Hey guys, im new here but really need some help. I'll attach pic's for each part.
I was recently trying to change the xp theme for a new and better looking one. However it wouldn't work so i just gave up after having patched a few things etc (i had no idea what i was doing, mate was just telling me to use patchers he sent). However, once restarting, my pc had the windows classic theme (grey tool bar at the bottom) and such.
Desktop atm -http://i.imgur.com/MarWI.jpg
So, I really dislike this theme and want my old one back. So i go into desktop properties etc and change to xp - http://i.imgur.com/RIkZ7.jpg

After clicking apply and ok this is what i get - http://i.imgur.com/0diZa.jpg

And this is the appearance tab - http://i.imgur.com/LUxqD.jpg

Finally this is the themes folder in WINDOWS>resources>themes - http://i.imgur.com/a9WkF.jpg



Yesterday morning, i managed to get it to windows xp theme, i turned pc off, it still was there, but this morning, its back to classic. Ive tried to restore the themes then restart, nothing -_-.

Please Help!
Thanks in advance - Keiran

hmm, nope, but i don't know how to and would need some guidance. It would probably work but if theres another way around it i'd greatly appreciate it. Mainly because i dont think there would be a point around sunday (where it began) and if i did restore back a bit more than sunday, i might loose some files.

im not sure if you noticed but i was kind of implying that could you help me or explain how to system restore and what happens?

i tried that, on 3 different dates and this happened each and every time - http://i.imgur.com/XmoWj.jpg,

should i try further back dates? i went back to friday.

none of the dates work when trying to restore, they all say - http://i.imgur.com/XmoWj.jpg Any way to fix this? i tried the disabling of a certain option in norton but still no luck.
I am going to try to do it in safe mode, however whenever i hit f8 when booting, it comes up with a completely different screen from what it should. Cant remember fully but has 3 categories, one of which is floppy disk, another is wierd and also the third. Please help

edit: this is what it looks like - http://i.imgur.com/krWcv.jpg

im guessing i need to put CD in for it to boot in safe mode or something no?

please? anyone? bump

sounds like your mate's patches have changed some registry settings
since you're planning on doing a system restore at some point in the future anyway ..
you could open the registry editor (Start -> Run -> regedit)
and have a poke around this key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager

It should look something like this


Prob good idea to save a copy of the registry settings before having a poke around though.

Looks exactly the same?

Can you check Display properties (right-click desktop and select properties)
and on the Appearance tab (not theme) check Windows and buttons - Windows XP style is selected (not Classic).

Edit: have a look at this too microsoft link
the page mentions something about the theme service, make sure it is started ..
Also check the terminal services service log on tab, hardware profile1 enabled

Really -_-. You think i'm that dumb? Fair enough i'm not an expert but c'mon, give me some credit. (You can tell im semi-nooby since im blurring out my desktop icons, scared you can track me down L0L). It is on window xp, however i cannot change it?

Also, i have some more information which may help. Firstly, these are my pc Specs -
MS Windows XP home sp3

Secondly (THE GOLD), i think this must be the problem, - http://i.imgur.com/QuIQ8.jpg
Whenever i click on it, and apply & ok. If i then close it, and re-open, its un-checked again?! And if i change the theme, it changes parts of the theme, not the actual visual aspect.
( example - 'classic = http://i.imgur.com/OwQVB.jpg' and 'xp = http://i.imgur.com/ubNJb.jpg' )
So this is most definitely the problem, now i just need a way to fix this.

Thirdly, my mate suggested i use CCleaner and use the registry cleaner. There are about 300 problems, ranging from Old start menu key, installer reference issue, Invalid default icon, open with application issue, unused file extension and also missing shared dll. Should i fix them all, im scared if i do, crap loads will just end up on my pc, that i wanted rid of and i cant even find anything to do with the theme.

Thanks, Keiran

embaressing self bump