MS Paint GUI wrong- Perhaps stuck in wrong mode- Example shown

[Fudd456]

Last night, My MS Paint GUI went screwy.

It looks like it is out of Aero mode or something, but Aero troubleshooter found no problem & everything else is fine. I was having an issue with a video game for PC (full screen) which normally fiddles with the Windows theme, but I honestly dont know.

I dont like the adjusted look, and fear this is one of those simple problems with a insanely complex solution.

Thanks in advance, back later

:3

This image shows what it should look like (Top) and what mine now looks like (Bottom).

 

[TwoCables]

I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but I have to ask because it's not mentioned: have you rebooted?

 

[Fudd456]

I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but I have to ask because it's not mentioned: have you rebooted?

I'm not insulted at all; it's a valid question and I'm grateful anyone is trying to contribute.

:3

I have re-booted. Unfortunately, somehow all my restore points have been wiped out, which might have helped.

It looks at though it is in something called "Windows Basic", a mode my pc goes into when I run a full-screen game, and last night I was having some problems with it.

It's a shame; I think I am stuck with this, and I use Paint a lot, and miss the old easier-on-the-eyes GUI.

 

[Ztruker]

Is it only paint that is messed up?

 

[FuturDreamz]

maybe sfc can fix it
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

 

[whs]

This looks like the skin/theme was changed to Windows Basic. Go to Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization and change it back to Windows Classic.

 

[Fudd456]

Is it only paint that is messed up?

Sorry I am late responding; I've been pretty busy.

It is only MS Paint.

maybe sfc can fix it
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

Thanks. I'll try that.

This looks like the skin/theme was changed to Windows Basic. Go to Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization and change it back to Windows Classic.

Indeed. Yet it's only that one program. When I play my full screen game, it switches to Windows Basic, then back again when the game closes. It's possible Paint was open. What seems to have happened is that it somehow permanently stuck Paint in Windows Basic mode, but nothing else.

I suspect the solution would be obvious to someone familiar with the OS registry, however I'm not as savvy. Something was written somewhere to what renders the GUI in Windows Basic, but is/was not re-written to tell it to revert.


Thank you all for your advice and patience, I appreciate it. I'm sorry I haven't replied as fast as I should.

 

[whs]

The paint reg entry is here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint

If you are adventurous, you delete the key and reboot. In 90% of the cases the key is being rebuilt to default. But you take a 10% chance that it is not. So you better backup the registry first - or make an image of the whole system. Creating a system restore point first is also a good idea. Then you have several ways to get back in case it does not work.

 

[Fudd456]

This looks like the skin/theme was changed to Windows Basic. Go to Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization and change it back to Windows Classic.

It is only Paint that is showing this behavior. Everything else is fine. I have ran Aero Troubleshooter twice and it finds no problems.

As an experiment, I deliberately opened Paint and ran the PC game that switches to Basic, then quit the game hoping it would "jiggle" Paint back with the rest of the Theme, but it did not.

I read elsewhere that Win7 is known to have issues from constant switching back and forth, but the articles imply that it affects the whole theme, not just one program, dated 2010.

Repeated Windows 7 Aero and Basic UI Swaps Can Cause Problems - Softpedia

More below, & thank you....

maybe sfc can fix it
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

Well, I did try it and the verification found no problems. I appreciate the suggestion though; it always helps to rule things out.

The paint reg entry is here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint

If you are adventurous, you delete the key and reboot. In 90% of the cases the key is being rebuilt to default. But you take a 10% chance that it is not. So you better backup the registry first - or make an image of the whole system. Creating a system restore point first is also a good idea. Then you have several ways to get back in case it does not work.

Thank you, WHS. I worked up the nerve and entered the minefield I consider regedit. I did as you said, honestly supposing that would fix it and although it did indeed rebuild the key without any issues, it oddly did not send the GUI back to the usual theme.

I found that more peculiar than frustrating. It occurs to me that I may be looking in the wrong place. I am not savvy enough to articulate a proper technical opinion, but I think perhaps the way I am viewing the problem may be wrong based on the visually observed discrepancy:

Perhaps it is misleading to think that Paint is 'stuck in Basic', and perhaps more accurate to say that the system is either failing to reach and write the needed entry to change the Paint GUI at all, or that the program's relevant display data is simply not responding, so that the default last readable entry then appears 'stuck in Basic' when in fact it is only rendering Basic because that is the last valid entry it was given.

It may seem like saying the same thing as 'stuck in Basic' but the distinction being that it is not so much what is being displayed as why anything is being displayed at all, why it is Basic and why any attempt to change it to anything else is being ignored.

To wit, the emphasis being on not the theme itself, but the necessary process for it to display anything at all or respond to attempts to change it.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about any of that process. Sorry if I sound like I am convoluting it; I just mean to narrow down what the error is. Perhaps it is not what the theme is so much as the failed operation to write/enter/change it to any theme at all. A 'number is being dialed but the phone isn't ringing' if you know what I mean.

Thanks again for any ideas. I am following this and welcome any thoughts.

:3