Is it safe to change the original Windows 7 themes?

What I mean is, is it safe to be messing with the Windows 7 theme as in, using programs that replace the normal look of Windows 7 menus etc with custom stuff, much like this website talks about?

You know, changing the start menu button, changing the inner menus, changing the password screen, etc. Swapping graphics, pretty much. All of it is done through third party softwares and I'm wondering what's safe and what isn't for a 64-bit Windows 7 operating system.

Also, any software recommendations in this field? What's the best and most accurate/stable software for doing these things? I already use rainmeter and sTabLauncher combined to make it look all cool but I was thinking of pushing it just that one last bit further into really feeling like my personalized theme.

Last time I did stuff like this I ran into some kind of registry issues with it. That was back when Vista was new though. Could've been just crappy unpredictable vista being crappy unpredictable vista.

Suggestions and comments?

Do you mean something like Tuneup Utilities ?

It`s safe to install themes, you can always uninstall them.

Why not just build your own? Everything is there in 7. Just download wallpaper.

I'm not looking to change just the wallpaper.

Talking like the start menu button, task bar background, start menu background, lock screen, etc.


If all of these things are already fully custom in Windows 7 then I need to brush up on it. Link me to a place where I can teach myself in that case. I prefer not to use third party software where it's not necessary.

If you mean third-party custom themes then I would say yes they are safe to use if done properly. Do not install themes that are a .exe they have the potential to harm a lot of system files.
If you find a theme you like post a link to it and I will look at it and tell you if it's safe or not, I have been customizing my system for several years now and have no problems.

You will need to do 1 of these 2 ways of Enabling custom themes for them to work.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/34579-enabling-custom-themes-windows-7-a.html
Or
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/28377-theme-how-apply-custom-themes.html?filter

If you have any more questions let me know. Below is a screenshot of some of my customizing (that is not my theme someone else's theme I'm using from Browsing Windows 7 Utilities on deviantART )

Jerry

It should be common sense not to run executables. Anyone who knows what they're doing will know that first you download and install the main theme managing program and then download theme files for being used with those programs, as many theme managers do.

But seriously, it should be well taught that running .exe files is dumb unless you know exactly what it is. Should be one of the first things people get educated about. Unfortunately they don't.

I'll read up on those links tomorrow.

I might download the third party editors out of sheer laziness anyway. I'm not a graphic artist so if unless I can easily find all the perfect graphics I need online and quickly educate myself on editing the windows graphics I'm probably going to want to go for the themes people have already made.

I just remember that back on Vista, the program wanted to change registry values to get the theme changes to work. I think it was changing the lock screen theme in particular that needed that. In the end that caused crap. But in retrospect, pretty much anything would cause crap with Vista back then. I probably shouldn't let that one bad experience ruin my trust in it.

Will be back tomorrow. Goodnight!

For the start button's I use http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/70070-startorbz-genuine-creations.html

For the log on screen I use Option 2 http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/5382-log-screen-change.html

Jerry

The problem with custom themes is that sometimes they make modifications to your system that cannot be easily undone when you delete the custom theme. So you may want to make an image before you venture into a custom theme. Then at least you can fix any possible problem.

Does this guy look legit? Seems to me like he just wants Ad-money so he's spamming Deviantart and might be adware / malware. I can deal with the ads before downloading I guess (considering I have AdBlock anyway) but if it has adware inside or something I'm not gonna go anywhere near him and probably report him as well.

Besides that, are there any programs that won't need to make registry changes to work? Last time I did that, there was problems with that step.


Edit : Yeah I'm pretty sure he's just a load of spam. Can anyone link me to a section that has good legit non-ad-spam themes?

There are a lot of legit themes on Deviantart you just need to look.

Besides that, are there any programs that won't need to make registry changes to work? Last time I did that, there was problems with that step.

Click to expand...

What programs to do what?

Jerry