Third Party Themes Tweak Methods

[yogurt]

Win Toolkit includes some awesome tweaks, one that i'm not sure about is the "Use third party themes tweak".

Just one question. What method of patching theme files or services does Win Tookit apply when enabling this tweak?

example:

There are three methods for patching uxtheme.dll, themeui.dll, and themeservice.dll:

1. Uxtheme multi patcher (Universal Theme Patcher)
   
2. Uxtheme memory Patcher (UxStyle Core)
   
3. Manually replacing the system files (For expert users)
   

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Edited October 23, 2012 by dotfusion

[Legolash2o]

Method one. Didn't really know any other methods.

[yogurt]

@Legolash

That's cool. No worries. I was hopping Win Toolkit used the Uxtheme memory Patcher (UxStyle Core) method. I like this method because it does not directly patch any system files. Instead it installs as a service. It has a very small footprint. which is realy cool. Because UxStyle runs as a service and does not modify any system critical files, it can be uninstalled without fuss. Also it doesn't molest the windows registry.

As with the Universal method, their is a higher risk of breaking windows 7 theme services. I personally have used both methods and in my experience, the universal theme patcher can often be complicated when it comes to restoring the original system files, not to mention time consuming.

UxStyle Core is a pioneer in allowing windows users to applying third party themes, even as far back as Windows 95 :dribble: and they continue to be the preferred method by many users today. The UxStyle authors website can be found here. Their is not much on the site, but trust me when i say this method has proven to be the best. The project is still active to this day.

I do hope you consider this as a choice in your future builds of Win Toolkit. Thanks again for all your work on Win Toolkit -- it is truly an awesome tool. :punk:

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the subject. Regards.

Method one. Didn't really know any other methods.

Edited October 23, 2012 by dotfusion

[Legolash2o]

I use UTH because the files are small and don't increase the WinToolkit.exe that much. Your recommended method would require adding files into WinToolkit itself which are quite a few MB in size each.

[yogurt]

@Legolash

Understood, I don't mind using the UTH method, only because i'm aware of its shenanigans and know how to deal with it when it messes-up.

Just one other question. If i were to select to use third party themes in WTK, would my users have access the Universal Theme Patcher CPL on on an installed system?

Edited October 23, 2012 by dotfusion

[Legolash2o]

Don't think so... I patches them silently straight after logon.

[yogurt]

So if I understand correctly, Applying the third party themes tweak via Win Toolkit results in a permanent change to theme service system files without any way to reverse the tweak other than to manualy replace the patched files with the original M$ files?

[OnePiece]

@Legolash2o

and an easy thing, need only change the hex, I do not know the exact hex now, but I think and something that you can easily find, just compare the file after modification that makes the Theme Patcher and many other tools in web, After just open file in binary mod and change the binary\hex, save the file, and it's okay

here as it was the addon for windows xp (fate by Zacam) 6 years ago

;XP SP2

I386\UXTHEME.DLL|6.0.2900.2180|113178|83EC1C568D4DE4|33C0C9C2040090

Ciao.

Edited October 23, 2012 by OnePiece

[Legolash2o]

I've already put it in my notes to manually edit it via WinToolkit and not use any external software.

[Joca Wheeling]

I have received this msg on setup screen;

Universal Theme Patcher

Please right click this program, select run  as administrator.

[Sm0k3r]

Joca Wheeling, on 09 Jul 2013 - 04:18 AM, said:

I have received this msg on setup screen;

Universal Theme Patcher

Please right click this program, select run  as administrator.

Got the same message as well

[Kelsenellenelvian]

It means run the toolkit as a admin (You always should anyways)

[Joca Wheeling]

It means run the toolkit as a admin (You always should anyways)

Yes, running on  windows 8 x64