Windows XP Themes won't work

[Steve Bragg]

Dear All

I have an XP Pro SP2 machine that has suddenly stopped allowing the Luna
theme (or any others) to work.

For several days I have been fighting with the machine to allow the Themes
service to run and stay running and I found a web site that gave some
registry changes that seemed to have got this part at least working.

I can change the theme from Windows Standard to the Luna theme if I manually
do it from the desktop and the theme stays as long as the machine is not
re-booted or turned off.

When it is re-booted we are back to the same problem that the Windows
Standard theme is back and the XP (Luna) theme does run until manually
started from the desktop.

It¹s really frustrating to have this problem.

As I say the Themes service is running and starts automatically so why does
the chosen theme not stay??

Does any one have any ideas.

BR¹s

Steve B

 

[Rich Barry]

Windows XP Themes won't workSteve, check at Kelly's http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm Select T and scroll to Themes- not working.
Dear All

I have an XP Pro SP2 machine that has suddenly stopped allowing the Luna theme (or any others) to work.

For several days I have been fighting with the machine to allow the Themes service to run and stay running and I found a web site that gave some registry changes that seemed to have got this part at least working.

I can change the theme from Windows Standard to the Luna theme if I manually do it from the desktop and the theme stays as long as the machine is not re-booted or turned off.

When it is re-booted we are back to the same problem that the Windows Standard theme is back and the XP (Luna) theme does run until manually started from the desktop.

It's really frustrating to have this problem.

As I say the Themes service is running and starts automatically so why does the chosen theme not stay??

Does any one have any ideas.

BR's

Steve B

 

[Steve Bragg]

Steve, check at Kelly's http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm Select
T and scroll to Themes- not working.

Hi Rich

All this was done before I posted this.

As I say the Themes service IS running and I can invoke the Luna theme
manually, as I have said.

However the theme will not retain, in other words it will not stay and
reverts back to Classic on each computer re-boot.

When I said I had found some registry changes I was referring to the Kelly¹s
site. This got things to the point I am at now. BUT the theme gets lost on
each re-boot.

It is this latter part I am seeking to fix now.......

Cheers

Steve

 

[Rich Barry]

Windows XP Themes won't work Steve, try a very simple modification of the Luna Theme. Reboot and see if it holds.

To modify a theme
1.. Open the Display Properties, go to the Themes tab (you can also open the display dialog from Control Panel\Appearance and Theme\Display).
2.. From the theme list, choose the theme you wish to modify.
3.. You can change any of the previous items that are part of the theme you wish to modify, for example you can set a different screen saver, or a different background image for that theme.
4.. Now, get back to the Themes tab and click Apply.
5.. Next to the Theme List, click Save As; new themes are saved in My Documents.
6.. In the Save As dialog box, type a new name for the modified theme.
7.. Click OK.
Note: If you modify a theme without saving it, your changes are saved with the name Previous theme name (Modified). However, your modified theme will be lost if you select a different theme.











Dear All

I have an XP Pro SP2 machine that has suddenly stopped allowing the Luna theme (or any others) to work.

For several days I have been fighting with the machine to allow the Themes service to run and stay running and I found a web site that gave some registry changes that seemed to have got this part at least working.

I can change the theme from Windows Standard to the Luna theme if I manually do it from the desktop and the theme stays as long as the machine is not re-booted or turned off.

When it is re-booted we are back to the same problem that the Windows Standard theme is back and the XP (Luna) theme does run until manually started from the desktop.

It's really frustrating to have this problem.

As I say the Themes service is running and starts automatically so why does the chosen theme not stay??

Does any one have any ideas.

BR's

Steve B

 

[Steve Bragg]

Steve, try a very simple modification of the Luna Theme. Reboot and see if
it holds.

To modify a theme
1. Open the Display Properties, go to the Themes tab (you can also open the
display dialog from Control Panel\Appearance and Theme\Display).
2. From the theme list, choose the theme you wish to modify.
3. You can change any of the previous items that are part of the theme you
wish to modify, for example you can set a different screen saver, or a
different background image for that theme.
4. Now, get back to the Themes tab and click Apply.
5. Next to the Theme List, click Save As; new themes are saved in My
Documents.
6. In the Save As dialog box, type a new name for the modified theme.
7. Click OK.
Note: If you modify a theme without saving it, your changes are saved with the
name Previous theme name (Modified). However, your modified theme will be lost
if you select a different theme.

<http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/arabicdev/DevTools/more/themes.aspx#top>

Rich

I have tried this to no avail. The Theme will not ³stick².

I made changes to the 3una theme, just basic ones like desktop background
etc. and saved it with a different name.

Using this method I have been able to place a shortcut onto the desktop for
the user so that they can double click on the desktop, which brings up the
properties window and then they can apply the theme.

However, quite rightly, they are asking me why they have to bother to do
this and why can¹t the system be fixed to automatically apply the theme upon
boot up!!

It¹s got the be something in the registry that is wrong but even having
applied the Kelly fix won¹t work.

I¹d like to avoid a re-install because having to re-install all the programs
afterwards!!

BR¹s ­ frustrated.......

Steve