default theme 3

[mgriffith]

how do i change the default theme in xp?? i use the old style login, and i want to get rid of the fancy windows xp style box decorations. thanks. mike griffith
----------------------------
mgriffith@lauren.com
mdg12@po.cwru.edu

 

[TheOldMan346]

mgriffith,

From the Windows Help:

1. Open Display in Control Panel.
2. On the Themes tab, under Theme, click Windows Classic.

Notes

To open Display, click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display.
After you select Windows Classic, you can change individual Windows elements, such as window borders, icons, and menus. Click the Appearance tab, and then click Advanced to make your changes.

Hope that helps.
The Old Man

 

[Shaith]

You'll also want to right-click the start button, go to properties, and switch to classic menus.

 

[Velox]

Download Architect is a handy way to control themes under XP. It has the same interface style as the old Plus! for ME did.

It's freeware, and I didn't see downloads for it many places, but this links seems to work:

http://aolaustralia.com.com/3000-2326-5630015.html?legacy=cnet

 

[mgriffith]

i'm sorry...i know how to do that...what i mean is i want to change the DEFAULT theme. i don't want the windows super-skin on my login box. mike griffith
----------------------------
mgriffith@lauren.com
mdg12@po.cwru.edu

 

[Velox]

I'm still not sure I understand the question, but it sounds like you want to maybe change the wallpaper on the default theme? The background wallpaper is accessible under right-click desktop, properties, background. If you hit customize desktop at that same property menu you can change the desktop icons, and of course the screensaver tab controls the screensaver. If you go to control panel, sounds, you can change the default sounds that go with it, and control panel, mouse, pointers, lets you change the cursers. That's all you can change except for the start-up screens.

 

[FosTech]

mgriffith,

"TheOldMan346" had it right when he suggested you choose the classic theme.
A shortcut to this is to right click on the desktop, choose properties and change the "WindowsXP Theme" to "Windows Classic".
No more rounded corners on the windows! I'm really glad this is an option as I also prefer the classic theme.

-Brett

 

[YNOTU]

[tt]Here's a better options that I've found very helpful

faq779-2073

 

[hads]

I think I get what you mean, i.e. the 'apply settings' dialog and the 'hit ctrl-alt-del to logon' dialog as well as the rest.

Is that what you meant? If so, I haven't found a way yet and I'm not sure if there is one.

.. someone care to enlighten us if they know a way/hack?
01101000011000010110010001110011

 

[TheOldMan346]

If all you want to do is change the way users log in

Control Panels > User Accounts > Change how users log on or off and UNCHECK the "Use Welcome screen" option.

You can also hit CTL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome screen.
Don't know what you mean by the "apply settings" dialog.

The Old Man

 

[hads]

Sorry if I wasn't clear,

From what I understood mgriffith want's to not only change the standard desktop theme to the old 'Win2000' style but the non-welcome-screen logon box aswell.

So when you boot up you get non-guified dialogs all the time, even before you login.

--------------------------------------
Sorry if I'm terrible at explaining at the moment, its been a long day with lots of exchange trouble
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[mgriffith]

had, you know what i mean. i know how to change my backgorund and themes and all that good stuff.. i can even use stylexp to get crazy stuff. what i want now is to completely rid windows of the fancy schmancy borders that it uses when i'm not logged on, or when a user first logs onto windows.

i can change it once the person is logged in and a profile is created, but i'd like to find some kind of registry key to change it before anyone logs in, and hopefully change the design of the default login box (not the welcome screen)...like
hkey_users\.default\control panel\appearance\current theme

is this a little clearer now? any ideas? mike griffith
----------------------------
mgriffith@lauren.com
mdg12@po.cwru.edu

 

[TheOldMan346]

mgriffith,

Your original post referred to changing the default theme.

From the MS Support KB:
======================
Use the Classic Logon Screen
To temporarily use the classic logon screen, press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice on the Welcome logon screen.

=====

To configure Windows XP to use the classic logon and shutdown screens for every logon session, do the following:

Click Start , and then click Control Panel .


Double-click User Accounts .


Click Change the way users log on or off .


Click to clear the Use the Welcome screen check box.


NOTE : If you disable the Welcome logon screen, you also disable the Fast User Switching option.

=====

Require Users to Press CTRL+ALT+DEL Before the Classic Logon Screen Is Displayed
If you want to set up a requirement for a user to press CTRL+ALT+DEL before the classic logon is displayed, in the same manner as it behaves on Windows XP Server:


Click Start , click Run , type: regedit , and then click OK .


Select the Winlogon subkey at the following registry location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon



Click Edit , click New , and then click DWORD value .


Change the value name to "DisableCAD" (without the quotes) and press ENTER.


