Solved Change hot tracking colour

[Rikkitic]

I use an Aero theme on my streaming computer. I don't want to change this but the hot tracking colour that shows the selected item on a menu is a faint transparent blue that is almost impossible to see. This cannot be changed in Windows. I have been researching this and I think it is in msstyles somewhere. I would like to change the colour with Resource Hacker to make it brighter or improve the visibility in some other way but it is difficult to figure out what needs to be changed in msstyles. Can anyone help me out with this?

 

[Bongo]

You are correct that image is in the msstyles it is image #980 the image is 7 pixels by 84 pixels and there are four states (look at screenshot below) and each state is 7 pixels by 21 pixels.


I would recommend that you start a new custom theme from scratch so you do not corrupt the original look at Post #38 Here it will show you how.

You will need to do 1 of these 2 ways of Enabling custom themes for it 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 need any help doing it let me know I own a program that edits the .msstyles.

Jerry

 

[Rikkitic]

Thanks a lot for the reply. I will experiment with this and see how far I get. I'm not trying to do anything fancy. I just want to make the tracking colour more visible.

 

[Rikkitic]

Ok I am completely confused now. I cannot find any trace of the image referred to in msstyles. I am also not sure we are talking about the same thing. From my research I thought it was the hot tracking color, but I may have that wrong. I am referring to the slight colour shading change that indicates the selected item when scrolling down a menu list. This is what I would like to modify.

 

[Bongo]

Is this the menu highlight you want changed?

Normal


Changed to yellow.


If not post a screenshot.
Use these tutorials for posting screenshots.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9717-screenshot-paint.html
How to Use the Snipping Tool in Vista - Vista Forums
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

Jerry

 

[Rikkitic]

Yes that is what I want changed. Just that light blue highlight bar. On my Windows 7 streaming computer it is much fainter in Aero, especially with AHK menus. I know I can improve this by switching to a non-Aero theme, but that affects other things, especially the way the magnifier works. I would like to change the colour or make it brighter. I really don't know why Microsoft keeps doing this sort of thing. It is like they want to annoy people.

I really appreciate your help with this. I am not a computer novice but this is an area that is new to me.

 

[Bongo]

It is image 980 as in post #2.



If you want I can do it and post it here. I use Ave's Windows7 Style Builder


Let me know.

Jerry

 

[Rikkitic]

The display of your first screen shot didn't appear correctly on my monitor for some reason, which is what confused me. I couldn't see what you meant. Now it makes sense.

If you don't mind doing this for me I would certainly prefer that. You obviously know what you are doing and I'm sure it would save me a lot of fumbling frustration. I don't care about aesthetics. The computer is purely a workhorse and I just want a practical solution so feel free to make it as garish as you like as long as I can read the text underneath.

Thank you again for doing all this and for being so patient with my ignorance. I really appreciate this.

 

[Bongo]

OK I will do it and post it here later today.

Jerry

 

[Bongo]

Do you like either 1 of these?
Or darker or lighter?
1

2


Jerry

 

[Rikkitic]

I think the first one is better. It shouldn't be too dark but I have noticed that different menus have different contrast levels, especially AHK menus, so the more it stands out, the better.

 

[Bongo]

Download and extract the zip folder at the bottom of this post to your Desktop.

Put both the Rikkitic theme folder and the Rikkitic.theme file in C:\Windows\Resources\Themes

It will show up under Installed Themes as Rikkitic in Personalization.

Make sure you do 1 of these 2 ways of Enabling custom themes for it 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

Let me know if it's OK

Jerry

 

[Rikkitic]

Hi Jerry,

That works like a charm. It is brilliant. Again, I can't thank you enough for all of your trouble. It is exactly what I wanted.

Thanks again, Rikki

 

[Bongo]

You're Welcome, glad I could help.

Jerry