Windows xp red theme

DISCLAIMER: This is a re-take of Windows XP: Horror Edition.

Whether you’re a Windows user or not, everyone has heard of and used Windows XP at least one point in their life. It was an operating system that forever revolutionized the way computers worked, thanks to its easy to use and forever nostalgic UI and themes.

Although I’m now a Mac user, Windows XP had a very important place in my life as it not only introduced me to the concept of computing but also helped me discover my love for coding. While the operating system gave me good memories, there was one moment of it that scared me. No, it wasn’t the end of support on April 8th.

It wouldn’t make sense if I didn’t bring up the context first.

Context[]

Windows XP, with a few modifications to the system files, can allow custom made themes and there were a lot of them made for the OS. While custom themes did exist for operating systems prior, it was XP that popularized them, and as a kid, it made using a computer very exciting. When I get home from school, I always go on DeviantART or various forums to look for themes and, if one of them interests me, I would immediately download and install it. It was also back then when I didn’t know what a virus was, let alone a Trojan horse, which led me to that memory.

Before doing my research, I only remember the memory being about a “theme” that turned the UI into “red” before corrupting the system files, which required a re-installation of the entire OS for the computer to be even used again. When I experienced it as a kid, I was of course screaming so hard and feared that I may never use a computer again. Unfortunately, my parents didn’t really do anything about it as they never cared for me and, much later after that, told me straight in my face that I was only born just to get a well-paid job. Don’t worry, I’m no longer living with them as my grandfather stepped in and took custody of me. And yes, he did reinstall the OS for me.

In retrospect, it was very stupid of me to not check the theme to see if it was a virus, and to scream in fear all because of a UI change. I had since moved on from it and continued with my life as normal, but I had thought about it recently and wanted to know more about this certain memory.

The first place that I went to for answers was my old computer, the one that had the virus on. Unfortunately, as much searching I had done, I could not find anything related to a theme besides a few custom ones that were nothing like what I’ve remembered. Guess my grandfather did a clean install; can’t blame him.

I then went onto Reddit, specifically r/windows, and asked the people there if they had similar experiences. My question was later removed, but I will get to that later.

Most of the answers either suggested that I just had a fever dream or thought I was making shit up for attention. However, there was one answer that stood out from the rest. It not only confirmed what I experienced was real, but also provided extra details that I never knew about before (either that I glossed over when I had first downloaded it, or was never public information in the first place.) The commenter was actually the original uploader of the theme, but not the creator of it. A friend of theirs had made it and was unable to upload it due to unfortunate circumstances (see “What Happened?”) The commenter didn’t know it was a virus at the time and just wanted to showcase their friend’s work to the world. I will keep their username anonymous as I don’t want any asshole to go out and harass the poor dude.

“Why was that post removed?” You may ask. Basically that comment gave a link to the trojan horse and the mods of the subreddit decided to remove everything since it violated one of their rules: “Do not distribute malicious programs.” Like I said earlier, I can’t blame any of them.

However, that didn’t mean I no longer had access to what information I was given. Quite the opposite actually, and I decided to share what that commenter said as well as what the Trojan horse contained.

Before I begin to tell my experience, I want to make this clear: Do not download and install this software if you ever gain access to it; it will corrupt the system files and render the OS unusable. I had used a virtual machine to showcase this program, but I still do not recommend doing so.

The Theme/Trojan Horse[]

The Trojan horse goes by the simple name of “Windows XP: Red Theme” and it advertised itself as a piece of software that gave XP a red theme, as the name suggests.

Upon opening up the setup executable, it showed a simple setup wizard that you’ll find with most setup programs as well as the same instructions (clicking on ‘next’ a few times, agreeing to some license agreement, letting the setup install the theme to the computer, et cetera.) When restarting the computer after the setup asks you to, the Trojan horse truly began to take its effect, and it can be seen right on the boot screen.

