Themes for XP
 

Well since IcED got me into the mood of prettying up my desktop..

It makes me want to change the Theme for my XP too...

I've seen people make their XP look like Vista and all that... so I assume those are done by installing a Theme???

Just found a How to webpage (coz I know absolutely nothing about this kinda stuff)

http://www.thepcmanwebsite.com/install_themes.shtml

And it instruct to "fix" the uxthemes.dll file...

So... is that what I must do? Is the link they provide valid? I'm just trying to be cautious coz i don't really wanna mess anything up that makes my window tell me to verify my windows or something xD

If it looks too risky then I wont bother...

The vista theme on Windows XP dont even bother with it. It takes a huge chunk of memory to even run the thing. I honestly wouldn't even recommend it at all.

http://www.themexp.org/
http://blog.shankarganesh.com/2007/0...or-windows-xp/

Ohh ok.. if it's resource consuming then I better not fiddle with that...

Well it depends on how much ram your computer has. It may be ok when you are not running another program that also takes up a chunk of memory but if the ram in your computer is not that good you would notice slowdown for sure when running Fiesta.

Is the theme only resource taking if it's the Vista one? What if it's like just colour overlay stuff?

But yeah Fiesta is almost always on when I'm at the computer so maybe not..

In case you're still wondering about uxtheme.dll, what it does, and whether or not it's safe:

uxtheme.dll patching is legitimate. I prefer it as my method for skinning my XP. Consider it the 'natural' way to skin your windows. The great thing about this method is that you don't need to run any programs at all. Which means it only requires a small amount, if any, of your system memory.

It works by unlocking window's theming capabilities. If you tried to install any themes without patching uxtheme.dll, then it will generally just revert to the classic theme with some changes in color/font. However once uxtheme.dll is patched, textures in your windows theme will be able to undergo more dramatic changes.

There are some limitations to this method compared to using third party skinning programs, but I think it will meet your basic needs.

Thieving's links are probably the best links you can get. DeviantArt has a few themes too, under "Visual Styles." Themes usually come with their own instructions for installation, since people sometimes use other programs to achieve a specific theme's look - stuff like icon changes, calendars or docks.


edit:

Some vista themes require you to install external programs to achieve certain things, like a program that forces your start menu to work like the Vista one, or your "Alt+Tab" to function/look like Vista, or making your theme capable of transparency - resource heavy stuff, particularly with the transparency.

The 3rd theme in ThievingSix's link will require some memory to work, since it needs WindowsBlinds. The first two will work just fine with uxtheme.dll patching, but you might not get the Vista look you were hoping for. If you're happy with just the taskbar and windows changing their textures, then they will work fine for you.

Ohh ok, so if i patch that with the link that I found... I don't need to run any 3rd party program?

(Does the Vista thing need a 3rd party program, that's why it's resource sucking?)

Some Vista skins will rely on 3rd party programs to achieve their look. Some will just need you to patch uxtheme.dll and install the theme's shell. It depends.

First two themes in thieving's link don't need a 3rd party program, just the uxtheme.dll patch. Oh yeah, once you patch uxtheme.dll, you won't need to do it again for other skins.

ohh awesome!! I'll try that 2night... (there goes my plan to study LOL)

I dont need vista function i was just using it as example..

so other skins should be good~

Hey dy I dl'ed one from dev art... now how do I install it?

normally when you dl things like that they come in a pakage, and normally in that pakage there's an uninstall thing.. o-o

i want an installer.. i dl'ed the thing hessah gave to allow these type of 3rd party things, and dl'ed the theme, and used the only installer in it.

im so confused

I did all the shit it said, now I cant even go back to my XP theme, just the windows classic theme Y_Y

Did you restart after installing it? If it ain't working just run the .exe again to revert to default settings. There's some issues with getting it working depending on your service pack.

The instructions on that site should be alright. You can double click .theme files to get them working, which theme did you download? It might not be a proper winstyle.

Btw.. thanks T6 for the links! xD

I'm using royal theme.

Awesome.

Ah.. i'm getting the same problem as Mikey.. even when I was just trying to load the XP theme...

Error Msg:
An exception occurred while trying to run "C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDL L "C:\WINDOWS\system32\desk.cpl|,Display"

=/

All of what Dynamics said is correct except patching uxtheme.dll is not legitimate per se. It is, technically, against the Windows EULA (which prohibits you to modify any component of the OS therein since Windows is "closed-source", not "open-source"). However, this customisation culture has become so popular that it is considered "normal" these days to install a visual style that is not digitally signed by Microsoft (ever wonder why Royale, Zune and Embedded themes work just fine without patching anything?).

As for patching the uxtheme.dll, I always use the Multi Patcher (which caters for up to Windows XP SP3 but not Vista, go here to get the uxtheme.dll patcher for Vista).

Note that you have to wait for 1 minute or so because during installation, Windows will ask for the CD to restore system file because the uxtheme.dll is being overwritten by an unrecognised version, click Cancel to ignore this warning. Then reboot and you're done.

As for the real visual style, it depends on your taste but I have been in love with this theme.

THANKS LAM!! IT WORKED!!

my newly purple-obsessed desktop...