Changing the way how XP looks

[chound]

How do u apply (free)themes to XP. Is there any free tool to create your own theme?

[MartyMcFly]

Right click your desktop and select properties, then change Microsoft themes in the themes tab, and look to the appearance tab to select under colour scheme, between blue, green, silver (very cool). Go to the advanced tab to set every windows to a wacky colours of you choosing, perhaps a nice barbie pink or something.

[chound]

I dont want to change only the colours but also icons and fonts

[Catweazle]

Sorry, but Windows doesn't provide that degree of customising, and there is no free tool available which is both suitable and stable enough to be worth using.

Even if you use the more recognised software programs such as StyleXP and so on, downloading user created themes is itself a potential source of problems, because there can be no guarantee that the theme pack will give stsability.

[goaliemike]

What, u all lie lol. visit this site, its exactly what u want

www.windowblinds.net
or
www.stardock.com

(both the same)

[Catweazle]

'lie' is a really nasty word, goaliemike.

If you read my post above you'll notice that I mentioned third party software programs, of which WindowBlinds and StarDock are examples. They are very much inferior examples in comparison with StyleXP, by the way!

[goaliemike]

lol as u c im a noob at this, sorry i should check previous posts before

[belama]

I once used one of these style apps and like Catweazle said there is no guarantee of stability. My computer kept crashing becuz of a loading screen. argh.. since then, no more blinds!!

[gerbil]

xpsp2? change icons? the folder icons? just R click on the folder; go properties/ customise; go to your hearts content. {that aint a tab or button, btw} . put in ur own pictures if u must. fonts? go to to help n support centre, use fonts as a search; you do the rest.

[goaliemike]

I once used one of these style apps and like Catweazle said there is no guarantee of stability. My computer kept crashing becuz of a loading screen. argh.. since then, no more blinds!!

hmm thats odd, never had any probs here

[belama]

I dont really care about the way windows looks anyway.

[navyjax2]

xpsp2? change icons? the folder icons? just R click on the folder; go properties/ customise; go to your hearts content. {that aint a tab or button, btw} . put in ur own pictures if u must. fonts? go to to help n support centre, use fonts as a search; you do the rest.

You can't do that for your My Computer, My Network Places, or Recycle Bin icons like I think the poster was originally referring to, they don't have a "Properties" that contain the customize page/tab to click on, the "Properties" there leads you to other things/options/folders. If you want to change these icons you CAN do it and don't need a 3rd party app to do it:

Right-click an empty space on the desktop, select Properties. Select the Desktop tab. Hit "Customize Desktop" and then "Change Icon" for whatever icon you want to change, and point it to whatever new icon or picture you have on your hard drive that you want it to be. You can even find and extract icons from files already on your drive with a great application called "Icontoy" (shareware, $10), but if you want to save the money, just select various .exe and .dll files on your drive until you find something you like if you don't have a picture to change it to already in mind.

[gerbil]

ahah, k, yeah, i understand, i didn't realise he might be wanting to change those too, cos they are already pictographic, but y should we limit choice?....so, try the stuff at www.nonags.com. ul drive urself nuts with the options. the later software is written for xp. nonags? no viruses, ads, popups, and the software is free. and all checked.

[Kamex]

What, u all lie lol. visit this site, its exactly what u want

www.windowblinds.net
or
www.stardock.com

(both the same)

I too have used Window Blinds. I actually bought a year's subcription to Object Desktop and used all of that year.

I really did like the Object Desktop suite, but there were problems with it. WindowBlinds had a large number of compatibility problems. In fact, about 1 in every 10 applications I used had to be put on an exclusion list, which caused them to display Windows 98-style gui and ruin my desktop's appearance, thus defeating the entire purpose of the program.

Utimately, though, the problem is simply that the program isn't free. It REALLY isn't free. All of their programs have free versions, but most are severe crippleware, and only Window Blinds will last forever. The rest of the programs with expire after a few months. Then you're stuck with a program that does something to your system and is expired. Not happy. Purchasing WindowBlinds or Object Desktop is a very expensive option, and it really isn't worth buying it, and since the trail versions are more trouble than their worth, it isn't worth using it period.

Nowadays, I use Linux as my main desktop. I'm stuck with Windows for my games, but I seldom play games, so I spend most of my time in Linux. I've customized my operating system so heavily that the interface isn't even remotely similar to a Windows desktop, and I'm happy with it that way. :)