The windows logo was fully red and the edition that your OS was running on was replaced with “Red Theme”. After booting up the OS and logging in, the user would be greeted with the sight of the desktop. The task bar was, of course, red, and the background was an image of an abandoned place, which cannot be changed as the right click function had been disabled. I have no idea what this area is supposed to be or what it represents, so do let me know in the comments.

When clicking on the start button, it shows the start menu having four options, three of them on the program list and one on the bottom. The PFP consisted of a black and white drawing of an eye with tears coming out of it. Again, I don’t know what it represents. As for the options, I’ll start with the top three.

The option, Memories, is pretty much a gallery of photos taken by somebody (most likely the theme’s creator.) Nothing to write home about, with the exception of the last two: “red_myFamily.jpeg” and “red_deserved.jpeg”.

“red_myFamily.jpeg” is a photo of a family of three, consisting of a father, a mother, and their daughter; all smiling happily at the camera. I will be censoring the faces for privacy reasons.

“red_deserved.jpeg” shows a divorce certificate in a very dim room signed by two people (I will get to that later.) Like I said before, I will be censoring the certificates for the same reason.

The next option, News, opens up a web page in some kind of fake Internet Explorer program, containing an article about a 5 year old going missing (this will be important later.) I refuse to show any of it as the contents of it are personal to the theme’s creator.

The third option, Message, temporarily turns off the display as an mp3 file of the Microsoft Sam voice, one of the default voices in Windows XP, speaking with a reverb effect. This is the transcript what the voice said:

https://lostepisodecreepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/File:Red_Message.mp3

“They all said to move on.”

“I can’t move on.”

“I can’t go on without her.”

“I’m sorry that I’ve failed.”

“I’m sorry that I’ve failed as a father.”

The last option, unlike the others, didn’t have any text and just had an icon consisting of a computer with a big X over it. When clicking on the icon, it showed a modified version of the shutdown dialog box. The colors had been changed to match with the rest of the UI, with two of the three options, Stand By and Restart, being faded out, leaving only one option available: Delete. In case you’re wondering, you can just click cancel and force shut down the computer with the power button, but that will not get rid of the Trojan horse; which means that you’ll need to boot off a Windows Installation disc or click on Delete in order to get rid of it.

When you click on Delete, the operating system crashes and results in a BSoD (Blue Screen of Death.) When restarting the computer after that, it will just lead the user to a “Windows could not start” error, confirming that the “Delete” option caused some of the system files to be removed or corrupted. The only way to fix this would be to do a clean install of Windows.

What Happened?[]

You may be wondering why the Trojan horse was made in the first place? This brings me back to the commenter’s friend. When I heard about what led to this on their comment, I couldn’t help but let go a few tears.

The friend who created the theme was a father who once had a great life with their wife and 5 year old daughter (the same people who were seen on the “red_myFamily.jpeg” photo.) One day, the daughter went missing and police did their best to look for her, but found nothing and had to close the case (connecting with the article.) The friend was very distraught by this and went into a deep depression, thinking that they’re a bad father for not being able to protect their daughter. To make matters worse, his wife thought he had done something to the daughter and theorized that the police knew about it but kept it a secret because he made a deal with them (that was never true, by the way.) Because of it, their relationship ended in a messy divorce (hence the “red_deserved.jpeg” photo.)

Wanting to vent out their frustration, the father created a Trojan horse as ‘self-punishment’ to infect his own computer before ending their own life after running the software on it. The commenter found his body shortly after and contacted 911, scared that someone did something bad to him and thought he can saved. When the police and ambulance arrived, the father was declared dead at the scene and they confirmed that the cause of death was overdosing pills. The commenter was just as distraught about what happened and wanted to pay tribute to him in any way; that was when he had found a flash drive hidden away containing the Trojan horse and, giving it a simple glance, thought it was a simple theme that he created. So, the commenter decided to upload it and planned on saying what had happened to its original creator shortly after.

Unfortunately, due to the negative response of people complaining about the theme breaking their system, that plan was scrapped and the commenter left the internet for a long time, feeling ashamed about himself for ruining his friend’s reputation.

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact your national suicide prevention hot line. Do not suffer in silence, you are not alone.