cnyan
New Member
:)
Posts: 5
OS: Windows 10
Theme: eXperience
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Post by cnyan on Sept 8, 2023 15:50:58 GMT -8
Does anyone know the best method to get windows 10 file explorer to look almost identical to windows xp file explorer without using a theme pacher ?
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Post by The Jackal on Sept 9, 2023 15:32:20 GMT -8
WindowBlinds?
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Post by OrthodoxWin32 on Sept 10, 2023 14:19:29 GMT -8
SecureUXTheme ? I don't know if this qualifies as a theme patcher by the usual criteria. In fact, I don't quite understand why the desire not to use a theme patcher comes up so often. It's a system modification like any other, there are no specific risks.
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Ittr
Freshman Member
Posts: 25 
OS: Windows 10 v1903
Theme: aero8400
CPU: Intel Core i3-1005G1
RAM: 8GB
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Post by Ittr on Sept 10, 2023 22:30:29 GMT -8
Does anyone know the best method to get windows 10 file explorer to look almost identical to windows xp file explorer without using a theme pacher ? No. Please just use a theme patcher. I don't understand what the issue is, or why some people are so resistant to using one, considering how many system modifications most people make here anyway. Paid software, also produces extremely poor results. For what it's worth I think its use ought to be widely discouraged across the forum. |
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vistalover07
Sophomore Member
Posts: 152
OS: Windows eXPeriecnce/Project 2000
Theme: Luna Blue/Maple
CPU: Intel I5-10400f/ Celeron N3350
RAM: 16gb/ 4gb
GPU: RTX 3060 12GB/ Intel HD Graphics 500
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Post by vistalover07 on Sept 11, 2023 0:06:33 GMT -8
Replying for people that asks "why someone dont want to use uxtheme". People dont want to use it because 1. after update you need to patch system again 2. you can brick the system (I`ve managed to do this) 3. its incompatible with tabbed windows 11 explorer
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Post by OrthodoxWin32 on Sept 11, 2023 0:55:09 GMT -8
Replying for people that asks "why someone dont want to use uxtheme". People dont want to use it because 1. after update you need to patch system again 2. you can brick the system (I`ve managed to do this) 3. its incompatible with tabbed windows 11 explorer 1. Even if I find this problem not a big one (you don't update your system every day), I will try to write a script to automatically re-replace the files after an update. Otherwise, the complete solution to this problem exists: use SecureUxTheme 2. I haven't seen anyone crash their system like this. If you use an installer like this, I don't see how it's possible: mhoefs.eu/software_uxtheme.php And if you want absolutely zero risk, you can use SecureUxTheme. 3. Precisely, this forum contains many solutions for breaking non-customizable metro elements with Win32 elements (for the explorer problem, you must replace explorerframe.dll). |
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Post by The Jackal on Sept 11, 2023 4:26:29 GMT -8
Paid software, also produces extremely poor results. For what it's worth I think its use ought to be widely discouraged across the forum. I think it's pretty junk too, but some people seem to like it. |
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ephemeralViolette
Sophomore Member
Posts: 188
OS: Windows 10 (20H2), Windows 10 (22H2)
Theme: Windows XP Luna, Windows 7 Aero
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
RAM: 64 GB
GPU: Radeon RX 580
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Post by ephemeralViolette on Sept 11, 2023 13:13:09 GMT -8
Replying for people that asks "why someone dont want to use uxtheme". People dont want to use it because 1. after update you need to patch system again 2. you can brick the system (I`ve managed to do this) 3. its incompatible with tabbed windows 11 explorer This is why I generally recommend SecureUxTheme. It's a simple program that loads itself before winlogon and intercepts the UxTheme installation there in order to patch out its signature checker at load time. The file on your system goes entirely unmodified, so it's much more clean than the alternative.
Either way, it's just going to be something you're stuck with for now. No tools exist at the moment to get an accurate XP explorer look without at least some system file modification, even barring UxTheme.
