UXtheme.dll safety and extent of modification


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I apologize if this has already been answered, but after sifting through about 50 threads I could not find an answer.

In "FAQ: WindowBlinds vs. Styles XP vs. UXTheme" it says:

Replacing uxtheme.dll WILL NOT increase your vulnerability to viri or spyware. It does not disable Microsoft digital signing globally, only on .msstyles.

That post is from 2004. Does it still hold that a patched UXTheme file will not open a system to vulnerabilities (provided that the themes/visual styles later installed are clean, of course)? (I used the UXTender replacer for SP3.)

I'm quite new at this so this may be redundant: Does a patched UXTheme file affect the way screensavers work?

Several months ago I downloaded the 3D Windows XP screensaver from Microsoft's website. It would stop about 3 seconds after being enabled as if the mouse or keyboard had been touched (they were not). After patching UXTheme.dll, the screensaver works normally. However, I have seen that screensaver work normally on XP systems that did not have the patched UXTheme, so it is not a requirement for the screensaver to work. What changed in the system to allow it to function normally?

Thanks in advance!

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I can't explain the screensaver issue, but there's no security/vulnerability issue when patching uxtheme.dll. It simply replaces it with one that allows non-digitally signed themes to work, and unless they've changed something in SP3 (I haven't upgraded yet so I don't know, but I doubt it) it's still the same process. No need to worry at all!

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Thanks for your replies, they are greatly appreciated! :)

Just out of curiosity: I have read that the difference between a patched and unpatched UXtheme.dll is that the patch changes the digital signature verification to always return "true." Is that the only difference between the two?

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