- 1). Open your cursor editor and create a new animation file. Choose the size of the cursor, keeping in mind that the smaller the cursor, the less room you'll have to work with.
- 2). Use the paint tools to draw the basic shape of your cursor in the grid. Remember the upper left-hand corner of the grid will be where a click actually occurs so that should be the "point" of the pointer.
- 3). Add a new frame to the animation by right-clicking in the frame bar and selecting "New frame."
- 4). Modify your new frame to be the next stage of the animation using the paint tools.
- 5). Repeat steps three and four until your animation is complete. Remember that your animation will be cyclical so the last frame should flow into the first frame.
- 6). Export your animation as a ".ani" cursor file using "File>Save As..." on the menu.
- 7). Go to the Control Panel and click on the "Mouse" button. Go to the "Pointers" tab.
- 8). Highlight the cursor animation that you would like to replace and click browse. Navigate to the directory where you saved your cursor and select it.
- 9). Repeat this process to change as many of the Vista cursor animations as you'd like.
Source...