High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018

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  1. Posts : 25
    windows 7 ultimate x64
       #1

    High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018


    Hello,

    Due to my medical issues. I am not able to work on the computer with the usual default themes. I have found the high contrast theme that comes along with Windows 7 to be very useful, but there are several software that will not work very well with that theme because some of the controls are not visible.

    A dark theme will probably also worked for me but I have been unable to find any dark theme in 2018, from any of the different websites that actually work. Most of the links are broken. And the few that I could find, only change the border of windows.

    The native high contrast theme that are available with Windows, change the entire background of a window. For example, if I use the notepad application with the high contrast theme, it will change the background of the notepad application to black and the foreground to white. The highlight colour when the line is selected will be red.

    I also searched this forum for the links for dark theme. But none of them are valid anymore. Can anyone please suggest any dark even a high contrast theme. Alternatively, is there a way that when I apply a native high contrast theme on Windows 7, I am able to customise the colours for Microsoft Outlook 2010. It seems that when a native high contrast theme is applied, then color customisation for any application of Microsoft office cannot be done.

    Thanks for any inputs
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018-high-contrast-theme-windows-explorer.png   High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018-high-contrast-theme-notepad.png  
    Last edited by rvsw; 19 Oct 2018 at 23:58. Reason: Added screenshots with the colour
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  2. Posts : 1,992
    10 Pro x64
       #2

    When I was still on 7 I personally loved this darker theme Placebo for Windows 7 by SolMiler on DeviantArt I used specifically the variant Black market or Black market 2 (one of them had black text in other apps one did not). I think it is very easy on the eyes. I have glaucoma and work on the pc most of the day so I do miss this theme for 10 and I think it is what your looking for.
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  3. Posts : 25
    windows 7 ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thank you for your response. I'm still trying to install it. Since it seems that I may have to spend at least an hour trying to figure out where the problem is on my system, can you please confirm if the Microsoft excel and other Microsoft office windows can be customised to look like this or something similar to this.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018-screenshot-microsoft-excel-high-contrast.png  
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  4. Posts : 1,992
    10 Pro x64
       #4

    Can you give an example if a control that can not be seen in certain apps? Is it like black text on a black background?
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  5. Posts : 25
    windows 7 ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Thank you again for your response. I am attaching two screenshots of a program used by programmers called source tree. As you can see in the area enclosed in the ellipse, the controls labled as file history etc cannot be seen
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018-edited-source-tree-without-high-contrast.png   High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018-edited-source-tree-screenshot-high-contrast.png  
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  6. Posts : 25
    windows 7 ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Here are a couple from Microsoft Outlook. I'm using an addon called fewclix that creates its own window within Microsoft Outlook. There are several controls that are not visible. I'm not sure what kind of controls. These are because I tried customising the high contrast theme by changing each of the available options one by one on the Windows colour. However, none of them would change any of these controls.

    I also didn't see any simple tutorial which at least explains what are the different Windows elements that can be customised. Whatever is given in the Control Panel seems to be very limited.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018-edited-microsoft-outlook-screenshot-without-high-contrast-copy.png   High contrast/dark theme for windows 7 that works in 2018-edited-microsoft-outlook-screenshotwith-high-contrast-copy.png  
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  7. Posts : 1,992
    10 Pro x64
       #7

    Does the background have to be black or can it be dark grey? The office programs have their own themes and so normally override the the system themes somewhat. It looks like that fewclik app has hard coded there colors to the main theme. If you change outlooks theme what happens? Change the Outlook 2010 color scheme - Outlook

    EDIT: also you would need to use this app to modify your system files to be able to install that first theme I had linked. http://deepxw.blogspot.com/2008/11/u...e-patcher.html ALL non Microsoft ones require this. But you should make a system restore point before doing this. For the theme itself you do not need the shell icons and frame dlls it will just have some blue buttons up top (forward/back) but I just ignored those as no need to modify anymore then you need to.
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  8. Posts : 25
    windows 7 ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Thank you. After 3 months finally I was able to install the placebo theme. The placebo borderless ashtray is working well. However, the problem that I am having is that the colored microsoft excel sheet that are shared have some cells that are not visible (mostly yellow color background with black text). I guess there is no way around it except customize it when I am sending it back and forth to different people.

    Nevertheless, Thank you for the help. It took me a lot of time but only because of my system problems and my own procrastination due to medical issues.
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  9. Posts : 1,992
    10 Pro x64
       #9

    Sorry for not getting back to you, been super busy. For Excel i'm not sure if you can change it easily, are all the colored cells off looking or just certain colors? You could try making the program ignore visual styles but then it might be bright again.
    Compatibility Mode Check the box labeled disable visual styles.

    Malcolm
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  10. Posts : 25
    windows 7 ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Thank you for your response. I tried multiple options for Excel. Including the compatibility mode that you mentioned. Nothing is working. I guess I will just live with it for now. But the more important issue of other applications which were not working well with Windows high contrast mode is resolved. So thank you for that
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