Windows 7: How do I change windows shell buttons; eg:close,maximize,minimize, etc

what the title says. i want to change those buttons WITHOUT paying for software to do so... any ideas?

TweakUI?
Tweak UI - Download.com

I'm not sure how indepth it is. It depends on what you're trying to do.


Dave

tweakUI will not change your buttons, and is in fact for customising certain things in XP.

you want to be looking at custom themes: Theme - How to Apply Custom Themes

for example, here are my buttons:



however, be aware that themes don't just change buttons, but a lot of other UI elements, like the taskbar, start-menu, OK/apply/cancel buttons etc etc

also be prepared to spend a lot of time browsing through deviantart for the theme of your choice!

Thanks do you know how i can make cutom themes though?

no, i don't - it's better to make a new thread in the customisation part of the forum - lots more knowledge there.

Presence or absence of those buttons is controlled by the program that owns the window. For example, dialog boxes (pop ups that require an answer before continuing) don't generally have these buttons or they are disabled. If you (the user) could somehow force the buttons to be hidden you could easily cause difficulty in using many programs.

nobody's talking about hiding buttons, but merely changing how the default ones look - obviously custom themes will have no effect on programs with non-standard interfaces.

Welcome to the Seven Forums
What do you want to change them to?
You can use a resource hacker and extract and edit the Steam image #971 in the aero.msstyles(use a copy to edit)to change them it's not easy.


Windows Style Builder is the way to do it easier.


It's a leaning curve but is you want to make custom themes it is best to have Windows Style Builder it's about $23.50 US Ave's Windows7 Style Builder
If you need some help let me know.
Jerry

hey jerry, which dark theme are you using there? is it your own customised one?

i've been looking for a good dark (but not glossy) theme for my new 'darth vader' laptop.

so far my favourite is tavaris from deviantart, but it doesn't quite do it for me 100%.



sorry for crappy phone photo, but you get the idea.

It's Tavaris that I have tweaked, changed fonts, text color, Close, min, max buttons.
Jerry