Windows 7 doesn't switch to classic theme
Quick analysis
The settings for the classic and high contrast themes are stored in the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes
Each subkey is associated with a theme:
-
0
- High Contrast #1 -
1
- High Contrast #2 -
2
- High Contrast Black -
3
- High Contrast White -
4
- Windows Classic
When any of these subkeys is missing, the corresponding theme won't be applied properly.
Resolution
After deleting the Appearance
registry key, any missing entries will be restored when switching themes.
Select any theme not listed above (e.g. Windows 7 Basic).
-
Open a command prompt, type or paste the following command, and press Enter:
reg delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance" /f
Switch to the theme you want to use.
Related videos on Youtube
divB
Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
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divB almost 2 years
I just reverted to Win7 (yay) and was looking forward to use the classic theme again.
However, Windows does apply something different when I select "Windows Classic". It looks like this:
It becomes even more ugly, the desktop background black etc.
Any idea what could be the reason for that?
/EDIT: It seems that the profile is somehow "broken" - it works for a different user on the same machine. Are there potential caches/settings to delete/reset in registry/profile related to themes?
/EDIT2: One more thing I observed: It works when I stop the "Themes" service. Also, if I go to "System"->"Advanced System Settings"->"Performance" and deselect "Use visual styles on windows and buttons". However, when I go back to themes then, it enables the ugly Aero (?) style again, no matter which theme I pick. It seems that something is forcing the theme to use aero except the themes service is turned off.
This is the content of the registry as suggested to post below:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance SchemeLangID REG_BINARY 0904 NewCurrent REG_SZ Current REG_SZ CustomColors REG_BINARY FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00FFFFFF00 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes SelectedStyle REG_SZ 4 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\Schemes @themeui.dll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themeui.dll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themeui.dll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themeui.dll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themeui.dll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
/EDIT3: NICE! This reg-key seems to be broken. I just deleted it now everything works as expected.
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and31415 about 10 yearsLog on with the non-working profile, open a command prompt, type the following command, and press Enter:
reg query "HKCU\Control Panel\Appearance" /s > "%userprofile%\Desktop\reg.txt"
Then post here the full command output you got. -
divB about 10 yearsThanks, it's above. But this was already what I was looking for! I just deleted the key and now it seems to work! If you re-formulate this info as "Answer" I could mark it as accepted answer...
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divB about 10 yearsThanks! Unfortunately does not work. As edited above, something in the profile seems to enforce Aero style except the Themes service is stopped or when I temporarily disable the visual effects. But still then, the Aero design is restored after I select "Win 7 Basic"