Thursday, March 1, 2012

How to Show Actual Theme Names in Windows 7 Desktop Properties?


Whenever you install a 3rd party theme in Windows 7 and try to apply it using Desktop Personalization window, you might have noticed that it always shows "Windows 7" label for the installed themes instead of their actual names:
Wrong_Theme_Name_in_Win_7_Desktop_P.png
Actually all such themes are created using the default Aero theme as the base and its name is set to "Windows 7" in its .theme file by default. You just need to modify 3rd party theme's .theme file and set its name to your desired one to show actual theme names. How to do it? Here are the required steps:
1. First open My Computer and copy-paste following text in addressbar:
%windir%\Resources\Themes
Press Enter and it'll open "Themes" folder.
NOTE: Here %windir% represents "Windows" directory present in system drive where Windows 7 isinstalled, most probably C: drive.
Alternatively, you can go to "Windows\Resources\Themes" folder manually.
2. Now look for the .theme files of the installed 3rd party themes:
3rd_party_theme_files.png
3. Right-click on the file and open it in Notepad. Look at the 5th line. It'll contain following text:
DisplayName=@%SystemRoot%\System32\themeui.dll,-2013
Wrong_Theme_Name_in_theme_file.png
4. Delete the text after "DisplayName=" and type your desired name in its place. For example, if you are using Luna theme for Windows 7, set the text to Luna:
DisplayName=Luna
Actual_Theme_Name_in_theme_file.png
5. That's it. Now save and close the file and open Desktop Personalization window and now you'll see the actual theme name:
Actual_Theme_Name_in_Win_7_Desktop_.png

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