Windows 10: How find all the desktop appearance items like Windows XP

Glad to help. I disliked Win 8's appearance and Win 10 with all white title bars, as was the case with the first release, so you couldn't tell start from end when overlaid, was awful.

Note that Aeroglass, if you were interested in that, is likely not to be updated for the Creator's build for several months on past form.

User created hotkeys seem a bit hit and miss. I have 2 or 3 via Autohotkey, e.g. to launch locate32 (my instant file/folder finder). In most circumstances that's fine, but in a few the same hotkey reverts to the system default. So best to pick ones used by nothing else.

 

I guess I have another problem. I downloaded Autohotkey & your script. I'm trying to change the Active Title Bar color to a dark Blue (it's currently dark grey), using Superfly's SMACC's executable. When I try to change the Active Title Bar, it shows the current color as a light blue, which I don't know where it comes from. If I then choose AccentColor, it shows the dark grey. I change it to the dark blue that I want. I even add it to custom colors & click OK. Then File/Save Registry Settings changes my Title Bars to dark blue.

However, 2 things:
1. When I log out & back in, the Title Bar is dark grey. If I go through the same steps, the "custom color" isn't present, & I have to change it again. However, if I then go to Control Panel/Personalization/Themes, there's no unsaved theme to save. I'm not sure why it's not saving the registry changes.
2. When I unzipped your script, there was no option in Autohotkey to edit the PalerYellow theme. Also, since my change didn't result in an option to save a new theme, I wouldn't know what to edit the theme to.

Sorry for all the questions and thank you again.

 

Hi, when you have the system looking as you want, then you save the theme, using whatever name you wish.

You would then have to edit the script so it refers to that theme file (not mine). Obviously the script refers to my paths and names, so you'll need to change these as appropriate.

You will also have to download and install the utility used in the script, and change the path to that on your PC in the script.

Then compile the script, and test it.

Only when you've got it working is it worth setting up the scheduled task.

 

One problem is that when I make a change, like the Title Bar Color, there is no theme to save. i.e. when I go to the Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Personalization, there is no unsaved theme for me to name. If I choose "Save theme" in the lower right corner, it doesn't save anything different. If I save an click on it, the Title Bars go back to grey. Somehow, changing various colors isn't changing my theme, so if I save, I'm saving the same theme that I started with. Maybe I just don't know how to use SMACC.

When you say "download & install the utility used in the script", I thought that was Autohotkey, which I've already done. Is there another utility that I need? As far as I can tell, autohotkey doesn't give me an option to edit your script.

 

The script (ahk) is just a text file, so you can edit it in Notepad or whatever.. Autohotkey provides SciTE4AutoHotkey - a syntax sensitive editor.

And you can run ahk files with Autohotkey installed, and compile them to an exe.

Inspect the script and you will note it runs a freeware utility, which is what actually reapplies the theme you create.
You will need to download that utility and install it.




Rt click on your unsaved theme and you can save it.

 

I'm sorry. I don't think I'm explaining my problem.
1. There is no option to edit the *.ahk files. When I right click your file, this is what I see.

There is no option to edit, so I can't inspect the script. I can't find "SciTE4AutoHotkey - a syntax sensitive editor". I don't know how to get there.
2. I've already downloaded & installed Autohotkey. When I look for any of the *.exe files,

this is what I see. When I click any of the *.exe files, it simply takes me to a webpage. It tells me that I ran Autohotkey without telling it what script to run. I don't know how to create a script.
3. When I use SMACC to try to change the Active Title Bar color, it doesn't give me an unsaved theme. I just used it again to give me a blue title bar & this is what I have under Personalization/Themes...the same as before getting a blue title bar:

So you see, there's nothing to save.
4. After I get the blue title bar & save registry settings , if I log out & in, it goes back to the way it was. There's no unsaved theme. Also, when I get the blue title bar, other backgrounds change, so I really don't know what's happening.

I appreciate your patience, but I can't follow your instructions. I've either done what you've suggested (like download Autohotkey) or can't do it (like edit your PalerYellow theme in Notepad. Could you explain in simpler steps. Thank you.

 

Let's make it simple. Try to do just this one thing- open the ahk file.
This is just a text file, but not with a typical extension. So all you are trying to do is edit a text file.

I think you are getting confused- Autohotkey executes the AHK file. It does not edit it.

1. Open Notepad. Browse to where your ahk file is as shown. Click on the ahk file.




Note I have selected All files (bottom right).

Do you see this?




All I have done is opened the AHK file in Notepad.
You can use any text editor.

Or: You could of course just rt click the ahk file, click Open With, and click an editor in the list.

Here's the syntax sensitive one- I have done a search for SciTE4AutoHotkey for you
SciTE4AutoHotkey

But for you it's not worth bothering - there's only one significant line in the script, just to give me something easy to add to the task scheduler.

Please confirm when you have succeeded with opening the AHK file with a text editor.

Note that saving your theme is the first basic step. Once you have a theme saved, you can check it works. All the script and scheduled task does is reapply the theme automatically when resuming, else background colours (none-file explorer cases) are lost.

 

Thank you again, dalchina. The problem that I had before is that I was using Windows Explorer to view the contents of your zip file...I had no utility to extract the file. That's why there was no option to "Open with...". I installed 7-zip & extracted Repeat theme to restore background Paler Yellow 64b from elsewhere. I changed all instances of "Paler Yellow background" to "Phil 10", which is my current theme.

There are still 3 things I am unable to do:
1. I see you use the D:\ drive, while I use the C:\ drive. I can modify that...no issue. But I don't have a Themeswticher.exe or a path at GUI tweaks\Theme Switcher\ThemeSwitcher\Themeswitcher.exe.
2. I also don't have a Wally.exe, which I see in your script. I don't know how to develop a Themeswitcher or whatever Wally.exe is.
3. Even more importantly, I can't develop a theme that I want to keep. When I create my blue Title Bar, it doesn't give me any unsaved theme to save. It's like a temporary fix, that apparently makes a registry change, but doesn't let me save it as a theme. So even if I have a script that I could run on logon (that's when I lose my change), I have no theme to switch to. In other words, I can't seem to save a theme after I change the Title Bar color.

 

Themeswitcher.exe is the utility I referred to previously that you need to download and install.

Here is a hint:




And as I said- there is actually only 1 line in the script.
The line referring to Wally.exe (a wallpaper change program) is commented out (not used) as you can see. So you don't need it.

Now, way way back when I first came to Win 10, I found this useful.
Install Aerolite Theme in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Customization Tutorials
Try that, create your theme, then save it as I showed you above.
Any small change to appearance should generate an 'Unsaved theme' as per my screenshot previously.
If you have that, you should be able to save it, as I showed in a screenshot previously.

Hope that resolves your questions.

 

Thank you again. I'll give it a try.