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vistalover07
Sophomore Member
Posts: 152
OS: Windows eXPeriecnce/Project 2000
Theme: Luna Blue/Maple
CPU: Intel I5-10400f/ Celeron N3350
RAM: 16gb/ 4gb
GPU: RTX 3060 12GB/ Intel HD Graphics 500
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Post by vistalover07 on Sept 11, 2023 21:49:32 GMT -8
Replying for people that asks "why someone dont want to use uxtheme". People dont want to use it because 1. after update you need to patch system again 2. you can brick the system (I`ve managed to do this) 3. its incompatible with tabbed windows 11 explorer 1. Even if I find this problem not a big one (you don't update your system every day), I will try to write a script to automatically re-replace the files after an update. Otherwise, the complete solution to this problem exists: use SecureUxTheme 2. I haven't seen anyone crash their system like this. If you use an installer like this, I don't see how it's possible: mhoefs.eu/software_uxtheme.php And if you want absolutely zero risk, you can use SecureUxTheme. 3. Precisely, this forum contains many solutions for breaking non-customizable metro elements with Win32 elements (for the explorer problem, you must replace explorerframe.dll). 2. I crashed because i was using an incompatible theme and ended up getting black screen 3. Some people may be afraid of replacing system files
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vistalover07
Sophomore Member
Posts: 152
OS: Windows eXPeriecnce/Project 2000
Theme: Luna Blue/Maple
CPU: Intel I5-10400f/ Celeron N3350
RAM: 16gb/ 4gb
GPU: RTX 3060 12GB/ Intel HD Graphics 500
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Post by vistalover07 on Sept 11, 2023 21:50:00 GMT -8
Replying for people that asks "why someone dont want to use uxtheme". People dont want to use it because 1. after update you need to patch system again 2. you can brick the system (I`ve managed to do this) 3. its incompatible with tabbed windows 11 explorer This is why I generally recommend SecureUxTheme. It's a simple program that loads itself before winlogon and intercepts the UxTheme installation there in order to patch out its signature checker at load time. The file on your system goes entirely unmodified, so it's much more clean than the alternative.
Either way, it's just going to be something you're stuck with for now. No tools exist at the moment to get an accurate XP explorer look without at least some system file modification, even barring UxTheme.
Thanks, I didn`t know that |
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Post by OrthodoxWin32 on Sept 12, 2023 2:17:17 GMT -8
2. I crashed because i was using an incompatible theme and ended up getting black screen 3. Some people may be afraid of replacing system files
The crash is therefore not linked to the replacement of Uxtheme.dll, but to an incompatible visual style. This can definitely happen with SecureUxTheme, which does not modify any system files. The responsibility lies with certain irresponsible visual style authors who do not precisely indicate compatible versions. If this happens you must start the system in safe mode, then change to a theme using aero or aerolite. To prevent this from happening, it is best to test the visual style with msstyleeditor. If the style doesn't work, msstyleeditor will crash but not the system. Finally, I think that there is theoretically a way to dynamically detect a possible problem (with a Windows service ?) and automatically switch to the classic theme. Concerning the fact that some people are scared by the replacement of system files (in this case Explorerframe.dll, but it can also be Uxtheme.dll), I can't do anything for them, because it's simply stupid . A method is dirty if it reduces system performance, requires large background processes to run, or overrides the system's permissions layout. A method that replaces a system file, resulting in a well-functioning modification, is clean because it does not cause harm to the system. Except that people have the impression that it's the opposite. In this case, WindowsBlind is a dirty method because it consumes a lot of system resources; but as people pay, they have the impression that it can only be clean (well yes, when you have to pay, anyway...). The only major problem caused by system file replacements is the lack of flexibility in configuring the changes. As a result, this method is only interesting for making a specific change per DLL, not a myriad of changes configurable by the user on the same DLL (typically, patching uxtheme). In this case, DLL injection is more suitable, even if it is a less clean method (because background process). |
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Post by OrthodoxWin32 on Sept 12, 2023 2:27:28 GMT -8
This is why I generally recommend SecureUxTheme. It's a simple program that loads itself before winlogon and intercepts the UxTheme installation there in order to patch out its signature checker at load time. The file on your system goes entirely unmodified, so it's much more clean than the alternative.
Either way, it's just going to be something you're stuck with for now. No tools exist at the moment to get an accurate XP explorer look without at least some system file modification, even barring UxTheme.
SecureUxTheme is good, but I don't use it because it requires hooking processes to work. This prevents you from applying themes via the Explorer, because if you hang the Explorer it significantly reduces performance. Additionally, I use this other tool to change themes, but SecureUxTheme can't hook it: winaero.com/winaero-theme-switcher/For these reasons, SecureUxTheme is absolutely not a solution for me (and I consider file replacement cleaner, since it doesn't hang any processes). The developer answered my questions (and questions similar to mine) : github.com/namazso/SecureUxTheme/issues/120 github.com/namazso/SecureUxTheme/pull/121I haven't looked much further into how to use the APIs of this DLL to include the function in other programs. |
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