Keep the data value set to 0 which is displayed as 0x00000000(0).

=====================

Here is the MSKB link

http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q291559

The Old Man

 

[mgriffith]

i understand all of this. i already had the login box and pressing ctrl-alt-del to start...but it has the curved edge blue windows xp theme on it.

my question is: how can i apply the windows classic theme to the login box? i already have the windows classic theme on my desktop. mike griffith
----------------------------
mgriffith@lauren.com
mdg12@po.cwru.edu

 

[hads]

Well well...

This started to bug me so I went on a bit of a surf through the registry on my virtual XP box (really good for recovering after dodgy playing in the registry

Low and behold I found this...

----------------start theme.reg------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager]
"ThemeActive"="0"
----------------end theme.reg--------------------------

Cut and past between the lines into a file theme.reg (make sure its exact 'cos the whitespace is important) and double click the file, choose 'Yes' and you should be sorted.

If it doesn't work just navigate to that key and change the value. "0" = theme off "1" = theme on.

WARNING: Editing the registry is dangerous! Please don't come and yell at me if your P.C breaks. You should go into regedit and make a backup of your registry before doing anything to it ever.

This worked for me, makes it look kinda similar to Whistler which isn't the same as the 'Windows 2000' theme after you logon, but it's close.

Let me know how you get on if you try it.


01101000011000010110010001110011

 

[linney]

What would happen if you just disabled the Themes service?
This is from the following site.

"Themes ~ Used to display all those pretty new XP themes and colors on your desktop. If you are memory conscious and do not care about the "new" XP look, disable this service to save RAM. I have observed between 4MB to 12MB of RAM used for the new themes."

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Would this be of any use if you had access to a computer that was using the older type settings?

HOW TO: Use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard with a Wizard Disk in Windows XP (Q306187)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q306/1/87.asp

HOW TO: Use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard By Using the Windows XP CD-ROM (Q306186)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q306/1/86.asp

 

[hads]

Good call on the themes service linney, have a star.

I belive this achieves the same result and is an easier, cleaner way to go about it. I never thought about a themes service


01101000011000010110010001110011

 

[mgriffith]

excellent! mike griffith
----------------------------
mgriffith@lauren.com
mdg12@po.cwru.edu

 

[mgriffith]

i ended up disabling the themes service and then also importing these registry chunks to get it to look more like 2k pro.

-------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors]
"ActiveBorder"="212 208 200"
"ActiveTitle"="10 36 106"
"AppWorkSpace"="128 128 128"
"Background"="0 78 152"
"ButtonAlternateFace"="181 181 181"
"ButtonDkShadow"="113 111 100"
"ButtonFace"="236 233 216"
"ButtonHilight"="255 255 255"
"ButtonLight"="241 239 226"
"ButtonShadow"="172 168 153"
"ButtonText"="0 0 0"
"GradientActiveTitle"="166 202 240"
"GradientInactiveTitle"="157 185 235"
"GrayText"="172 168 153"
"Hilight"="49 106 197"
"HilightText"="255 255 255"
"HotTrackingColor"="0 0 128"
"InactiveBorder"="212 208 200"
"InactiveTitle"="122 150 223"
"InactiveTitleText"="216 228 248"
"InfoText"="0 0 0"
"InfoWindow"="255 255 225"
"Menu"="255 255 255"
"MenuText"="0 0 0"
"Scrollbar"="212 208 200"
"TitleText"="255 255 255"
"Window"="255 255 255"
"WindowFrame"="0 0 0"
"WindowText"="0 0 0"
"MenuHilight"="49 106 197"
"MenuBar"="236 233 216"

------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"BorderWidth"="-15"
"CaptionFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,00, 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,65,00,74, 00,20,00,4d,00,53,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"CaptionHeight"="-270"
"CaptionWidth"="-270"
"IconFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00, 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,70,c4,06,00,00,00,00,00,b3,16,f5,77,b8,b4,0b, 00,71,16,f5,77,a8,16,08,00,8d,16,f5,77,00,00,00,00,c0,b4,0b,00
"IconSpacing"="-1125"
"IconTitleWrap"="1"
"IconVerticalspacing"="-1125"
"MenuFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00, 00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"MenuHeight"="-270"
"MenuWidth"="-270"
"MessageFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00, 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"ScrollHeight"="-240"
"ScrollWidth"="-240"
"Shell Icon BPP"="16"
"SmCaptionFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00, 00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"SmCaptionHeight"="-225"
"SmCaptionWidth"="-225"
"StatusFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00, 00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"AppliedDPI"=dword:00000060
"Shell Icon Size"="32"
"MinAnimate"="0"

mike griffith
----------------------------
mgriffith@lauren.com
mdg12@po.cwru.edu