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VistaVG Black Theme for Windows XP




After getting lot of demand for XP port of my Vista Black Theme for Vista, I’m glad to announce my new XP theme “VistaVG Black“.

ABOUT:

Its an update over my previous XP theme “VistaVG Ultimate”:

VistaVG Ultimate Theme for Windows XP

I have changed Startmenu, titlebar, buttons and a few other things in this theme.

HOW TO USE:

1. In the downloaded pack, you’ll get 2 folders:

=> Fonts (This folder contains Segoe UI fonts required for the theme. Copy them to “%windir%\Fonts” folder.)

=> Theme (This folder contains the main theme.)

2. Copy all contents in “Theme” folder to “%windir%\Resources\Themes\” folder.

3. Now you can set the theme using Desktop Properties.

4. Also make sure you have patched the “uxtheme.dll” file to allow 3rd party visual styles, if its not patched, then download and run the UXtheme Patcher from here:

Download UXTheme Patcher

Download VistaVG Black Theme



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124 Replies:


  1. Rustendrage said:

    The black common tasks bar doesn’t look as good as in previous skins.. :sad:

  2. VG said:

    Hi

    You can replace the “Shellstyle.dll” file in this theme with the previous one. :wink:

  3. RAHUL said:

    hey dude, how to patch that uxtheme.dll, pls reply asap. thanks 4 do cool theme :)

  4. VG said:

    ^^ Just download the patcher:

    http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Uxtheme-Multipatcher-Download-2369.html

    Boot into Safe Mode by pressing F8 and then run it. :smile:

  5. BeeeexD said:

    Sir, is there a way to change the “selected item” in the start menu to blue? Yours is somewhat Grey. Thanks sir. :lol:

  6. VG said:

    ^^ Yes. You can change the color from “Desktop Properties -> Appearance -> Advanced”. :)

  7. Mario said:

    Start menu looked fine in the begening but now the white part has extended and i cant see my computer and the rest on the right. any ideas? :neutral:

  8. VG said:

    There are 2 styles included in theme:

    Black32
    Black48

    So try the other one in “Desktop Properties -> Appearance” tab.

  9. Lorenzo said:

    the little picture box is not working at all just showing an black box in the start menu any help would be appreciated greatly love both the themes

  10. VG said:

    ^^ Hi Lorenzo

    Open Control Panel -> User Accounts. Click on “Change the way users log off / on” link and make sure “Use Welcome Screen” option is enabled. If its not then enable it.

    Sometimes ppl get error while enabling this option like “Netware services not installed”. If you also get the error, pls go through “Frequently Asked Problems with Solution” topic in “Troubleshooting” section and you’ll get the solution there. :)

  11. kalesco said:

    Hi, I love this theme - but… I don’t like that it is also skinning office and other software. I don’t like the serif font and its size. is there a way to apply the theme/visual style without changing the font?

  12. VG said:

    ^^ Hi Kalesco

    It doesnt skin Office. Actually its a minus point of all 3rd party themes. But there is a trick to get the blue color in Office back which you can read in “Microsoft Office” section.

    Also you can change the font as following:

    Desktop Properties -> Appearance -> Advanced

  13. Ben said:

    Hey, I’ve been commenting on this skin on DevaintAr, thought I wouldn’t quadruple post there lol.

    As I’ve said, its a very nice skin, but some things go slightly wrong.

    I like to have the maximize, minimize and close buttons small on my computer, however, the theme does not have icons for maximize, minimize, restore etc., except for close.

    I did attempt to edit the skin with StyleXP etc., but that program doesn’t agree with me hahaha.

    I’m sure others, as well as myself would be greatful if these would be included. In fact, if you don’t want to make the icons, i’ve already produced some keeping similar to the Vista theme :grin: hahaha.

    Also, i noticed for some reason with the ‘group tasks items’ on the taskbar has gone array too. For example, for some reason Mozilla Firfox was grouped with My Documents, My Computer, My Pictures and other folders :???: .

    Anyway, great skin, and I hope to get a reply. :cool:

  14. VG said:

    ^^ Thanks for your comments. :)

    I’ll keep your suggestions in my mind and will try to release an updates version whenever I get time. ;)

  15. Bryan said:

    Hi,

    How do I replace the old shellstyle.dll with the new one?

  16. DarK Fire said:

    Hey dude

    i cant install the UX patch file. its says i cant nstall this file kos its containg windows NT .so what can i do now..

    reply me asap

    thanx
    Hasan

  17. VG said:

    ^^ You didnt mention the exact error message but I think it must be the error related to “I386″ folder.
    Read the error message carefully and if it says “I386″ folder exists or something like that, note down the exact path of the folder and goto the same path and rename the folder to some other name and then try to run the patch again. :)

  18. Mark M said:

    Hi

    Real nice theme, I have been looking for a decent black theme for XP for ages.

    I have a small issue though, I like my title bars small (~17) but I can’t set it that small, as the graphics for the minimise/restore buttons disappear. It works fine for ~23 which is a lil bigger than I want, but it not too bad.

    Can I make it any smaller without losing the look?

    Also, I have a great looking black taskbar, but all my windows have a light blue title bar?

    I have VistaVG Black set as a theme and VistaVG/Aero32(48) set as the appearance but I satill see light blue colours in the title bars.

    I think I am doing something real daft, so any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks in advance.

    Mark M

  19. Philpot said:

    Very awesome theme :). I finally have something to go with my browser and background pic, thanks bud.

  20. VG said:

    ^^ My pleasure. :)

  21. Dylan said:

    Hey,

    I think your theme looks really cool and I would like to install it, but I can’t seem to find where I can download it. Could you provide the link? Many thanks! :smile:

  22. taljance said:

    Hello there ….

    At first … best regrats for this amazing theme!! Great work.. keep on doing baby!

    I have one qustion or ratther I say little problem …

    I instal VistaVG Black, but my icons didnt change. (folders,my computer and etc.) Solution please!?

    Thanks again!

  23. VG said:

    ^^ Thanks. The icons are not included in the theme. You’ll need to change them separately. Please following my “Transform XP to Vista” tutorial. I have mentioned it there:

    Link

    @Dylan

    Click on the download link mentioned in the top post and it’ll open DeviantART page. There you’ll get the download link in left side section. :)

  24. taljance said:

    MMm it worked out … thanks … and another question … what about that vista sidebar (gadgets), can be placed in XP? Thanks again!

  25. Dylan said:

    Thanks! However, I still need just a little bit of help. I went ahead and put the theme and “shell” files in C:\Windows\Resources\themes. I also put all the fonts into the fonts folder (I just copy and paste them into the fonts folder in the classic control panel). I then went to desktop properties and selected the theme. The background came out perfectly, but for some reason, I’m now stuck with the windows classic style windows and buttons. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks again!


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