Aero Cursors in Server 2008
By default Windows Server 2008 has the plain white mousepointer. In this tutorial we will install the aero mouse pointers of Windows Vista.
1. Download aero_cursors.zip from FreeUNH.org, unlimitednethosting.com, Win2008Workstation, rapidshare, megaupload or 4shared.
2. Open aero_cursors.zip and browse within the archive to the folder cursors. Within the cursors folder select all files by pressing ctrl+A, click with your right mouse button on the selection and select Copy.
3. Browse with Windows Explorer to C:\Windows\Cursors and click Paste in the Edit menu. All Aero cursors will now be unpacked to your system.
4. Go to the root of the aero_cursors.zip archive and double click at the aero_cursors(.reg) file. Click Yes when the Registry Import warning appears.
5. In the Start menu click Control Panel.
- If you use the Modern View, click Mouse in the Hardware and Sound section.
- If you use the Classic View, doubleclick the Mouse icon.
In the Mouse Properties window click tab Pointers, select Windows Aero from the Scheme dropdown list. Optionally you can also check the Enable pointer shadow.
6. Enjoy the smooth looking mouse pointers and cursor animations! 
Tags Server 2008 Workstation
April 29th, 2008 at 19:09
[...] Original post: Aero Cursors in Server 2008 [...]
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:39
Thanks! I was looking for this.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:59
gr8 thx!
May 27th, 2008 at 17:06
fifa
May 28th, 2008 at 6:15
great
May 28th, 2008 at 21:44
This does not appear to work in 2008 x64….
Admin: Works on Server 2008 x64 too, however if in some rare cases it doesn’t: create the new schemes manually in the Pointers tab of the Mouse configurationitem in the Control Panel by selecting the extracted cursors for each classic cursor and after that clicking Save As.
June 11th, 2008 at 5:48
The problem is not x64 vs 86. it’s that the reg file ONLY adds the cursor files to the current user. If you change the reg file so that the KEY that gets updated is “[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Cursors\Schemes]” rather than “[HKEY_CURRENT_USER....]” then it will work for all users.
June 18th, 2008 at 15:32
Thanks for this information! I tried it and looks like it works perfectly
June 26th, 2008 at 3:33
Perhaps the aero_cursors.reg should be change from
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Cursors\Schemes] to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Cursors\Schemes] so that every user get aero cursors not just the current user.
Admin: You are right. Updated all 5 mirrors with the new .zip!
June 29th, 2008 at 23:56
Glad I could help!
July 11th, 2008 at 12:13
Excellent website, really, it is. On the subject of mouse pointers etc., is it possible to get the blue rectangle when dragging the mouse in a file folder? A tiny, TINY thing I know, but it mildly annoys me that it’s not there.
Admin: Thanks for your compliments!
To get the blue rectangle do this: Start -> Run -> SystemPropertiesPerformance -> Visual Effects [tab] -> [at least] check the “Show translucent selection rectangle”. Good luck! 
August 9th, 2008 at 0:31
Great site! Another suggestion for the sequence of this site. If the cursors are already set up (and registered) by the time you apply the Aero theme, Windows automatically applies the Aero cursors (as one would expect). I know it’s not much, just a few clicks…
August 20th, 2008 at 11:34
A little off topic, but that does work in regular XP too… nice cursors tnx \o/
August 24th, 2008 at 9:29
You should create a bat file in that archive with this content:
copy cursors\*.* %windir%\cursors\ /Y
call aero_cursors.reg
It’s a bit easier this way.
Admin: That’s right, but if you want to install it automatically, use the Windows 2008 Workstation Converter!