Windows 7 - themepack File Failure

Hi, I've searched through the forums and I actually had the same issue as Ralph in this thread:

where is my windows shell common?

With some slight differences. Here is a description of my .themepack issue:

I recently upgraded my laptop from Vista 64 Ultimate to Windows 7 64 Ultimate and have been experiencing a strange error with theme pack files.

- First thing I noticed is that .themepack files were associated with Windows Live Picture Gallery, thus double clicking on .themepack file resulted in Picture Gallery saying it didn't know what type of file I was trying to open.

- So, I changed the file association to Shell32.dll, as it should be.

- Now when I try to open a .themepack file it says, "Not a valid win 32 application."

I have another computer running Windows 7 64 Ultimate and it has never experienced such a problem. You double click on a .themepack file and it installs. I have also tried using an elevated command prompt and the assoc command to change the default association, but same problems resulted.

I also tried sfc /scannow as well as other suggestions from SevenForums and other websites, nothing has worked.

**Note, I am using Microsoft themes directly from the Microsoft site. Any other ideas? Thanks!

I think maybe the file association should be themeui.dll. It's in C:\Windows\System32 and C:\Windows\SysWOW64.

When I click on a new theme at the MS web site, I get a dialog that says to Open with themepackfile. I don't save it. With IE I get a choice of Open or Save and if I click on Open it downloads and install automatically.

Thanks for the quick reply! I tried to "open with" themeui.dll and nothing happens... if I double click to open, I get the same "not a valid win 32 application."

Also, in "open with" I can no longer check the "always open with this program option"

I tried using the Default Programs tool, but once a file is associated with shell32, it will no longer appear there. I also tried removing the file association in an elevated command promt, but it seems to keep trying to open with shell32 still.

Can you uninstall Windows Live Picture Photo Gallery? See if that restores theme function. If it does then see if there is an option either during install or after that controls theme association.

An alternative, though painful would be to backup your data and do a Clean Install of Windows 7. The advantage is you get rid of any garbage that came along with Vista.

Yeah, I prefer clean installs, but I was being lazy so I wouldn't have to do a backup. I'll probably have to try and just reinstall it. Thanks again for the help!