uxtheme.dll - why the need to "patch" it?

[John Veteran]

ok, someone please explain this to me once and for all... i for one don't theme anything, so i don't know too much about all this. i know you have to hex edit uxtheme.dll or replace it with a cracked version or something to be able to use unsigned themes. but if this is the case, how are there programs out there (windowblinds i think, is that it?) that are able to use different themes without using a modified uxtheme.dll file? :blink:

[whipper25]

well..if i'm not mistaken, that's essentially what those types of software do when you install them..they patch the uxtheme.dll for you (for a price)..

so you basically have two choices..

1. patch uxtheme.dll yourself, manually, for free

or

2. let 3rd party software patch uxtheme.dll automatically, for a price

[BananaMan]

Simply, because Windowblinds have developed their own skinning engine (which is why you can use it on Windows 2000 and 9x where uxtheme is not present, although Windowblinds 4.x must be on XP).

[Dark Warhawk]

Windowblinds don?t patch anything, it uses it own skinning engine, I believe. Or I have been sorely mislead

[BananaMan]

  whipper25 said:

well..if i'm not mistaken, that's essentially what those types of software do when you install them..they patch the uxtheme.dll for you (for a price)..

so you basically have two choices..

1. patch uxtheme.dll yourself, manually, for free

or

2. let 3rd party software patch uxtheme.dll automatically, for a price

You're talking about StyleXP. StyleXP does a little more than just patch it, it actually leaves the uxtheme.dll file alone and loads a pre-patched file directly into memory, bypassing the unpatched uxtheme.dll.

[CyberKewl]

I'm taking a guess here as how it works, but i think how it works is that softwares like Windowblinds and StyleXP, changes the Windows Look directly while Windows is running (maybe through some API calls or some sort, tinkering with the graphics, etc). As for uxtheme.dll, it just allows you to use msstyles created by 3rd party people other than Microsoft. As Windows XP already has its own theming "engine" (as i call it), there's little need to do any serious modification to the graphics engine to support theming. WindowBlinds works differently than StyleXP / a hacked uxtheme.dll tho...

[John Veteran]

then why aren't themes made to use this other skinning engine? :blink: why go through all the hassle of changing a system file, p*ssing off windows in the process, just to use a theme you could otherwise have with windowblinds? is windowblinds free? :huh:

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

yeap. VISUAL STYLES rely on patched file. windowblinds rely on their own engine which have nothing to do with uxtheme.dll

[CyberKewl]

  gameguy said:

then why aren't themes made to use this other skinning engine? :blink: why go through all the hassle of changing a system file, p*ssing off windows in the process, just to use a theme you could otherwise have with windowblinds? is windowblinds free? :huh:

WindowBlinds is not free and it has more advanced features than a hacked uxtheme.dll or StyleXP (but slower in terms of performance - IMHO). Most people prefer uxtheme.dll because it is FREE and it uses no (or little resources) as opposed to StyleXP (which isn't free but it has some features like Random Visual Styles, support for boot screens, etc).

[BananaMan]

If I'm not mistaken, Windows' uxtheme actually uses some Windowblinds code, sort of like a Windowblinds lite - just like the Windows XP bundled defragmenter uses a lite version of the Diskeeper defrag engine.

[-=SD=-]

  gameguy said:

then why aren't themes made to use this other skinning engine? :blink: why go through all the hassle of changing a system file, p*ssing off windows in the process, just to use a theme you could otherwise have with windowblinds? is windowblinds free? :huh:

Check out neowin's patch, you download it, run and restart and youre all set. You don't have to go through all that hassle now.

[John Veteran]

thanks, but i'm not asking how to theme, just how it all works and why there's a need to crack/patch/otherwise modify a file to use your own themes when i've seen it done before without any modifications... i think i understand most of it now, thanks guys (Y)