We here at AskVG love Windows customization and we regularly share awesome themes, skins, boot screens and other eye candy stuff for Windows users.
Most of our readers including us are using Windows 7 at the moment and we have posted many Windows 7 themes in past which can be found in our exclusive Themes and Wallpapers section.
There are many Windows 7 users who still love the blue Luna or Royale theme or dark Zune theme present in Windows XP. The good thing is that almost all these classic Windows XP themes have been ported to Windows 7 and Windows 7 users can enjoy these ported themes in their system.
We have shared such ported XP themes for Windows 7 in separate topics in past and after getting frequent emails containing request for a Windows XP theme for Windows 7, today we decided to put all these themes together in a single topic for your convenience.
So today in this article, we are going to list all Windows XP themes which have been successfully ported to Windows 7. So lets share the themes without wasting time:
Windows XP "Luna" Theme for Windows 7
If you love default "Luna" theme of Windows XP and want to use it in Windows 7, you can download it using following topic:
Download Windows XP "Luna" Theme for Windows 7
If you prefer the "Luna Silver" theme of Windows XP, you can get it from following topic:
Download Windows XP "Luna Silver" Theme for Windows 7
Windows XP "Royale Blue" Theme for Windows 7
"Royale Blue" theme is one of the most famous themes for Windows XP. It was an official Windows XP theme from Microsoft which was introduced in Windows XP Media Center Edition.
If you want to use it in Windows 7, you can download it using following article:
Download Windows XP "Royale Blue" Theme for Windows 7
Windows XP "Zune" Theme for Windows 7
"Zune" theme was also officially released by Microsoft for Windows XP users. It was created by Microsoft to promote its Zune player. This theme was based on "Royale Blue" theme.
You can get the same theme for Windows 7 using any of following topics:
Download Windows XP "Zune" Theme for Windows 7
Download Yet Another Windows XP "Zune" Theme for Windows 7
Download Windows XP "Luna", "Royale Blue" and "Zune" Remix Themes for Windows 7
One AskVG reader "djeos546" created remix versions of Luna, Royale Blue and Zune themes for Windows 7. He combined the ported XP themes with our exclusive Windows 7 theme "AeroVG Se7en" and the output was really impressive.
You can download these remix versions from following link:
Download Windows XP Royale Blue, Luna and Zune Remix Themes for Windows 7
If you also like Windows XP themes, you should definitely give a try to the above mentioned themes. Feel free to share your feedback about these themes in your comment.
Also don't forget to check out our exclusive gallery page to find awesome themes, skins, wallpapers and icon packs for Windows, Yahoo! Messenger and mobile phones:
Posted by: Vishal Gupta | Categories: Themes & Wallpapers, Windows 7
Marc
thnx for the list. :)
Peter
I will never forget XP days and I really thank u for sharing these themes. :)
Minas
Will it work in Win 8 RP?
VG
^^ No. Windows 7 themes will not work in Windows 8. Wait for some time and there will be many 3rd party themes for Windows 8. ;)
wanville
i will not look back for windows xp!
Minas
Ok, thanks for the reply :)
Windows XP is my favorite OS. The only reason I use Win 7/8 is better support for modern hardware. Otherwise XP is more serious OS IMHO, Win7/8's UX force you to play and waste time in useless things.
sumit indian
a suggestion VG, it would b better if you give screenshots of the above themes in action.
sandip bhagat
Vishal, include screenshots of these themes also. So that it will be easy to find the best one .
VG
There are already screenshots given of each theme. :)
Kapil Arya
Hello VG,
I'm looking for SevenVG theme for Windows 8.
Stamimail
Hello VG,
A long time I'm looking for a solution to my problem: The color of the active button in W7 TaskBar while Decombine.
While hovering there is a strong and clear color, but without hovering it is very difficult to me to Distinguish the active window's button... [Unlike In XP Taskbar I could notice easily which button is pressed.
Can you help me to find a solution to change the color of the Active Button to Easily discernible color?
VG
^^ I agree with you. The only solution of this problem is modifying Windows theme. You can either modify theme using Resource Hacker and replace the required PNG image resources or download and apply a 3rd party theme which comes with different Taskbar button resources.
Stamimail
Using Resource Hacker...
I want to learn how.
Can you refer me to the right posts - so I can learn step by step how to do it?
VG
^^ Check following:
http://www.askvg.com/tutorial-all-about-resource-hacker-in-a-brief-tutorial/
Stamimail
Ok. Now. which file/s I need to hack?
VG
^^ You'll need to check the PNG resources in msstyles file.
Stamimail
I need more details. Here are 2 files I found in my Laptop:
C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-aero_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.17514_none_0a0916fa3009208a\aero.msstyles
C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-aero.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_963b743473b55a81\aero.msstyles.mui
There are thousands of PNG resources. How Do I know which PNG resources I need to replace. Nobody did it before me?
VG
^^ You need to modify C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Aero\aero.msstyles file. I cant remember the exact resource number.
Stamimail
That's Ok.
I am monitored to this article so when anyone has the exact resource number in future, please post here.
OR
if you have expert friends refer me to...
Thank You
VG
^^ I checked the msstyles file and following are the resources:
Image -> 1014-1017 and 1024-1027
Stamimail
I tried, but I could not do it alone. Explorer gets stuck. There is something new that you can help me?
Stamimail
Here, I found something that could take us a step forward:
w7forums.com/attachments/2180d1292888799-remove-glow-taskbar-capture.png
w7forums.com/remove-glow-taskbar-t9223.html
If anyone knows professionally edit these PNG files doing something cool, and share with us, we thank him greatly.
Salie
Hi VG,
I got a Windows 7 Home Basic netbook. My son accidentally change my taskbar icons together with the start button to windows xp format. How can I switch it back to windows 7 format?
VG
^^ It seems he installed a transformation pack to change Windows 7 look. You should check in "Control Panel -> Programs and Features" and All Programs list for transformation pack entry. If you find it, uninstall it.
Salie
I checked on the programs and features for a transformation pack entry,but I could not found any file for it, I'm just wondering because he able to change it while the pc is locked. He tried to unlocked but he got incorrect password. When I look back on the PC screen it went from blue windows 7 to all black already and when I login with my password the taskbar coloured change to silver and windows flag on the start button change to the word.
VG
^^ First try to re-apply default Windows theme using Desktop Personalization. It'll bring back the default look.
jim
Hi VG
Thank you very kindly for your efforts here. I came to fix my accursed "TrustedInstaller" issue and have stayed an extra hour or two looking through your other contributions. Now I come upon these XP Theme for win7 links. Glorious day. I now have XP and Win7 in the home and what a difference. Win7 (and now Win8) may be fine for the iPhone crowd which spends it's days checking social networks and sending each other photos of their unmentionables but it is a weak sister to those of us who actually have work to do which involves anything more complicated than starting Office or Internet Explorer. At least now I can have a familiar face when I am traveling the obstreperous back alleys of Win7 spending hours in what takes only a few minutes on XP. Sigh. The King is nearly dead, long live the King! LoL :-)
Matthew Sp
Vishal , Why the Luna Theme did not Apply the Start Orb ?
TNX
VG
^^ Because Start ORB images are stored in Explorer.exe file not in .msstyles file. You'll need to replace existing Explorer.exe file with the new one to apply new Start ORB.