Windows 7 Themes

Martin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:57:00 +0000

Microsoft has changed the theme management in their Windows 7 operating system. There is still a lock in place that is keeping users from installing themes that have not been signed by Microsoft but the overall theme manageability has improved. It is for instance now possible to save and load basic themes which opens up several new possibilities like sharing them with friends and family or installing the same theme on multiple computer systems running Windows 7.

This new option made it possible for Microsoft to offer a multiple of the themes that they offered for previous operating systems. The Windows 7 Personalization Gallery over at the Microsoft website contains download links to dozen of themes from country specific themes to sponsored themes. Every Windows 7 user can create basic themes with custom wallpapers, sounds, mouse pointers or desktop icons.

Windows 7 News has published a comprehensive guide on theme usage in Windows 7 (read: Windows 7 Guides: Managing Windows 7 Themes (Part 1) and Windows 7 Guides: Managing Windows 7 Themes (Part 2)).

Part 1 of the guide describes the build in theme management options while part 2 deals with custom third party themes that require system file patching before they can be installed. The Windows 7 theme patcher for Windows 7 can be downloaded from the same website. Please note that the patcher will replace several system files in Windows 7 with different versions. Make sure to backup all important data before making any changes to the computer system.

A good resource for finding third party Windows 7 themes is the Windows 7 themes repository at the Windows 7 News website. There are however other places to look for new themes for the operating system including Deviant Art.

On a personal note: I’m pretty happy with the default themes that are provided with the operating system and have not yet felt the need to search for third party themes. What about you? Have you customized your theme in Windows 7?

Tags: windows 7, windows 7 theme, windows 7 theme patcher, windows 7 themes

Windows Themes Patcher

Martin — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:51:20 +0000

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.

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

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