How To: Create A Theme Pack In Windows 7 [Detailed Guide]
Posted January 26, 2009 – 10:52 am in: Windows 7, Windows 7 GuidesA lot has been written on the fancy look of Windows7 ever since it was unveiled at PDC 2008. Microsoft has done wonderful job by adding many new features that are not only cool and but also light on system resources, making Windows 7 faster than its predecessor Vista.
There is an interesting feature in Windows 7, called theme pack, which was not the part of earlier versions of Windows. A theme pack contains following things:
1. Desktop Wallpaper
2. Screensaver
3. Sounds
4. Slideshows
5. Color of the theme
6. Mouse Pointers
7. Desktop icons
And you can install a theme pack on any Windows 7 machine without patching Windows system files. That is, you need not to use any third party software to install a theme pack. Just double-click on the theme pack to install it. Sounds good, right?
One more sheer advantage is that you can install this pack on any Windows 7 running machine with simple double-click!
How to create a theme pack?
Making a theme pack is basically a simple task when compared to theme, as you are not using any resource hacking programs and other utilities.
Procedure:
1. Right-click on Desktop, select Properties. Here you will see many default theme packs. In the same window, you will get all the options that are required to customize and create a theme pack in Windows 7.
2. Now you need to customize all the items that you want to change in your new theme pack.
3. Select Desktop Background option and select multiple wallpapers if you like to have slideshow feature in your new theme pack (Refer “Create Slideshow” guide to know more about it).
Just input the wallpaper folder you want to use by hitting the browse button on the right and navigating to the folder. Also don’t forget to customize the slideshow time interval. To change this, click on “Change picture every” option at the bottom of the window.
4. Next, if you are interested in modifying sounds, just change the Windows sounds. You can refer “How to change system sounds in Windows 7” to achieve this.
5. Though many of us don’t use screensaver, it’s good idea to have a nice screensaver in your favorite theme pack. Right-click on Desktop > Personalize > Screensaver and customize the screen saver according to your taste.
6. Many people like to change the mouse pointer. You can easily change the mouse pointer by using the following guide:
How to customize & install new mouse pointer in Windows 7
7. Finally, modify the color of the theme to suite the wallpaper of the theme pack. Just make sure that you select a color which looks good with all the wallpapers in the slideshow feature. To modify the color, Right-click on Desktop > Personalize > Window Color and customize the color so that it matches with the wallpaper/s that you have included in this theme pack.
Once you are done, just click the “Save theme” link and change the type to .themepack and click the save button. Voila, you have created a theme pack!
How to install a theme pack:
* Open the location of the theme pack.
* Double-click on the .themepack file.
Note that you can see all the installed theme packs in the Customize window. So, you need not to browse for the theme pack file to use it again.
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6 Comments
Thanks for the clear and easy-to-understand guide!
Just one failure in that article: when you click “Save Theme”, it ask only for a theme name. It doesn’t show you that window where you can specify the path & file name for your .themepack.
Without this possibility, i can’t just copy the .themepack file anywhere, and i can’t move this folder where i’ve placed the pictures otherwise the desktop background won’t show anymore.
Christian:
Yeah, the poster made a mistake you “save theme for sharing” not “save theme” and just follow all other steps steps.
wow windows 7 is fail.
so a wallpaper, a screensaver and the colour of the window manager is what you call a theme ?
LAWL.
I am from kashmir, i do all steps and make successfully own .themepack. For all Other online users just right click on Unsaved Theme and click “save theme for sharing” and you will success.
Thankxxxxxxxx