are to be displayed when the Tray area is minimized/maximized.
 !   Aston System Tray area can be minimized for rarely used icons not to be displayed 'till it is maximized.

AutoHide/Show Tray icons

If enabled, Tray is minimized after a period of time, set by the AutoHide delay value. It also maximizes when you move your pointer over it.

AutoHide delay

Time (in seconds) passed from moving the cursor away from Aston icon in the Tray to the Tray minimizing (if AutoHide option is turned on).

Click Aston icon to maximize/minimize Tray

Enabling this option lets you minimize/maximize Tray area by clicking Aston button, located in the Tray area.

Disable Aston Tray icon

Enable this option to hide Aston button, located near the Tray area. This prevents you from minimizing Tray by accident with the mouse click.
 !   When enabled, minimizing/maximizing Tray is possible only with a key combination.

Maximized Tray icon

You can replace Aston button image with your own one. It will be displayed when the Tray area is maximized.

Minimized Tray icon

You can replace Aston button image with your own one. It will be displayed when the Tray area is minimized.

In this window you can set up the Start menu root elements. You can add/remove items, change their icons, names and other existing parameters. Place your cursor over any Toolbar button to learn its meaning.

Toolbar setup dialog allows to easily customize Toolbars according to your needs. Use the Toolbar to add/remove or modify elements. Place cursor over any item to learn its meaning. You can also move the existing elements by means of Drag and Drop.
Toolbar items can be links to files, folders, URLs and Toolbar plug-ins (with TBP extension). In order to add a plug-in item you should create a new element with the following properties:

• Application: the correct path to the TBP file.
• Object type: plug-in.

Disable Toolbar

By checking this box you can disable the Toolbar. Disabled Toolbar won't be displayed on the screen and access to it will be blocked until you enable it again.

AutoHide Toolbar

This option lets you automatically hide inactive Toolbar from the screen. It will remain hidden untill you move your cursor to its position at the edge of the screen.

Toolbar is on top of all windows

When checked, Toolbar is displayed on top of all windows. This option is especially useful when AutoHide is set on.

Toolbar caption

With the help of this option you can enable or disable the Toolbar caption.
 !   Caption gives you an easy access to Toolbar options (by means of popup menu), and clicking it minimizes/restores Toolbars.

Toolbars limit screen space

When enabled, the screen area, taken by Toolbars, turns inaccessible for windows. Use this option if you need constant access to your Toolbar items.

Smooth Toolbar emerging/hiding

Enabling this option turns on smooth animation when showing/hiding Toolbars.

Toolbar skin

Texture, used for Toolbar elements.

Toolbar caption skin

Toolbar caption texture.

Toolbar element size

Width and Height (in pixels) of a single Toolbar item.

Vertical coordinate

Vertical Toolbar coordinate (in pixels). This value can be used for precise positioning of Toobars.

Toolbar transparency

Toolbar transparency level.
 !   Windows 2000/XP and above only.

This dialog allows you to precisely align Toolbar icons position for each of the three levels, using simple visual interface. By pressing arrows you can move the icon one pixel in the needful direction and X resets its position to the center of the image. Clicked and highlighted icons' offset value indicates the "depth" when you place your cursor over the button and press it.
 !   With Clicked and highlighted icons' offset value set to zero, Toolbar icons will not be displaced on clicking and hovering.

This window has a complete set of items, placed on your Aston Desktop (excluding elements, created by plug-ins). With its help you can add new elements, change the existing ones and also temporarily disable certain elements.
Place your pointer over any Toolbar item to learn more about its functions.
 !   By right-clicking your mouse you can call out the context menu which allows you to create new elements of a certain type or modify an existing element.

Lock/Unlock

You can centrally control the blocking of all your Desktop items. In order to do it you should select the range of elements (All elements, Current Theme elements only or Excluding current Theme elements) and press the Lock button to block the selected group of elements or Unlock to release it.
 !   You may move locked items by holding Shift while dragging them.

Icon labels' transparent background

By enabling this option you make all iconlabels' background transparent (invisible), which enhances overall look of your Desktop.

Doubleclick icons to start objects

When enabled, you'll be able to activate your Desktop elements (icons) only by double-clicking them (otherwise - by a single click).

Highlighting for focused icons

With highlighting enabled, objects will react on mouse pointer by changing their appearance, which lets one easily distinguish them from background elements and decorations.
 !   Note, that with highlighting disabled most elements won't change their appearance on mouse over.

Shadows

When Shadows option is enabled, icons will have shadows which makes them look as if their label texts were three-dimensional.

Native XP shadows

This options lets you switch between the algorithm of shadow generation used in Aston and in Windows XP. Generally Aston creates sharper shadows but you might prefer the XP style.
 !   Windows XP only.

Show cursor

When enabled, cursor is displayed when objects are moved (otherwise only the object itself is visible).
 !   While dragging objects, holding Shift displays exact object's coordinates in pixels, which might be useful for precise positioning.

Icons' displace threshold

Icons' displace threshold is a minimal distance (in pixels) to displace cursor in order to move an object. Moving objects (with one's mouse) for distances, less than the defined value, will be impossible.
 !   This option is used to prevent moving unlocked icons by accident.

Get Explorer icons

Click this button to add icons from Windows Explorer Desktop folder to Aston Desktop.

Arrange icons by...

