Defult XP and Classic style question

[Adam Raff]

Hi all,

I hope some one here can help. A few weeks ago I had a problem that caused
me to redo my system. I just got the problem back but this time not as bad.

I shut down my system and when I started it up the system colors changed.
Now my task bar is Gray instead of Blue and my Office products (2003) color
have changed (last time I could not right click on anything because the
background was all black). This time it's not as bad but it seems that
after looking around I noticed that when I go into display properties and
look at appearance it seems that I am stuck in Windows Classic Style and the
Color Scheme is Windows Standard. When I click on the Windows and Buttons
to change it back to Windows XP style it's not there. Also in color Scheme
there is no default blue. There must be something that I am missing so I
can change this back. By the way I am set for normal start menu operations
(not classic style in task bar)

If someone has any idea what is causing this issue please let me know

Thank You
Adam Raff

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Hi all,

I hope some one here can help. A few weeks ago I had a problem that
caused me to redo my system. I just got the problem back but this
time not as bad.

I shut down my system and when I started it up the system colors
changed. Now my task bar is Gray instead of Blue and my Office
products (2003) color have changed (last time I could not right click
on anything because the background was all black). This time it's
not as bad but it seems that after looking around I noticed that when
I go into display properties and look at appearance it seems that I
am stuck in Windows Classic Style and the Color Scheme is Windows
Standard. When I click on the Windows and Buttons to change it back
to Windows XP style it's not there. Also in color Scheme there is no
default blue. There must be something that I am missing so I can
change this back. By the way I am set for normal start menu
operations (not classic style in task bar)

If someone has any idea what is causing this issue please let me know

Thank You
Adam Raff

Get the latest XP video card driver from the hardware mfr and install it in
device manager. Does that help?

 

[Adam Raff]

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

Get the latest XP video card driver from the hardware mfr and install it in
device manager. Does that help?

When I rebuilt the system the last time, I updated the video driver and

Bios, so as far as I know they are the latest.

 

[Alex Nichol]

me to redo my system. I just got the problem back but this time not as bad.

I shut down my system and when I started it up the system colors changed.
Now my task bar is Gray instead of Blue and my Office products (2003) color
have changed (last time I could not right click on anything because the
background was all black). This time it's not as bad but it seems that
after looking around I noticed that when I go into display properties and
look at appearance it seems that I am stuck in Windows Classic Style and the
Color Scheme is Windows Standard.

There are a number of possibilities, Most are covered at Kelly's reg
file at
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Line 271 left, 'Stuck in Classic View? - Undo Now

And I would run that at least as first step

 

[Adam Raff]

There are a number of possibilities, Most are covered at Kelly's reg
file at
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Line 271 left, 'Stuck in Classic View? - Undo Now

And I would run that at least as first step

Thanks so much for the input on this matter. I will try this out but first
I have to look into what the setting do since this system is on a network.
Also just to give a little more info on this system.

The system is running the following
Windows XP /SP1 with all critical updates applied

Thanks for all the help.
Adam Raff

 

[Rebecca Chen [MSFT]]

Hi Adam,

If the issue persists after you check all the suggestions, please gather
the following information:

1. Take a screen shot of the symptoms, such as " When I click on the
Windows and Buttons to change it back to Windows XP style it's not there.
Also in color Scheme
there is no default blue ".

2. MSPreport:

Please download the MPS report tool from the following link and send the
result (CAB) file to me. This log file can help me clarify the computer
configuration.

<http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/b/1/bb139fcb-4aac-4fe5-a579-30b0bd
915706/MPSRPT_SETUPPerf.EXE>

1) Double click this file to run it.
2) After that, please go to C:\windows\MPSReports\Setup\Reports\Cab .
3) Find a file named [COMPUTERNAME]_MPSReports.CAB
4) Send this cab file and the screen shot to me at (e-mail address removed) for
research.

Any update, let us get in touch!

