Windows Themes Patcher

Microsoft has build in a protection into the Windows operating system that prevent users from installing third party themes. It is not really clear why the protection has been implemented in first place. The problem that users who want to change the look and feel of their operating system face is that there are only a handful of official themes available that can be installed. Windows 7 changes that a bit by offering basic custom theme creation possibilities.

The only way to enable third party theme support in the Windows operating system is to patch system files. The number of files depends largely on the operating system. Windows XP users for example only need to patch one file while Windows Vista and Windows 7 users need to patch three files to be able to add custom Windows themes.

Universal Theme Patcher is the solution for all users. It can patch system files of 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and even those of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. The program is fully portable and can be executed right after downloading and unpacking it. Users of 32-bit editions of Windows need to execute UniversalThemePatcher-x86.exe while those that run 64-bit editions need to run UniversalThemePatcher-x64.exe instead.

The Windows theme patcher will display information if files need to be patched on the computer system after selecting the interface language. A click on Yes will lead to a detailed screen that is displaying the system files that lock the custom theme selection in Windows. Information included are the file version, platform, checksum and if the file is patched. Each system file can be patched and restored individually in that menu.

The program will automatically create a backup before patching the system files. Windows Vista and Windows 7 users need to run the application as administrators to be able to patch or restore the system files. The computer system needs to be restarted for the changes to take effect. It is possible to patch silently by using the -silent argument.

It is then possible to add custom themes to the operating system. Take a look at available Windows 7 themes for various Microsoft operating systems for a start.

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Tags: portable software, universal theme patcher, windows 7 themes, windows software, windows themes, windows vista themes, windows xp themes
Categories: Windows, software

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4 Responses to “Windows Themes Patcher”

1. gary says:

   May 21, 2009 at 8:35 pm

   Thanks for this. A couple of weeks ago I was researching this topic and came across one of your older posts regarding using Replacer to achieve the same result, which I managed to achieve successfully.
   Good to be reminded that there is also a ~one-click solution available for when I migrate to W7.

   Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

1. Universal Theme Patcher, una utilidad para parchear cualquier versión de Windows y aplicarle temas says:

   May 21, 2009 at 8:11 pm

   [...] Via gHacks [...]

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2. Universal Theme Patcher para Windows | Punto Geek says:

   May 26, 2009 at 3:04 pm

   [...] Visto en gHacks [...]

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3. Windows XP, Vista and 7 Themes » Tips Dr.com says:

   June 2, 2009 at 7:52 am

   [...] has added protection to keep users from adding third party themes, check this page, Windows Theme Patcher for how to get around [...]

   Reply