Member Avatar for civic

i woz just wondering if u could change the taskbar color of XP from the 3 colors into lyk orange or sumthing eg. if u take a screenshot of the desktop and then paste it into Paint and then go ctrl+I (invert colors) it looks cool (+if u do it while the bar is blue) my friend had it as red b4 but den he 4got how to do it...........if u know plz tell me (sorry if dis is the rong place coz i normally just post HJT logs)

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A concise, practical summary and options for changing the Windows XP taskbar color (beyond the three Luna schemes). ’s screenshot/invert trick is only a temporary image — a real, persistent color change requires either switching to the Classic look and choosing custom colors, editing the theme data, or using a visual-skin solution (the latter is what and were pointing toward). Below are safe, actionable choices and troubleshooting notes.

Switch to Classic and pick a custom color (no third‑party tools)

  1. Right‑click the desktop -> Properties -> Appearance tab.
  2. Under "Windows and buttons" select "Windows Classic style".
  3. Click Advanced... -> in the Item dropdown choose "3D Objects" (some XP builds label this "Button Face").
  4. Use Define Custom Colors and enter the RGB for the desired color (orange = 255,165,0). Set both Color 1 and Color 2 the same to avoid shading. Click OK -> Apply.
    If the taskbar does not update immediately, log off/on or restart Explorer (End process explorer.exe from Task Manager, then run explorer.exe).

Keeping Luna but using arbitrary colors
Luna’s taskbar color is stored inside the .msstyles visual style; standard XP settings only expose the built‑in Blue/Olive/Silver choices. Applying an arbitrary color while keeping Luna requires a custom visual style (.msstyles) and enabling third‑party themes or editing the .msstyles file. This is more advanced and modifies system theme behavior — create a System Restore point and back up before proceeding.

Advanced note and registry option
Classic colors are also reflected under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors (values are space‑separated "R G B"); changing those is for advanced users and usually needs logoff to take effect. Patching system theme support or installing skins can give more options but carries risk — verify sources and back up first.

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Member Avatar for Dani

You should be able to do this with a 3rd party Windows skinning program, such as Stardock WindowsBlinds or TGTSoft StyleXP. Personally, I would check out first ;)

Member Avatar for nanosani

Yes Style XP is fun.

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