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

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that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
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[Adam Raff]

Hi all,

I hope some one here can help. A few weeks ago I had a problem that caused
me to redo my system. I just got the problem back but this time not as bad.

I shut down my system and when I started it up the system colors changed.
Now my task bar is Gray instead of Blue and my Office products (2003) color
have changed (last time I could not right click on anything because the
background was all black). This time it's not as bad but it seems that
after looking around I noticed that when I go into display properties and
look at appearance it seems that I am stuck in Windows Classic Style and the
Color Scheme is Windows Standard. When I click on the Windows and Buttons
to change it back to Windows XP style it's not there. Also in color Scheme
there is no default blue. There must be something that I am missing so I
can change this back. By the way I am set for normal start menu operations
(not classic style in task bar)

If someone has any idea what is causing this issue please let me know

Thank You
Adam Raff

I just wanted to let everybody know where this stands.

The Video Driver that is installed is the latest
I tried the fix from XP Tweaks and that did not work, still no option to
switch back to Windows XP style.
I sent info to Microsoft and waiting for there response on this matter

For those that helped thank you very much if any body else has any ideas I
could use them.

Thanks
Adam Raff

 

[Rebecca Chen [MSFT]]

Hi Adam,

I have received the information, I have not post the screen shot in public
for others' reference.

Please use the following steps to check the status:
1) Go to Start, Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance, Administrative
Tools
2) Go to Services
3)In right panel, look for Themes and double click
4) Make sure start-up type is set to Automatic
5)Re-start the application under Service Status

In addition, have you used msconfig to perform a selective start-up? If so,
please put back to normal startup.

If the issue persists, please continue the following steps:
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that
may require you to reinstall Windows. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved.
Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
1. Open the registry and located to:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes
DefaultVisualStyleOff and DefaultVisualStyleOn
2. Check if InstallVisualStyle are blank, if so, changed both to
%ResourceDir%\Themes\Luna\Luna.msstyles
3. Browsed to Windows\Resources\Themes\LUNA directory
4. Double Clicked LUNA.MSSTYLES
5. Brought up option to set Appearance Tab
6. Applied and went back to XP Style
7. Rebooted and changes stayed in effect.

HTH!

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Adam Raff]

Hi Adam,

I have received the information, I have not post the screen shot in public
for others' reference.

Please use the following steps to check the status:
1) Go to Start, Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance, Administrative
Tools
2) Go to Services
3)In right panel, look for Themes and double click
4) Make sure start-up type is set to Automatic
5)Re-start the application under Service Status

In addition, have you used msconfig to perform a selective start-up? If so,
please put back to normal startup.

If the issue persists, please continue the following steps:
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that
may require you to reinstall Windows. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved.
Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
1. Open the registry and located to:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes
DefaultVisualStyleOff and DefaultVisualStyleOn
2. Check if InstallVisualStyle are blank, if so, changed both to
%ResourceDir%\Themes\Luna\Luna.msstyles
3. Browsed to Windows\Resources\Themes\LUNA directory
4. Double Clicked LUNA.MSSTYLES
5. Brought up option to set Appearance Tab
6. Applied and went back to XP Style
7. Rebooted and changes stayed in effect.

HTH!

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no

rights.

Hi Rebecca,Thanks for the post. I did what you said and found that one of
the options in Default Visual StyleOn was blank the other was ok. So I
changed that one back.

I then went to Luna Directory and clicked on Luna.msstyles and tried to
change it back to XP style but the style was not there. I rebooted the PC
and looked again and it still was not there.

My themes service is running and just to make sure I restarted the service
before I made any changes.

If you wish I can send you screen shots of the registry keys that I have.
Please let me know.

 

[Rebecca Chen [MSFT]]

NOTE, please use oulook express to download the attachment.

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[David Candy]

news://msnews.microsoft.com/[email protected]

Will open your post in OE using Microsofft's servers (one knows that the message is definitely on that server).


