Windows 7: Customizations Basic queries???

Hello my Geek friends!!!

i got some questions & queries regarding customization especially applying a new 3rd party theme downloaded from deviantart,customX,sevenforum etc.

I know that system files need to be patched before 1 can get going with these themes. So here my question bank:
1) How can 1 know if his system files are patched if he/she has already done it in the past?

2) Which theme patcher to use? As some does the patching of files pretty nicely but once 1 restart the comp then its a NEVER LOGIN situation ie on the logon screen you don't get the login option & within 4-5 secs the screen is gone & the comp reboot itself & will keep doing the same till ETERNITY so only resort is Restore & if 1 unfortunately doesn't have that then a complete re-installation of OS....

3) What are the DO's & Don't's while applying a 3rd party themes as even after following every step as mentioned on the site the theme doesn't work & give a hard time..........?

4) Which system files are to be patched as he/she may not be aware of the fact & 1 of the system file after being patched gives the problem mentioned in question# 2?



I know that applying a theme is a sole responsibility of the user & not the creator of the theme or Microsoft but we all love playing with our LOVELY Windows OS....i do it 2-3 times everyday (hasn't tried anything in the last 5 weeks) but will be back on this, so wanted to make sure i don't SCREW this up BIG-TIME.........

Thank you!!!

1. Follow the tutorial Theme - How to Apply Custom Themes , download the patches from there . Run the appropriate patch. If the system files are patched already, it will say that the files are patched .

2. Just as the same of the first answer ... use the patch listed there in the tutorial . It wount create any problem .

3. Do's : Only one thing ... have an image backup of your system before applying patches or replacing system files , so that you can get your things back if the situation goes really critical . Dont's : Dont apply a theme with an installer that runs an adware .

4. themeservice.dll , themeui.dll and uxtheme.dll .
If you want to replace system files like explorer.exe, explorerframe.dll etc , you are to take ownership of those files .

Thank you Arc again that has been an ""Archan"" for quite sometime...

I'm using UxStyle Core Beta & patched all my sys files a longtime ago but its just that i wanted to confirm if 1 has to patch the sys files everytime as some themes work & some doesn't budge at all & nothing happerns...

But will follow the link you suggested & hopefully it should work for me in the future.

Thanks again for helping me as always!!!

I still remember the last hiccup was in October when i thrice (after having the same problem again & again) i used VistaGlazz (to get the glassy effect which i just can't resist) to patch the same system files (as mentioned above by you) after patching, it required a reboot but after reboot i could never again was able to login....
I was getting to Windows logon screen & then suddenly screen went black & it rebooted it again & it continued forever.......
so in the end i restored the OS to an earlier date......but i want to know the reason for this problem???

After reading the tutorial i want to know Arc what are the various theme patcher & as i said i'm using UxStyle Core Beta, i'm good with that, right???

VistaGlazz is a system patcher for Vista that helps to apply custom themes .... it dont create any glassy effect itself . Dont use it anymore, coz it needs to apply every time you want to apply a theme . The universal theme patcher is much better than that . It patches the files permanently, and does not cause such a problem .

That is why I told you to have an image backup .

Probably that failed to patch your system properly ... and after logon the system missed some important files to load the gui .

So should I use Universal Theme Patcher instead of UxStyle Core??? (sorry just want to be on the safer side as don't want to mess around with things this time)

That's came to my mind intially but since wasn't 100% sure about this so made the mistake thrice, But lesson learnt & Thanx again Arc!!!

As you use uxstyle core , I guess the three files that needs to be patched are already patched . You dont need to sue any other patch right now . If you plan a clean install or SFC Scan in future, I would recommend to use universal themepatcher after that .

Ok gotcha yaa!! Thnx for the valuable inputs & information....

Still got 2 questions: 1) when you say ""image backup"" do you mean ""restore point"" or something else???

2) what's a SFC scan & how do it in future???

Thnx again,sorry i'm a question bank!!!

Its my turn to be sorry ... my posts should be more informative ... I guessed you know these things
Anyway ... follow the links , it will make those clear to you

Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

I guess you don't have to be Sorry as i didn't remember "image backup", its just didn't clicked in my mind...I'm aware of it - its a complete image of the default drive on which WIndows is installed...

Thanks for 2nd link as i'm not aware of SFC scan...We all are here to learn especially ME...