How to install Windows 7 Themes





This will be a guide how to install Windows 7 themes properly. You can install themepacks created on Windows 7 by double-clicking on it, but for 3rd party themes you will have to patch your uxtheme.dll and some other dll files first.

Before installing 3rd-party themes: Create a backup

Microsoft does not allow you to use themes that modify the shell of Windows 7 or other parts like the Start orb or the taskbar. In order to install those themes you will have to patch your uxtheme.dll, themeui.dll and themeservice.dll, which can be found “C:\Windows\system32\”.

Before you try to install any themes please make a backup of those files!! I won’t repeat this and you are doing any changes at your own risk, I don’t take any responsibility.

Method 1: Background Service UXStyle Core

The first and probably easiest way to install Windows 7 themes is to use the UXStyle Core tool (created by Rafael withinwindows.com).

The UXStyle Core tool can downloaded from http://uxstyle.com/ or from our own server: Download UXStyle Core

This tool will create a new process “UnsignedThemesSvc.exe” that is running in the background and will allow you to run 3rd-party themes properly.

After rebooting your PC, you should check if the service “Unisgned Themes” is started. To do that follow a few instructions:

1. Click on Start
2. Enter services.msc into the search field
3. Enter “U” and look for the service “Unsigned Themes”
4. Double-click it and click on “Start”
5. If it could not find the specified file, you should download



Troubleshooting Unsigned Themes service

Error:
Windows could not start the Unsigned Themes service on local computer.
Error 2: The system cannot find the file specified.

Fix:
Download Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package
x32 Download
x64 Download

Microsoft Visual Studio

Sidenote: Before you use the UXStyle Core, you should deinstall any previously installed UXTheme.dll patches. The UXStyle Core is working on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

If you have problems installing unsigned themes after installing UXStyle Core, check if the service is started: Enter “sc start UnsignedThemes” into command line or follow the instructions above.

Reboot your PC after installing UXStyle Core!

Method 2: Universal Theme Patcher

Alternatively, you can download the Universal Theme Patcher created by deepxw that works with Windows XP SP2 SP3/2003/2008/Vista SP1 SP2/Windows 7, 32bit(x86)/64bit(x64). This won’t create another background process, instead it will patch your files.


This patcher will automatically patch the following files on Windows 7: uxtheme.dll, themeui.dll, themeservice.dll


Universal Theme Patcher

In order to patch the files, you will to run this with administrator privileges. To provide admin rights, right-click on the file and select “Run as administrator”:

run as administrator theme patcher

The tool will automatically create a backup of the file, so it’s totally safe, because you can always restore the original file:

theme patcher backup file


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