Will open your post in OE from the user's default news server, if they have one set.

news://msnews.microsoft.com will configure the microsoft's server and download the list of newsgroups.

news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general

Will load this newsgroup in OE using Microsoft's servers.


Will load this newsgroup in OE using the user's default news server.

The user will also need to go to
Tools menu - Options - Security in the main OE window and uncheck the box that says "Do Not Allow Attachments To Be Saved Or Open ...".

The long number of the post is the Message ID from your post's headers, which is added by the news server recieving the post - you have to send a post before you can know the number. Press Ctrl + F3 while previewing a posted message to see the headers (or while selected File - Properties - Details).

If their default news client is not OE then it's up to that application to decide how it parses the command line.

 

[Adam Raff]

Hi Adam,

It is possible that the XP theme file is corrupted. Please use the
following steps:
1. Insert your XP installation CD into the CD-ROM and boot to recovery
console.
2. Issue the following command:
expand d:\i386\luna.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes -r
expand d:\i386\classic.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes -r
ren luna.the *.theme
ren classic.the *.theme
3. Restart the machine to test this issue.

Alternatively, I have save the Windows XP theme, please unzip the
attachment and double click it. Can you use XP theme?

Any update, let us get in touch!

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no

rights.

Hi Rebecca,

I am using Outlook Express for news.

I am sorry to say but this has me a little confused. I have downloaded the
file and unzipped it onto my desktop. Do I need to go into safe mode to
copy this in or do I need to put this file onto a floppy disk. Then run in
recovery mode to install the file?

Also as a side note. When I double click on the file it opens up the display
properties but when I click on the tab appearances it seems to show up as
black on the screen. This looks like the same problem that I had the first
time in that any thing that I right click on was black. I am willing to try
anyway because I feel that I am going to be redoing this system again the
way it looks just to see if it fixes the problem in case it happens again.

Thanks for your help in this matter

 

[Rebecca Chen [MSFT]]

Hi Adam,

Sorry for causing you feel confused.

I believe the luna related files are corrupted. Please just use the
following steps to extract files from the installation CD:

1.Insert the installation CD into the CD-ROM.

2. Boot from the CD-ROM. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press
R to start the Recovery Console (Windows XP) or press R , and then at the
next screen, press C to continue to the Recovery Console.

3. Issue the following command:

expand d:\i386\luna.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes -r
expand d:\i386\classic.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes -r
ren luna.the *.theme
ren classic.the *.theme

4 If the issue persists, please refer to the following article to perform
a Clean Boot:

Q310353 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q310/3/53.asp

What is the result?

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
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[Adam Raff]

Hi Adam,

Sorry for causing you feel confused.

I believe the luna related files are corrupted. Please just use the
following steps to extract files from the installation CD:

1.Insert the installation CD into the CD-ROM.

2. Boot from the CD-ROM. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press
R to start the Recovery Console (Windows XP) or press R , and then at the
next screen, press C to continue to the Recovery Console.

3. Issue the following command:

expand d:\i386\luna.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes -r
expand d:\i386\classic.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes -r
ren luna.the *.theme
ren classic.the *.theme

4 If the issue persists, please refer to the following article to perform
a Clean Boot:

Q310353 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q310/3/53.asp

What is the result?

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
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Hi Rebecca,

I am sorry to say but it did not work. I tried to follow your directions
but I hit snags that I just could not get around.

I tried to expand the files but when every I used the -r it came back as bad
syntax. I looked it up via the expand /? mark but there was no record of
that syntax usage there. So I expanded it without the -r and it worked.

When I tried to ren them using your command It just failed outright. I then
when into the resource directory and it could not find the names of the
files. I was able to boot the system and in that directory I have the
following files

classic.the 7/21/2001 9:37 am
luna.the 8/3/2001 11:23 am
luna.theme 9/3/2002 2:42 pm
windows classic.theme 9/3/2002 2:34 pm

So what should I do next?

