Theme won't change!

Hi, Welcome to Seven forums.

Often the reason why your Windows 7 theme could be stuck on classic is that your PC is configured to be optimized for better performance. Actually, it’s a good setting, but if you want a better appearance I can understand that it’s annoying to be stuck on “classic” theme. So, if you can’t change your Windows 7 theme, you might want to check your PC configuration first:

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click on “System and Security”:
3. Click on “System”.
4. In the sidebar, click on “Advanced System Settings”:
5. Go to the tab “Advanced” and click on “Settings”:
6. Scroll down the list, at the bottom double-check that the item “Use Visual Styles on Windows and Buttons” is checked. If this is not checked, your Windows 7 theme will be stuck on “classic” for a long time, because this completely disables your fancy visual Aero appearance.

If this does not work, Try this.
Make sure the Theme Services is started.

1. Click on “Start” and enter “services.msc” into the search field. Click on the item that appears.
2. Scroll down the list until you find the item “Themes” (or enter Themes while one item is selected)
3. You will now see if the Themes service is running currently and what mode it is in (Automatic, Disabled, Manual):
4. If it’s currently “Disabled” or in “Manual” mode and not started, you have to start it manually and change the mode to “Automatic”.
5. Double-click on “Themes” and from the dropdown select “Automatic”, click on “Start” and then on “Apply”


Also, check if your PC supports AERO or not. If it does, that's good. If not, here is a small tutorial that guides how to enable in any version of Win 7. Aero - Enable in Unsupported Editions of Windows 7

Keep us posted.

Try this

1. Open the control panel and type "experience" into the search box. One of the options should be "Check the Windows Experience Index'. Click on that, and make sure your video score is higher than 3. If any are blank, you've never seen this screen before, or you've upgraded your video drivers since installing windows then click on Refresh Now and let it do its thing.

2. Now type "glass" into the search box at the top right corner of the control panel. Select "Change Windows Glass Colors" or "Enable or disable transparent glass on windows" - they both bring you to the same screen. Make sure that enable transparency is selected. This is also where you can pick eggplant or whatever.

3. Now right click on the task bar beside your icons, and pick properties. At the very bottom of the taskbar tab is a check box for aero peek. Turn it on if you want the previews for your windows when you move your curser over the icons. I believe this requires the newer style taskbar though, so if you've changed it to the old style it won't work.

If none of that is what your looking for, go back to the windows experience index page. On the left hand side there should be an option 'Adjust visual effects', this lets you manually choose animations. Aero Peek and transparency can also be activated from this menu

Welcome to Seven Forums Centipedee. Fill out your system specs so we know what we're working with

System Info - See Your System Specs

Are you trying to apply one of Windows 7s own themes, or a 3rd party (non windows) theme? If it is a 3rd party theme, you must 1st patch your system.

Enabling Custom Themes - Windows 7

Theme - How to Apply Custom Themes

A Guy