XP themes not working

[Anonymous]

When I try to install new themes, they do not always work - the background and icons change but the title bars and start menu do not change in colour/font. Does anybody know why this is not working? I am running on windows XP.br

[puppynut5]

Originally Posted by oli888

When I try to install new themes, they do not always work - the background and icons change but the title bars and start menu do not change in colour/font. Does anybody know why this is not working? I am running on windows XP.

When you say it doesn't always work, does that mean that is sometimes works? Cause if thats the case than whoever made the theme probably messed it up or there was not supposed to be any change in the tile bar and start menu. Thats the only thing I could see. Also are you downloading themes from a website or using a program to try and make them yourself???

[Anonymous]

They never fully work (except for the preset themes). I have downloaded the themes from a href="www.lightstar1.com]www.lightstar1.com/a

[zima]

The reason themes don't work (yes, they don't work AT ALL - icons and backgrounds could be changed even in win95...) is because Microsoft blocked such practise, allowing only their own themes to work.
Obviously there are ways to circumvent this. Less literate computer users install for example WindowBlinds, however there is more elgant way, which doesn't add bloat to system. It involves patching the file responsible for theming - simply search on Google "uxtheme.dll", the first result will be enough.

[geekerati]

Originally Posted by zima

The reason themes don't work (yes, they don't work AT ALL - icons and backgrounds could be changed even in win95...) is because Microsoft blocked such practise, allowing only their own themes to work.
Obviously there are ways to circumvent this. Less literate computer users install for example WindowBlinds, however there is more elgant way, which doesn't add bloat to system. It involves patching the file responsible for theming - simply search on Google "uxtheme.dll", the first result will be enough.

There is no wbload.exe anymore! Get the latest version. Yes, there are tons of resources for patching the uxtheme.dll. It's easy, but installing an entire theme from WindowBlinds with one click rules the day. This is 2006!

[zima]

Yeah, whatever - if you like paying big bucks instead of going much simpler way, free and one that doesn't leave garbage in the system, go ahead.
Yeas WindowBlinds has some additional features...but most (all?) best themes don't depend on them at all, they expect only patched uxtheme.dll. Let us see...lots of additional functionality that isn't in use - yep, I call this bloat.

[geekerati]

Well, I agree with you that free is best. But for a nominal fee it's worth it to me. Please read:
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Excellent application compatibility. Because Stardock has had years to tune WindowBlinds for compatibility, WindowBlinds has excellent compatibility. How good? Ask Microsoft, Nintendo, nVidia, ATI, and many others who have licensed WindowBlinds to release additional visual styles.
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Top Notch Performance. WindowBlinds uses the graphics acceleration features of today's video cards to accelerate visual styles.
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Tight Integration. WindowBlinds 5 doesn't need to any dedicated process in order to run, it runs as a native Windows XP extension.
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Native. WindowBlinds DOES NOT "skin over" the existing user interface. It works by extending the existing painting calls with newer, faster, more feature rich ones.

WindowBlinds skins virtually every aspect of the Windows GUI that one can imagine. And in fact, the enhanced visual styles used by WindowBlinds can skin things previously not thought to be skinnable such as logon/logoff dialogs, the "please wait" dialog, backgrounds in the Control Panel and other special folders, and more.

WindowBlinds 5 skins support per-pixel alpha blending on nearly all controls including the title bars, borders, menus, and other major elements. That means no "jaggies", semi-transparent elements, and just plain cooler looking user interfaces. And best of all, it does this using DirectX acceleration so for most users, it actually increases performance over standard Windows.

Source

[zima]

OK, I'll write the same list, but for patched uxtheme.dll

Best possible application compatibility. Because uxtheme.dll is part of windows, nothing changes from OS/apps point of view.
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Top Notch Performance. uxtheme.dll uses the graphics acceleration features of today's video cards to accelerate visual styles...because that's not really the concern of applications, but underlying operating system, and any Windows GUI app maker which claims their product leverages GFX hardware in better way than other apps is on drugs
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Tight integration. It doesn't even change anything in the system...because it's part of it already!
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Native. It's...part of Windows already, after all. (BTW, WindowsBlinds description here is...oxymoron. You cannot enhance Windows windowing system without altering it. And doing this in case of Windows is very bad idea - this function in Windows is in kernelspace, toying with it is asking for trouble (nevermind that putting it there in the first place was asking for trouble...in exchange for some performance gain). Besides, they don't really enhance it, some details follow)

Also, there are freely available components for changing logon screens, etc., which also, as is the case with uxtheme.dll patching vs. WindowsBlinds, enjoy broader community support.

Last phrase is especially laughable...alpha blending is a native part of Windows starting with 2000, it's hardware acceleration depends only on GFX card driver.


And overall...I'm really buffled how anyone could promote any software using...marketing speak from software producer.

PS. But I guess it shows some mentality..."oooh, shiny...oooh, they say it's great...oooh, must install it"

[dauodwa]

My advise would be to try and download the theme again. Failing that, get a pack such as stylexp, but not if you have xp pro service pack 2.

[Anonymous]

I have tried WindowBlinds and it's great - just what i wanted. The only problem is the popup that comes up on login and shutdown. It says that it is only a trial. Once it has expired, will I still be able to use the themes?