[Tutorial] How To Enable Aero Glass In All Supported Longhorn Builds

[MajorSky17]

Builds with full DWM:
All Beta 1 and higher builds
5048 (Milestone 9)
4074 (Milestone 7)
3718 (Milestone 3)
(All other builds have one or more parts of DWM, however it is usually just GPU rendered windows.)

How to enable DWM in each supported build:
Beta 1: Enabled by default if hardware is compatible
5048: Run the command "c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\udwm.dll DwmClientStartup"
4083: Run the command "c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\user32.dll DwmStartup"
4074: Run the command "c:\windows\i386\sbctl.exe start"
4029/4033: Run the following commands
"c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\user32.dll DceStartup"
"c:\windows\i386\sbctl.exe dcestart"
"c:\windows\i386\sbctl.exe wmgstart"
4039: Run the command "%windir%\i386\sbctl.exe start"
4008/4015: Run the command "c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\user32.dll DceStartup"
3706/3718: Choose "Enable DCE" in Display Properties "Advanced" window

How to enable Aero glass effects in each supported build:
4074/5048: Run RegEdit. Navigate to HKLM>Software>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>Explorer. Create two new DWORD keys "MILDesktop" and "MILExplorer" and give them both a value of 1.

Other DWORD keys for DWM (Milestone 9+):
The following DWORD keys may be added to HKLM>Software>Microsoft>DWM>/HKCU>Software>Microsoft>DWM>.
Glass - Boolean that controls whether or not 'Aero Glass' (highest premium tier) is enabled. Set Metal to 0 when using.
Metal - Boolean that controls whether or not 'Aero Express' (lowest premium tier) is enabled. Set Glass to 0 when using.
UseAlternateButtons - Boolean that controls whether or not to use the alternative window button styling (new smaller icons)
ScaleXPercent - Integer (self-explanatory)
ScaleYPercent - Integer (self-explanatory)
AnimationsShiftKey - Boolean that controls whether animations feature slow motion mode when shift key is held down

Disable hardware check for DWM:
Run RegEdit. Navigate to HKLM>Software>Microsoft>DWM>. Create a new DWORD key "EnableMachineCheck" and give it a value of 0.

[Spi0]

Do these require any specific Virtualisation programs or will they work with any?

[MajorSky17]

Do these require any specific Virtualisation programs or will they work with any?

Honestly, I can't remember which program I used for each build at this point. However, I do remember (because I've apparently written it to remind myself, lol) that VMware Workstation 7.1.3 had a high success rate.

[SkyeWeeb]

Do these require any specific Virtualisation programs or will they work with any?

Honestly, I can't remember which program I used for each build at this point. However, I do remember (because I've apparently written it to remind myself, lol) that VMware Workstation 7.1.3 had a high success rate.

Anything either VMware 6.5 to 7.x or a newer version with 6.5-7.x hardware compatibility should work for quite a few builds. Your best option is probably finding hardware that can natively run the builds and DWM instead of fiddling with unsupported VM configurations though.