Windows 7 Visual Styles

By svnO.o
in Tips, Tweaks & Customization

 Share

Recommended Posts

Mentor

svnO.o

Posted
  • Author
Posted
what do we do with the explorer.exe files that are included in most of these themes?

Your supposed to replace the default explorer.exe in your C:\Windows folder. Some of them come with instructions. You'll have to take ownership of explorer, close explorer.exe through task manager, and rename it to something like explorer_bak.exe and copy the explorer.exe included with the theme to the old explorer.exe location using Command Prompt or something similar. Also you have to make sure it is for your architecture. If your using 32 bit you have to make sure its a 32 bit EXE file (most of those pages will say if it supports 64 bit or not, if it doesn't state it then 99% of the time its for 32 bit). Same thing for 64 bit. I specified in the list whether they are 32 or 64 bit compatible for reference as well (though I haven't tested each and every one of them so if any of them are inaccurate let me know).

Mentor

svnO.o

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I wish there were a decent skin with a different start menu/orb. sorta like the one rakishere posted.

Well you can choose whatever VS you want and either manually modify your own explorer.exe or even mix another visual style's explorer.exe file into it. It really isn't that difficult.

Enthusiast

DragonMaster Jay

Posted
Posted (edited)

<snipped>

Community Rule #9- Neowin Is Not A Support Forum For Other Sites.

Comparing, judging the content/value or raising the opinion of other sites, recruiting members or staff, bad mouthing (or victimizing) & negative discussion about non/affiliate site issues on our forums is neither wanted nor tolerated. Promotion of individual member sites or blogs will be deleted on sight.

Edited by Barney
Veteran

BoneyardBrew Member

Posted
  • Member
Posted

Ribbon VS is my favorite by far. It's what Windows 7 should look like by default.

The author is very talented, and I recommend everyone go and look at their DeviantART gallery. Many other extremely great themes, icons, and designs can be viewed there.

Mentor

svnO.o

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Only problem with Slan is that it isn't transparent.. doesn't have Aero does it?

It still has all the Aero effects. I was using it temporarily but wished it had at least a little bit of transparency to it. Also some of the fonts chosen aren't as good as the default Windows 7 fonts and some areas of the superbar need to be improved on. I've decided to stick with Ribbon VS until some of these themes become more polished.

Experienced

bigmehdi

Posted
Posted

The Ribbon VS theme from jordanfc has been reworked by alkhan.

The version done by alkhan, introduce more changes (especially the task bar, I guess),

and hnce I prefer his version.

Currently it is officially for "win 7 rc", but it works fine for me on "win 7 rtm"

http://alkhan.deviantart.com/art/Ribbon-fo...-7-RC-126477514

Mentor

svnO.o

Posted
  • Author
Posted
The Ribbon VS theme from jordanfc has been reworked by alkhan.

The version done by alkhan, introduce more changes (especially the task bar, I guess),

and hnce I prefer his version.

Currently it is officially for "win 7 rc", but it works fine for me on "win 7 rtm"

http://alkhan.deviantart.com/art/Ribbon-fo...-7-RC-126477514

Thanks for sharing. I personally don't like that version (not a fan of the task bar in it) but more options is always nice :)

Explorer

e2zippo

Posted
Posted (edited)
Currently using Ribbon VS. Was using Slan before that. But the odd fonts made me change it after a couple of weeks.

I'm trying to get Ribbon to work on my Win 7 Pro 64bit RTM, I've ran the uxtheme patch and double clicked on the .theme file but all i end up with is the originl aero theme, any ideas?

EDIT: I managed to get SlanXP working, just put it in the wrong folder, however, my start menu button won't change, what's up with that?

Edited by e2zippo
Mentor

svnO.o

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I'm trying to get Ribbon to work on my Win 7 Pro 64bit RTM, I've ran the uxtheme patch and double clicked on the .theme file but all i end up with is the originl aero theme, any ideas?

EDIT: I managed to get SlanXP working, just put it in the wrong folder, however, my start menu button won't change, what's up with that?

Did you make sure to copy the "Ribbon" folder to "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes"? The Ribbon folder path should then be "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Ribbon" with the "Ribbon.theme" file in "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes". The reason the start menu button didn't change is because for that you actually have to replace your explorer.exe -- the procedure is usually described on the Visual Style download page or within a readme.txt file included with the downloaded VS (takes some work with command prompt or a 3rd party app to replace the file due to permissions).

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Louis Rossmann suing Samsung over "990 Pro SSD warranty scam"

      By binaryzero · Posted

      Lol I had one of these turn faulty in Jan, guess it wasn't just bad luck lol
    • Louis Rossmann suing Samsung over "990 Pro SSD warranty scam"

      By Setnom · Posted

      I'm team Rossmann all the way. I have the exact same NVME, altough not in an array like him.
    • Spotify finally removes the disco ball app icon in the latest update

      By testman · Posted

      It had gone weeks ago. Although thinking about it I'm on the beta.
    • Louis Rossmann suing Samsung over "990 Pro SSD warranty scam"

      By RejZoR · Posted

      They thought value of their goods would forever only drop like it used to and didn't account for sudden increase in price because of all the Ai hype. Tough luck Samsung, don't try to weasel this one out. Also American customer protection laws are a**. In Europe, you need to be compensated for a functioning product of same or better characteristics (not same price point as when it was originally bought!) if it can't be repaired and when you receive a replacement product your warranty starts from scratch because you received a different item than you previously had and old warranty thus cannot apply to it anymore. If your actual item was successfully repaired, warranty gets extended for the period the item was in service. If item is repaired to a significant extent, warranty also starts over from scratch because major part of it was replaced. Americans need to fight to get this kind of consumer protections because they are constantly getting screwed over.
    • Microsoft releases new Windows 11 Media Creation Tool with the latest updates

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Microsoft releases new Windows 11 Media Creation Tool with the latest updates by Taras Buria Patch Tuesday updates arrive every month, bringing users new features and security updates. To make sure customers have access to the most recent images, Microsoft also releases updates to the Media Creation Tool app, its official utility for Windows 11 installation. Today, the company pushed new ISOs to Media Creation Tool, allowing you to create images with the June 2026 Patch Tuesday updates. With the latest update, the Media Creation Tool now downloads KB5094126. It is Windows 11 version 25H2, build 26200.8655, which is also available via Windows Update. Note that the app itself remains on the previous version, which you can check in Properties > Details. The only change is that it now downloads a more recent Windows 11 build, so the only way to check is to download an ISO. The June 2026 Patch Tuesday update is a special release for Windows 11, as it brings a new performance profile to make the operating system more responsive and snappier when rendering various user interface surfaces, including the Start menu, quick settings, and more. It does so by spiking processor speeds for a brief moment, resulting in higher loads for a second or two. The so-called “Low latency profile” is rolling out gradually, but you can force-enable it with the ViVeTool app. Other changes include webcam improvements, Task Manager updates, shared audio support, and more. You can download the Media Creation Tool app from the official Microsoft website using this link. Besides MCT, Microsoft lets you download Windows 11 ISO as a file directly from the official Windows 11 website. However, you will need a third-party app to write it to your USB drive. Check out this guide if you want to know how to do that.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      davidbazooked earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Jamswaz earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Jamswaz earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      Marzoid went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Community Regular
      coch went up a rank
      Community Regular

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      509
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      184
    3. 3
      +Edouard
      158
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      83
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      75
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!