Windows xp theme win 7

We here at AskVG love Windows customization and we regularly share awesome themes, skins, boot screens and other eye candy stuff for Windows users.

Most of our readers including us are using Windows 7 at the moment and we have posted many Windows 7 themes in past which can be found in our exclusive Themes and Wallpapers section.

There are many Windows 7 users who still love the Luna or Royale Blue theme or dark Zune theme present in Windows XP:

Download Royale Blue, Noir, Zune and Embedded Themes for Windows XP

The good thing is that almost all these classic Windows XP themes have been ported to Windows 7 and Windows 7 users can enjoy these ported themes in their system.

After getting frequent emails containing request for a Windows XP theme for Windows 7, today we decided to put all these themes together in a single topic for your convenience.

So today in this article, we are going to list all Windows XP themes which have been successfully ported to Windows 7. So lets share the themes without wasting time:

If you are using Windows 7 but miss the good old blue “Luna” theme of XP, here is something interesting for you.

Following is an excellent theme for Windows 7 users which will help you in transforming Windows 7 into Windows XP as shown in following screenshot:

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This theme really makes Windows 7 look-like Windows XP. The theme looks great and provides same XP feeling in Windows 7.

You can download this theme using following link:

Download Windows XP “Luna” Theme for Windows 7

Also check out following Windows 8 Metro style Luna theme for Windows 7:

Download Windows 8 Metro UI Inspired Windows XP “Luna” Theme for Windows 7

Windows XP “Royale Blue” Theme for Windows 7

“Royale Blue” theme is one of the most famous themes for Windows XP. It was an official Windows XP theme from Microsoft which was introduced in Windows XP Media Center Edition.

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If you want to use it in Windows 7, you can download it using following link:

Download Windows XP “Royale Blue” Theme for Windows 7

Windows XP “Zune” Theme for Windows 7

“Zune” theme was also officially released by Microsoft for Windows XP users. It was created by Microsoft to promote its Zune player. This theme was based on “Royale Blue” theme.

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You can get the same theme for Windows 7 using following link:

Download Windows XP “Zune” Theme for Windows 7

Download Windows XP “Luna”, “Royale Blue” and “Zune” Remix Themes for Windows 7

One AskVG reader “djeos546” created remix versions of Luna, Royale Blue and Zune themes for Windows 7. He combined the ported XP themes with our exclusive Windows 7 theme “AeroVG Se7en” and the output was really impressive.

You can download these remix versions from following link:

Картинка с сайта: www.askvg.com

Download Windows XP Royale Blue, Luna and Zune Remix Themes for Windows 7

If you also like Windows XP themes, you should definitely give a try to the above mentioned themes. Feel free to share your feedback about these themes in your comment.

NOTE: Go through following tutorial which describes how to use 3rd party themes in Windows 7:

How to Install & Use 3rd Party (Custom) Themes in Windows 7?

Also don’t forget to check out our exclusive gallery page to find awesome themes, skins, wallpapers and icon packs for Windows, Yahoo! Messenger and mobile phones:

AskVG Gallery

Also check:

Download Windows XP Luna, Royale Blue and Zune Themes for Windows 8/8.1

Download Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1 and Longhorn Themes for Windows 10

I recently suggested that users looking to jump ship from Windows XP should consider a Mac instead. While I still think it’s a good idea, plenty of readers called me crazy; not everyone wants to learn to fly by jumping off a cliff. Those who want something more familiar can always turn to Windows 7 instead, and you can make it look almost identical to Windows XP with a few quick modifications.

Step 1: Download The Luna Theme

The default look that most Windows XP users are familiar with is the Luna theme. This includes the blue taskbar and the desktop background of grassy, rolling hills.

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Windows 7 does not include this theme, but you can grab it from DeviantART, where a user named Satukoro has put together a popular re-creation. You can’t use the .zip file yet, though, so set it aside for now.

Step 2: Download Universal Theme Patcher

Now you have the Luna theme, but Windows 7 does not fully support third-party themes by default. To use it you need another program called Universal Theme Patcher. You can grab this from Theme Bin, TCP-Z and a few other websites. Many other websites hosting this utility try to install adware alongside it, so be careful what you click.

Step 3: Install Universal Theme Patcher

Opening the UTP zip file will present you with two executables. One will have x86 in its file name, the other x64. Remember that x86 is for 32-bit Windows installations, while x64 is for 64-bit installations. Install whichever is appropriate for your PC.

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The installer will present a window telling you what version of Windows you’re using and how many files need to be patched. Click Yes to continue.

Now you’ll see an interface with three sections. Each lists a file that must be patched. Click each patch button, and then restart your computer.

Step 4: Install The Theme Files

Now find the Luna theme .zip you downloaded and open it. Also open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes. Copy the files from the zip folder’s themes folder into the \Themes directory.

