That in itself is problematic if you want to run the same advanced theme on all of your computers running a version of Windows. For that, you had to repeat the sometimes taxing installation procedures on all additional systems.

That’s however no longer necessary with the release of the Skin Pack Installer System for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows. Windows users who are thinking of installing the program need to pay special attention to the installation process, as it tries to make potentially unwanted system changes (new homepage, search).

The program basically provides the options to create a skin pack with a few clicks to distribute it to other Windows systems.

Skin Pack Installer System lists the various elements and options in the interface. A click on an element opens a file browser to add a custom file to the skin pack. The elements are loosely sorted into the groups dll files, exe files and theme & installer. It is for instance possible to replace shell32.dll, explorerframe.dll, explorer.exe or notepad.exe in the dll and exe files.

The theme & installer group offers options to pick a wallpaper, cursor, visual style or media.

Once you are finished replacing the original files with custom ones, you can start creating the setup file. A click on Create Setup creates an executable that can then be run on other computer systems to install the customizations on that system.

The developer has added a resource hacker, extractor, renamer and png to bmp tool to the application which may come in handy during the preparation and creation.

It might take a bit longer to create the theme pack, but it is well worth that time considering that you can install the exact same theme then on other Windows PCs with a few clicks. Plus, it is possible to offer the theme pack as a download on the Internet or a network.

Interested users can download both the 32-bit and 64-bit version from the developer’s Deviant Art page. (via)

Expect Windows XP themes of Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Dragonball, The Simpsons, Fantastic 4 and The Flash. Let me explain how you install those themes. Once you have patched the uxtheme.dll you need to unpack the themes that you download into the Windows/Resources/Themes folder. When that is done double-click the .mstyles file which should open the Appearance tab in Display Properties. Click Apply and you are all set.

You sometimes have the choice between several styles for Windows and Buttons as well as Color Schemes. Use the pulldown menus on the left to see if that is the case for the selected theme.

Dragon Ball no off skin by ~teoiron on deviantART

Spiderman no off skin by ~teoiron on deviantART

Superman no off skin by ~teoiron on deviantART

The Simpsons no off skin by ~teoiron on deviantART

Batman no off skin by ~teoiron on deviantART

Fantastic four no off skin by ~teoiron on deviantART

The Flash no off skin by ~teoiron on deviantART

I would like to introduce two methods of patching uxtheme.dll. The first method is automatic but sometimes not working. I would still suggest to use the Uxtheme Multi-patcher first if you use Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. Just unpack and start the application (no installation required) and click on Patch to patch uxtheme.dll. The software checks the operating system and asks if the findings are correct. If the information is correct click OK.

Windows File Protection will kick in which you have to cancel of course. File Protection would otherwise replace the patched uxtheme.dll with the original from the Windows XP CD which would have the result that you would not be able to use custom themes. Once that is done restart the computer once and check if you can add custom themes. If that is possible you have successfully patched uxtheme.dll. If not or if you are using Windows Vista read on.

Windows Vista users or users where the automatic patching failed can replace the file manually instead. They need the application Replacer for it which can be used to replace files with system protection. They also need the patched uxtheme.dll which they can find at Uxtheme Patches. Make sure to download the correct version for your operating system.

Start Replacer and follow the on screen instructions. Begin by dragging and dropping the original uxtheme.dll file which is located in c:\windows\system32 into the program window and hit enter. Then drag and drop the patched dll into the window and hit enter again. Follow the instructions until File Protection kicks in again. Make sure you cancel the file protection window so that the patched file is not replaced with the original one again.

Custom themes can be added after a restart.

This is pretty useful for those who like to download custom themes from sites like Deviant Art and apply them to their system.