It's a good idea to use this option when you have a large number of icons on your Desktop. You can select one of these values:

• by Width: to arrange icons by width.
• by Name (a..z): to arrange icons by their labels' text (alphabetic order).
• by Name (z..a): to arrange icons by their labels' text (reversed order).
• by Size: to arrange icons by their size.
• by Grid: to align icon positions, making them more organized.

Icon labels font

Default properties of the font, used to display icon labels.

Icon label

Color of the text, used for icon labels in their normal state.

Selected icon's label

Color of the text, used for icon labels when the icon is selected.

Highlighted icon's label

Color of the text, used for icon labels when you point the cursor over it.

Labels shadows

Color of the shadows, drawn under the icon labels.
 !   Shadows are only visible if you enable them by checking the Desktop>Settings>Shadows option.

This dialog allows you to define the background picture for Aston Desktop.

You can Add, Remove, preview and select any background from the list.

Size displays the exact resolution (in pixels) of the selected wallpaper.

Tile, Center and Stretch buttons help one to define the way Wallpaper is arranged on the Desktop.

In the plug-ins window one can see the complete list of installed plug-ins, get access to their Properties and also dynamically turn them on and off.

Plug-in

The Plug-in field displays the full path to the installed module and also lets you dynamically turn it on and off (by clicking the checkbox).

Description

Module name and version.

Add

Press this button to install a plug-in. Installed plug-in will be automatically added to the list.

Delete

Removes a plug-in from the list and disables it.

Properties

Pressing the Properties button calls out the properties dialog for the selected plug-in:

• Description: the detailed plug-in description.
• Path: the compete path to the plug-in.
• Theme element: when active, the plug-in is considered a part of the Theme and all of its settings are stored within the Theme.
• Enable/Disable: lets one dynamically turn the plug-in on and off.
  

Setup plug-in

Calls out the plug-in setup dialog.
 !   This dialog is unique for each plug-in.

Most actions within Aston can be done by means of hotkeys. Using them you can greatly decrease the time taken by some operations.
 !   Hotkeys, defined in this dialog, are global, i.e. let you perfrom certain actions no matter what task is being active currently.
In order to avoid conflicts with some third-party applications we don't recommend using common key combinations like Ctrl+S, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+P etc. In order to get the complete list of commonly used hotkeys, please, refer to Windows documentations and other sources.

Outwardly this dialog is similar to the plug-in setup dialog. You'll also have to deal with a list of items, and each of its elements can be turned on and off at any moment.

Keys

Key combinations, defined to perform certain actions. You can switch them on and off by means of checkboxes.

Action

Description of the action, run by this hotkey.

Add

Registration of a new action, performed with a hotkey:

• Application: link to the file or the document, run by this hotkey.
• Directory: task's work directory or folder name when folders are called out (leave this field void if you're not sure what it is for).
• Object type: type of the object, activated by this hotkey (select the value you need from the list).
• Window state: state of the task window when it's started (Default, Minimize or Maximize).
• Hotkey: defined key combination. In order to add it just place cursor into the field and press the hotkey. Del and Backspace keys make the field clear.
• Enable/Disable: temporarily Enable (Disable) the action, perfromed by a hotkey.

 !   You can select one of the following key combinations when defining hotkeys: Ctrl+[key], Alt+[key], Ctrl+Alt+[key], Ctrl+Shift+[key], Alt+Shift+[key], Ctrl+Alt+Shift+[key], and also Win+[key] and any combination of Win with Ctrl, Alt, Shift. Setting [key] or Shift+[key] sequences as hotkeys is impossible (as it will most probably cause conflicts with other applications).

Delete

Deleting the action, started by a hotkey.

Properties

Selected action's properties. The configuration dialog is identical to the one, which appears on pressing the Add button.

Toolbar emerging delay

Toolbar emerging delay:

• level 1: time (in milliseconds), passed from moving your cursor to the screen edge to Toolbar sliding out. So, the lower is the value, the faster it will appear, but the more is possibility of calling the Toolbar by accident.
• levels 2,3: time (in milliseconds), passed from the moment of pointing at the first (second) level Toolbar item to sublevel item's sliding out.

Display hints for Toolbars elements

Displays tooltips when pointing the Toolbar icon with the mouse.

Warn on invalid Startup links

Displays popup warnings when it's impossible to start certain autorun items.

Disable Win and Ctrl+Esc keys (NT & ME only)

Disables Win and Ctrl+Esc (the analogue of Win for calling the Start menu) keys in Windows ME/NT/2000/XP/2003.
 !   This option doesn't work in Windows 98.

Multimedia keyboard support for Aston

Enables support for multimedia keyboards in Aston.
 !   In order for this option to work correctly, make sure you have a keyboard Driver installed and it works correctly.

Context menu options

Choose, which options are to be displayed in a popup menu, which appears when you click Aston icon in Tray area:

• Aston Options: calls out Aston Options dialog.
• Recycle: rereads all program's settings (this can help when some elements seem to be displayed incorrectly, when finding some visual bugs and so on).
• Display Setup: calls out the default screen setup dialog.
• Minimize All: minimizes all windows.
• Windows arrangement: standard window arranging commands - Cascade, Tile horizontally, Tile vertically.
• Show Desktop: displays the Desktop (similar to Explorer's Show Desktop command).
• Setup Tray icons: setting up which Tray icons are displayed when Tray is minimized/maximized.

Edit Tips.rc

Press to edit Tips.rc file, which contains "Tips of the day".

Displays the list of the program's authors on top of the firework effect. Here you can also find the exact version number and your registration name.

Link to Aston homepage.

Displays this help file.