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Right-click any empty space on your desktop and open Personalize. In the window that opens you should see a new Installed Themes category, which includes Luna and Luna Aero. Pick Luna for that pure XP look.

Step 5: Adjust The Taskbar

That’s more like XP! But wait — you’re not done. There are some things that the theme won’t change, and we need to fix them, beginning with the taskbar.

Right-click the taskbar, click Properties, then change the following options in the window that opens.

Use small icons: Turn on

Taskbar buttons: Set to Never combine.

Notification area: Customize so that most icons are turned off, or adjust to your preference.

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Apply those changes and close the window. You’ll now see a taskbar that’s very similar to Windows XP. Some icons may linger because they’re pinned, but you can remove them by right-clicking the icon and then hitting Unpin this program from taskbar.

Step 6: Download And Install Classic Shell

To finish up the changes, you’ll once again have to move beyond the default options. Fortunately there’s a program called Classic Shell that can change core interface features. Go to the Classic Shell website, download, and then install it. This should be simple; there’s no x64 version or adware to worry about.

Open the Classic Shell Menu Settings application. When you do so, you’ll see the Start Menu Style tab selected. Begin by selecting the Classic with two columns option.

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Now go to the Skin tab. Click the drop-down option and selection Windows XP Luna. The skin applies automatically when you select it. You can play with a few other options, like turning user name on or off. I’ll leave those up to your preference.

Step 8: Change The Start Button

Now you’re close. You may notice that the Windows 7 start button remains and Classic Shell doesn’t provide an XP look-alike. Don’t worry. Check out the Classic Shell Forums and download the XP-style start buttons provided by the community. Save the image to your download folder or some other familiar location.

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Now open the Start Button tab in the Classic Shell Menu Settings application, click the Custom radio  button option, and then click […] next to Button image. Navigate to where you saved the XP-style Start image and select it.

Step 9: Change The Look Of Windows Explorer

You’re almost done. Open the Classic Explorer Settings utility (it’s in the same folder as Classic Shell Menu Settings). In the resulting window you’ll see the Windows XP Classic option at the top. Select that.

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Personally, I find this setting’s default buttons to be unrealistically large, so I suggest hitting the Show all settings checkbox. This will reveal a number of tabs, one of which is Toolbar Settings. Open that, then un-check the Big buttons box.

Now click OK to exit the utility. Close Windows Explorer (if it’s already open) and then re-open it to see your changes.

Step 10: Enjoy Sweet Victory!

If you’ve followed these steps precisely, you’ll end up with an incarnation of Windows 7 that’s strikingly similar to Windows XP. You’ll find there’s surprisingly little compromise to this approach. The revised start menu, taskbar and Explorer should be smooth and stable.

You can further customize your experience by dinking around in Classic Shell. Your imagination is the limit, as the tool lets you change font sizes, spacing, button size, button type, and much more. These settings can be used to further emulate XP or to customize Windows to your liking.

Do you think Windows 7 looks good in XP’s skin? Let us know in the comments!

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Microsoft is going to terminate their support for Windows XP soon, so many of XP users would be forced to switch to Windows 7 or Windows 8. If you have switched to Windows 7 and still miss the good old Windows XP looks, then you can always install the Windows XP theme in Windows 7. It will not change the way Windows 7 works, but it will only make it look like Windows XP. Here is how you can install Windows XP theme in Windows 7:

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First of all you have to download the Universal Theme Patcher from https://code.google.com/p/universalthemepatcher/. This program would patch your Windows 7 theme related files so that you can install third party unsigned themes. Without this step, you can install only Microsoft released themes on your PC. After patching the required files, you will have to restart Windows.

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After restarting Windows, you are ready to install any third party thems on your Windows 7 PC. Now you can download the Windows XP themes for Windows 7 from the following links:

• Download Windows XP Luna (Blue) Theme for Windows 7.
• Download Windows XP Silver (Metallic) Theme for Windows 7.

Extract the contents of the downloaded RAR file to a folder. You would find a sub-folder themes. Copy and paste all the contents of the themes folder to the %WINDIR%\Resources\Themes folder. Typically, it is C:\Windows\Resources\Themes folder for most of the users. There is a patched Explorer.exe too to imitate Windows XP File Explorer but you can skip it.

Once you have copied the files, you can right-click on the desktop and select Personalize from the context menu. This would open up the Personalization window from where you can select themes and wallpapers for your Windows. If you have installed the Luna theme, you would see two new themes under the Installed Themes category – Luna Aero and Luna. Click on any of these themes and they would be activated. The Luna Aero theme has Windows 7 style minimize, maximize, close buttons for windows. The Luna theme has complete Windows XP like look including the minimize and maximize buttons. The same is true for the Silver XP themes.

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So if you are missing good old Windows XP, do not feel down anymore. If you want to have the Windows XP look in the Windows 7, then you can easily install the XP Luna Blue and the XP Silver themes in your Windows 7 PC using the above instructions.

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