InsaneJournal

Skin Windows XP for Free!
Updated on May 7, 2006
Today I'm going to talk about how to completely skin/theme your Windows XP without spending a dime. There are many programs out there to skin Windows. WindowBlinds, Iconpackager, StyleXP, etc.  The main problem with all of these options, however, is that they cost money.  Why spend $50.00 or more on a complete skinning solution just to give your computer a new look? You could spend that money on more important things: like coffee, or clothes, or books!

With a little effort, you can get the same results as those who foolishly pay, at no cost to yourself.

But first, the necessary disclaimer: bookworm_2005 is not responsible for any problems the following instructions may cause for you or your system. Proceed at your own risk. Thank you.

Step One:
The first step is to enable your Windows XP to read *.msstyle files. While there are many programs and cracks out there that claim to do this, I have only found one that actually works. You will need to download two things: UXTheme Patch For Windows XP SP2 Final (ignore any directions on the download page, just download the file) & Replacer. Unzip both files and then run the Replacer file and follow the on screen instructions. Note: you want to replace the uxtheme.dll found in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ folder with the uxtheme.dll you downloaded and unzipped from the UXTheme Patch. If Replacer opens in fullscreen mode (makes your computer screen black), just hit Alt+Enter to return to Window mode so you can drag-and-drop things as instructed. Follow the on screen instructions and then restart your computer. Your computer should now recognize .msstyle files. For more info on how to use .msstyle files to theme Windows and where to find themes based on .msstyle, go here for a really good tutorial.
P.S. Do I need to mention that you should always backup important information and system files before doing things like this?

Step Two:
After you've patched the uxtheme.dll and downloaded some Visual Styles to try, the next step is to skin your Icons. Many Icons can be replaced by hand, but others, such as system icons, can't. To re-skin almost all of your icons quickly, you will need to download IconTweaker, a free icon-skinning utility. Download the program here, and all of the plugins here. IconTweaker comes with several Icon themes already installed, but if you don't like them, you can make your own using Icons you make or find online. You can create your own Icon archives which you can share with others or use on more than one computer.

Themes Panel:

Create your Own Themes Panel:



Step Three:
So far, you've skinned the Windows Shell and Changed the System Icons. The Last step is to skin the Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer toolbar. You can do this with a little utility called Y'z Toolbar. Download it here, Install it, Run it, and then right click somewhere in the navigation bar of WE or IE and choose the "Y'z Toolbar" option. From there you can choose your theme. Y'z will skin both the Windows Explorer and the Internet Explorer toolbars with the appropriate icons. Several themes are included with the install and more can be found online. The one I use is iCandy Junior from iconaholic.com. Don't forget to place a shortcut to "YzToolBar.exe" in your startup folder so that you will still see your skinned toolbars after a restart.

Before:

After:



Extra Tidbits:
Add a background image to your folders in Windows Explorer with Windowpaper XP, a small freeware utility that helps you make use of one of Windows XP's built-in features.

Y'z Toolbar is the only one of these Patches and Programs that shows up in the Process Monitor (Taskmanager) and it only uses about 56k of memory on my system.

Tada! I've just themed my whole system without spending any money. It looks great, works beautifully, and was fun and easy to do.
I would love to hear how you did it. Leave a note in the comment section.