 

[Rebecca Chen [MSFT]]

Hi Adam,

-r parameter is used to rename expanded files. You can also put the "-r"
like expand -r Source [Destination]. It is OK that you don't use "-r".
Luna is the file which is responsible for Windows XP theme. Please boot in
recovery console, issue the following command:
ren luna.the luna.theold
ren luna.theme luna.themeold
ren classic.the classic.theold
ren classic.theme classic.themeold

expand d:\i386\luna.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes
expand d:\i386\luna.them_ c:\windows\resources\themes
expand d:\i386\classic.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes
expand d:\i386\ classic.them_ c:\windows\resources\themes

NOTE: This step intends to delete the original files and expand new files
from the installation CD. If the expand command cannot extract certain file
from the installation CD, please ignore it. Restart the machine to test
this issue. If the issue persiste, let us use SFC to restore the missing
file from the installation CD, it would be easier to get the missing file
back, however, it may longer time.
Please put the Windows XP Pro cd in the drive and issue the command below:

Start > Run > cmd "sfc /scannow"

This command will replace the missing files in XP.

Any update, let us get in touch!

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Adam Raff]

Hi Adam,

-r parameter is used to rename expanded files. You can also put the "-r"
like expand -r Source [Destination]. It is OK that you don't use "-r".
Luna is the file which is responsible for Windows XP theme. Please boot in
recovery console, issue the following command:
ren luna.the luna.theold
ren luna.theme luna.themeold
ren classic.the classic.theold
ren classic.theme classic.themeold

expand d:\i386\luna.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes
expand d:\i386\luna.them_ c:\windows\resources\themes
expand d:\i386\classic.th_ c:\windows\resources\themes
expand d:\i386\ classic.them_ c:\windows\resources\themes

NOTE: This step intends to delete the original files and expand new files
from the installation CD. If the expand command cannot extract certain file
from the installation CD, please ignore it. Restart the machine to test
this issue. If the issue persiste, let us use SFC to restore the missing
file from the installation CD, it would be easier to get the missing file
back, however, it may longer time.
Please put the Windows XP Pro cd in the drive and issue the command below:

Start > Run > cmd "sfc /scannow"

This command will replace the missing files in XP.

Any update, let us get in touch!

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Rebecca,

I tried you command and again it did not work. After playing around with
the commands I realized that I had to ren using the path and I could not be
in the directory so I was able to rename the following files
Luna.th_
classic.th_

When I tried to rename
luna.them_
classic.theme (or Windows classic.theme)

It could not find the files or directory was invalid. It looks like it
could not get them from the D drive and when I looked in the I386 directory
they did not show up there. Could the names be wrong?

I rebooted and got back into windows with no issue otherwise.

I have not tried the SFC /scannow command yet. Can you give me a little
more info in this command and will it take a long time. If applied will I
have to reload critical updates again?

Thanks
Adam

 

[Rebecca Chen [MSFT]]

Hi Adam,

I see. SFC is used scans and verifies the versions of all protected system
files after you restart your computer.Windows File Protection prevents the
replacement of protected system files such as .sys, .dll, .ocx, .ttf, .fon,
and .exe files. Windows File Protection runs in the background and protects
all files installed by the Windows Setup program.

More details about SFC can be found from the link below:
Windows File Protection
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-
us/system_file_checker.mspx


About the SFC synax, please refer to
System File Checker (sfc)
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-
us/system_file_checker.mspx

The reason I suggest you use SFC is probably the correponding theme file is
missing and SFC will copy the missing file to the system. How long it takes
depend on your machine performance, it may take 30 minutes to check all
system file and replace the missing one.

Please use SFC command to replace the missing file to check the status. If
the issue re-occur, you may consider repair XP as descrbied in the article
below:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

Any update, let us get in touch!

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Guest]

Problem seems to be common. I have the same issue. Have ruled out the display
driver being the cause. Seems to have started after XP2 and have seen it on
other systems.