ElKePoN's Data Base

Updated: April 19, 2013

Why would you want to do that? Really. Aha. Now, Windows 8 may be stupid, but it is not ugly. And so you find yourself in a predicament. You want the looks provided by the latest Microsoft operating system, but you do not want to buy the new system or use its oligophrenic Start Screen. So what's the alternative?

Change the theme and associated elements

There are several layers of changes you can introduce - the desktop theme, including icons, fonts, colors, sounds, and background wallpapers, the boot screen, the logon screen, windows controls, and other elements. In a way, this is similar to what we did with Windows XP when we wanted to make it look like Windows 7.

Allow third party patching

This is your first step. Otherwise you won't get far. There are several utilities available, but you might want to try the Universal Theme Patcher tool. After you run it, patch the three needed files. Reboot.

Install new theme

It goes like this. You will need to download the Windows 8 RTM theme bundle, a zipped archive. It is available on deviantART, use with caution and blame me not for any cockups. Anyhow, extract the archive using a program like 7-Zip, which you can find featured on my most recommended list for Windows users. The archive contains most of the stuff we need for the steps below. All right. Next, copy the theme data from your extracted archive into the Windows Resources/Themes folder. Once placed there, the themes will be available for change through the Personalize menu.

This is only the first step, we want more!

Change Windows Explorer buttons

To do this, you will need to replace the ExplorerFramer.dll both in System32 and SYSWOW64 folders. However, this is not a simple thing, as you will need special permissions for that. Running Windows Explorer or command prompt as administrator will not be enough. You will have to take ownership of relevant files using additional registry hacks, and even then, the files might be in use, so your change will fail. How I solved the problem? Simple. I booted into a Linux live session and did regular copies there, without any fuss or permission problems.

Change Start menu icon

Although Windows 8 comes with its inefficient flip thingie, in Windows 7, you retain the good ole Start menu. The icon can be changed to match the new Windows style. This is somewhat like the Classic Shell thingie.

The program you want is Orb Start Menu Changer. The extra icons for the menu are available in the Extra folder from your Windows 8 RTM themes that you downloaded earlier. Choose the one that suits your taste best. The downloaded theme contains three different options.

And you will get something like this:

Change Logon screen

Not quite simple, but doable. This stage consists of two steps, one the logon screen itself, and two, the background image. For the first step, you will need to copy two DLL files over existing files, named authui.dll and basebrd.dll. Again, much like the ExplorerFramer.dll, the best way to accomplish the copy without trouble is to boot from a live Linux CD or your dual-boot, if you have it. Again, here's the deviantART page.

For the background image, the edit process can be accomplished manually, without third-party tools by locating the aero.theme file for your selected theme and copying it outside the Windows folder, so you will be able to edit it. This is somewhat similar to making changes to Flash mms.cfg file we did in our troubleshooting tutorial some time ago.

You will first need to edit the theme to allow Logon screen changes, then copy the file back to its expected location. Next, you will need to grab some visually pleasing file that you want to use as your background, save it in JPG format, make sure it is less than 256KB in size and name it backgroundDefault.jpg. The image file needs to be placed under info/backgrounds directory inside System32\oobe folder. Both info and background directories do not exist, and you will need to create them manually.

Change boot splash

Boot screen slash splash can be edited using the Windows 7 Boot Updater configuration tool. You will also need a boot screen file. Looks thusly:

Tile screen

This is really pushing it. If you're mulling using the Start Screen, perhaps you're better off with Windows 8. But if you want to fool your friends, then you might want to consider trying Rainmeter and Omnino utility, based on the Windows Phone 7 layout.

What these tools do, is not so much replace your desktop with a flippable menu screen but add interactive widgets onto your existing desktop, combining some of the functionality of the equivalent Start Screen in Windows 8. If you will, you can treat the suite as Conky on steroids for Windows.

Best part? It's just a process. So if you do not want to use the new features, just exit the tool, and you're back to using your desktop in the regular way. If you want the Charms-like sidebar, live tiles and other elements borrowed from the Windows 8 world, then you can install the application and the relevant skin. I do not like this, but it's your choice.

Other changes

Many other tweaks are possible, but there's no reason for me to monkey the original article. I applied only a small subset of most relevant changes that I found useful for the task at hand. You can do all the rest if you fancy them. And remember, this was done on a proper laptop, no virtual machine tomfoolery.

Final looks

And some screenshots:

Conclusion

So there we go. I must admit I skipped some of the information, but I am sure you will manage. All the credits go to askvg.com, for compiling such a useful resource. With some effort, skill and luck, you can easily transform your system looks.