Although people usually seek information on transforming their Windows XP desktop into a Windows Vista machine but my habit going against the flow sort of nudged me to transform my Vista desktop into an XP machine. I just wanted my Vista to look like Windows XP just for the sake of it. After a little searching here and there I could find some adequate tools to do that.
Luckily I found a Windows Vista theme which will make your desktop appear like Windows XP on Deviantart. The Royale for Vista basic theme will transform the look of your Windows Vista into the much loved Royale theme of Windows XP.
You might have to do certain tweaks with Uxtheme.dll files and following is the step to configure it correctly.
1. Login as a user with Administrative privileges -or- have Administrative
credentials ready (check under the keyboard for a slip of paper).2. Navigate to %systemroot%\System32
3. Right-click uxtheme.dll and click properties.
4. Take ownership of the file and close dialogs.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for themeui.dll and shsvcs.dll
6. Right-click uxtheme.dll and click properties.
7. Give yourself (or group) Full Control permissions and close dialogs.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for themeui.dll and shsvcs.dll.
9. Rename uxtheme.dll to uxtheme.old.
10. Rename themeui.dll to themeui.old.
11. Rename shsvcs.dll to shsvcs.old.
12. Copy patched files into %systemroot%\System32
13. Reboot (required)
Patching uxtheme.dll file and the others was required in order to install new Microsoft Windows visual styles. This will pave way for smooth installation of Windows XP Royale theme for Vista. You may however also use certain applications like Vistaglazz in order to run various visual styles without uxtheme patch.
Following is the screenshot of the Windows Vista desktop after this minor transformation.
Isnt this another way to drown the things?