*.theme and *.msstyles type Vista desktop theme guide

Many friends are confused about the theme of Windows Vista system. Everyone downloads the Vista desktop theme from the Internet, not only the extension but the extension is different. And, some theme files are only a few hundred KB, and some may have dozens of MB. Why?

In fact, it is because they contain different content. Some have only one .msstyles style file, some with a few color profiles, some with .theme files, some with mouse pointers, wallpapers, sound events, and more.

First of all, give you a small tip. Under normal circumstances, the .theme file and the .msstyles file are associated with the Windows Vista system default file, which means that double-clicking on both file systems will automatically display Open the property, you can use this to preview the theme or style before installation. Of course, if the Vista theme also expands other files, you should pay attention to whether the path of other files is correct, otherwise it will not be able to preview properly.

Please provide some theme downloads here: http://bbs.vista123.com/showtopic-21569.html (continuously updated)

Note: Vista theme replacement, please use Vista optimization master Crack the theme, you need to manually crack the SP1 Beta or RC patch to use your new theme.

The following two situations, how to install a variety of different topics.

The first case: There is .theme theme file

This is the easiest to install, just keep the original theme directory structure, copy the .theme file and folder to X The \\WINDOWS\\Resources\\Themes\\ directory is installed (X refers to the drive letter of your Vista system, usually C).

For the simplest example, everyone downloaded a theme online, assuming the theme is called "Dogmax", then the installation should be such a directory structure:

X:\\WINDOWS \\Resources\\Themes\\Dogmax.theme (may be)
X:\\WINDOWS\\Resources\\Themes\\Dogmax\\Dogmax.msstyles
X:\\WINDOWS\\Resources\\Themes\\Dogmax\\Shell\\xxxx\\shellstyle.dll (No)
.....................

After copying, then right click on the desktop. Select "Properties" to open the display properties window. Because there is a .theme theme file, you can see the theme in the list of topics, select the theme name, click on the application, Windows Vista will automatically switch to the display of the theme. If the theme has multiple color schemes, open the Appearance and you can see the optional color scheme in the Color Schemes list. Each item will display the actual effect in the preview box above.

Frequently Asked Questions: If the desktop background has not been replaced, look at the download file for wallpaper, if any, go to the desktop item of the Properties window and click Browse. "Find this wallpaper and replace it." If you don't have one, it's okay to put on your favorite wallpaper! !

The second case: no.theme theme file, only the .msstyles theme file

or this example, assuming the theme name is "Dogmax", this theme has only one Dogmax.msstyles style file and A shell folder, a few color schemes under the shell folder, or even a shell folder, then first create a subdirectory under the X:\\WINDOWS\\Resources\\Themes directory, the name must be called "Dogmax". As mentioned earlier, the name of this directory must be the same as the style file name. Then copy the Dogmax.msstyles file and the Shell directory into this subdirectory. The directory structure is like this:

X:\\WINDOWS\\ Resources\\Themes\\Dogmax\\Dogmax.msstyles
X:\\WINDOWS\\Resources\\Themes\\Dogmax\\Shell\\xxxx\\shellstyle.dll (no)
............. ....

Open the Display Properties window. Because there is no .theme file, you can't see the "Dogmax" theme in the list of topics, so go to the "Appearance" page. Normally you should find the "Dogmax" item in the "Window and Buttons" list. This is actually a list of styles. Check "Dogmax". If there are multiple color schemes for this style, there will be more than one item in the list of color schemes below. Each item will be displayed in the preview box above. Click on the app at the bottom right to apply the style and color scheme to your current Windows Vista.