- Find the themes
- Patch the system
- Apply Themes
Official themes
Are you interested in understanding how to change the theme on your Windows PC by installing one or more of the graphic resources officially made available by Microsoft itself? Yup? Well, then read the instructions on what to do that you find below and find out immediately how to proceed.
However, keep in mind that the instructions below are valid only for Windows 10, 8 / 8.x and 7. As for the previous versions of the OS, you must refer to the instructions for installing the unofficial themes that you find in second part of the guide.
Download and install new themes
If you want to change the theme on your Windows PC, the first move you need to make is to connect to the section dedicated to graphic themes, in fact, attached to the Microsoft website. To do this, you can use any web browser (eg. Chrome). Then click on the link Download that you find below the preview of the theme you prefer among the many available so as to immediately download it to your PC.
The themes proposed at the first link to the page are those in the foreground, that is to say the most important ones at the moment, but if giving them a quick glance there doesn't seem to be any that attracts you, you can filter them by category by clicking on the name of the one you are interested in. (Pets, Videos, Plants and flowers etc.) from the list on the left.
Once the download of the theme is complete open, by double clicking on it, the file obtained (nometema.themepack) so as to access the screen for selecting Windows themes and immediately set the one just chosen on your PC. To confirm the success of the operation, a notification sound will also be emitted.
If, once you have set a given theme, you want to change it with another previously downloaded or with one of the "standard" ones, all you have to do is access the section dedicated to the customization of the Windows interface by right-clicking anywhere on the desktop without icons and select the item Customize from the menu that appears. Then you will have to select the theme of your interest among those attached to the list that will be shown to you.
Keep in mind that if what you are using is a Windows 10 PC, to access the above settings you must go to the Start menu, cecare il Control Panel and click on the item Change topic.
Instead, by clicking anywhere on the desktop and selecting the item Customize from the menu that appears you will find yourself in front of a window different from the one described above. In this case, click on the item Temi on the left and select the theme you prefer from the new screen displayed.
Change the themes
By following the instructions I gave you in the previous step, you have finally managed to change the theme on Windows. However, if there is some graphic element of the theme that does not satisfy you in a particular way and you want to change it to your taste, I am happy to inform you that it is feasible. To do this, first go to the Windows section dedicated to theme management by right-clicking anywhere on the desktop and then choosing the item Customize give the menu check if you press.
In the window that appears on the screen, select the theme in relation to which you intend to intervene by clicking on its preview in correspondence with the section Custom themes then presses on the items below to make all the necessary changes.
Clicking on Desktop wallpaper you can select the images of the theme to use as background, you can insert new ones by clicking on the button Shop by Department in the further screen displayed, you can set its position, choose how often to change the background and whether or not to enable random playback. To confirm and apply the choices made, press the button Save Changes down below.
Going to click Windows color you can set a different color for Windows windows and completely customize their characteristics and the various elements that compose them. To confirm and apply the changes, first press the button Apply and then OK in the new window that opened.
Clicking on SoundsInstead, you can select different system sounds for the chosen theme by setting the combination you prefer from the drop-down menu Combination: or you can set new custom ones by selecting the reference audio file from the section Events: and then clicking on the button Sfoglia .... To confirm and apply the changes, first press the button Apply e poi quello OK at the bottom of the on-screen window.
By pressing on Screen saver you can then apply a screen saver different from the one possibly provided for the chosen theme by selecting one of the various ones listed in the menu Screen saver in the displayed window. I also point out the possibility of adjusting all the settings by pressing the relative button Settings ... and to define the waiting time before the screensaver becomes active. Finally, remember to confirm and apply all the various changes made by pressing the buttons Apply e OK.
Keep in mind that if what you are using is a computer with Windows 10 installed, to access the section for customizing the themes just described you must go to Control Panel recalling the latter from Start menu and then you have to press on the voice Change topic in the window that is shown to you.
Instead, right-click somewhere with no desktop icons and choose Customize from the menu that appears you can customize the theme applied by selecting the item first Temi on the left and then acting on the various items and settings attached to the new screen displayed.
Unofficial themes
As anticipated at the beginning, it is possible to change the theme on Windows also by installing unofficial resources capable of completely overturning the graphical interface of the entire system.
To do this, however, it is necessary to take advantage of the appropriate third-party programs to patch the OS and download the files relating to the themes to be installed from Internet sites dedicated to resources of this type. To find out more, keep reading, you will find detailed information about it right below.
Find the themes
Most of the Internet sites that offer graphic themes for Windows are either paid or even worse vehicles for viruses and spyware. A completely free portal from which to download graphic themes for Windows without any security risk is DeviantART. Haven't you ever heard of it? Strange, it is very well known. It is a portal that collects wallpapers, icons, skins and various other graphic resources for computers (and others), including themes.
To use it for your purpose, then connect to the home page of the site and, from the section Categories located on the left, click on Customization, Then Skins & Themes, its Windows Utilities ed infine your Visual styles.
On the page that is shown to you at this point, click on the item More ... at the top left, in correspondence with the section Black then click on the link Popular All Time in such a way as to view all the available graphic themes, otherwise use the filters always attached to the same section to view the most popular themes of the last 24 hours, those added recently, etc.
If you want, you can also search by keyword using the appropriate bar under the heading Search on the left. For example, if you want to make Windows XP graphics look like Windows Vista, type the word view.
So explore the complete list of themes that is proposed to you and once you have identified some resource that you think you might like, click on its preview. On the page that appears to be, take a look at all the features of the theme by reading the description at the bottom, take a look at the enlarged preview image of the chosen resource by clicking on it at the top of the page and proceed with the download by pressing the button Download appropriate place at the top right.
Patch the system
Once you have found the graphic themes you want to apply to the system and with which it is your intention to completely overturn the Windows interface, you can finally proceed with the download of the program that allows you to do this. There are several instruments of this type on the square but personally I recommend that you contact Download UXTheme Multi-Patcher. It's free and works on all OS, from Windows 10 to Windows XP.
To take advantage of it, first connect to the software website and press the link Download UXTheme Multi-Patcher 15.0 that you find at the bottom of the page, under the writing Download. Once the download is complete, extract the compressed archive obtained in any position on the PC, then start the executable file inside it and click on Si.
In the window that appears on the desktop, if you are using Windows 10 or Windows 8 / 8.x check the box next to the wording Use Aero glass transparency hack for Windows 8/8.1/10, remove the check from the additional box below (the one with written next to it Set Windows X’s Live as default homepage) to prevent the home page set on your browser from being replaced, then click on the button patch and then OK but I will complete the setup.
Once the program installation procedure is complete, restart the computer to ensure that the changes made are actually applied. Done!
Apply Themes
Regardless of the operating system used, once you have found the unofficial theme with which you want to change the graphical interface of your computer and once you have installed the aforementioned program, you can take the real action by applying the themes. The procedure to start is the same for all Microsoft OS. So let's see how we need to proceed.
First, extract the theme's compressed archive to any folder on your computer. Inside it you can find or a file called NOMETEMA.msstyles or a folder with the name of the theme, which contains the file NOMETEMA.msstyles and the folder Shell.
So open the folder C: WindowsResourcesThemes and copy the file inside NOMETEMA.msstyles, if only this is present in the extracted archive, or the entire folder, which contains the file NOMETEMA.msstyles and the folder Shell, if the latter is present in the extracted archive,
After copying the NOMETEMA.msstyles or the folder that contains it, double-click NOMETEMA.msstyles and then Apply in the window that opens to apply the theme to Windows. Et voila!
How to change theme on Windows