- Edited by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Proposed as answer by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Unproposed as answer by David WoltersModerator Tuesday, January 21, 2014 7:37 PM
- Edited by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Proposed as answer by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Unproposed as answer by David WoltersModerator Tuesday, January 21, 2014 7:37 PM
- Proposed as answer by Erdem Kargn 14 hours 34 minutes ago
- Edited by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Proposed as answer by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Unproposed as answer by David WoltersModerator Tuesday, January 21, 2014 7:37 PM
- Proposed as answer by Erdem Kargn Saturday, May 23, 2015 4:47 PM
- Edited by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Proposed as answer by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Unproposed as answer by David WoltersModerator Tuesday, January 21, 2014 7:37 PM
- Proposed as answer by Erdem Kargn Saturday, May 23, 2015 4:47 PM
- Edited by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Proposed as answer by xpclient Wednesday, September 05, 2012 4:30 PM
- Unproposed as answer by David WoltersModerator Tuesday, January 21, 2014 7:37 PM
- Proposed as answer by Erdem Kargn Saturday, May 23, 2015 4:47 PM
So this feature is completely removed there is no way get back, by enabling some features even?
Try customizing a High Contrast Display theme?
---
As far as I can tell many/most of the desktop settings are still read from the registry locations that would be updated by a desktop configuration tool if one existed. I don't know how long that'll keep, nor whether Microsoft has already taken to hard-coding things they update in the desktop realm.
But that almost everything (and certainly apps) still seem to read these settings probably says someone will come out with a tool (if they haven't already) to allow you to update your various settings. Look to companies like Stardock to augment the Windows 8 desktop and give it enough style to be usable again.
I've made some headway in that direction by simply exporting certain parts of the registry from my Windows 7 system and importing them into Windows 8. I've been able to make the title bars and caption buttons smaller that way, for example.
Perhaps you can determine what's changed in the registry by Windows 7 to make the background color change you want, then make that same change in your Windows 8 registry to achieve your goal.
Good luck.
When I first loaded Win 8 this was driving me nuts, too.
I like to set the background color of my windows to something other than white. It is much easier on the eyes.
So I did a little digging in the registry.
The settings are actually much nicer in Win 8 than in Win 7. I'm surprised no one has written a tool for this yet.
In windows 7 the colors are located in a rather obscure registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes\Current Settings SaveAll\Sizes\0
from there the values are not named with user friendly names. It takes some experimenting to determine that Color #5 is the window background color.
Fortunately, in Win 8 it is much simpler. The colors are stored in this key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
and the values have nice user friendly names, so Window is the window background color and Window Text is the window text, etc.
These are string values and the color format is decimal RGB values for the color you want in RRR GGG BBB.
black = 0 0 0, white is 255 255 255, silver is 192 192 192 and what I use personally is 206 197 151.
The change does not take effect immediately. You need to restart windows first.
As always, when editing the registry directly you are on your own and should only do so if you are comfortable. I take no responsibility.
Hope this helps others,
Rick
- Proposed as answer by Rick - UpperPark Wednesday, October 17, 2012 6:23 PM
When I first loaded Win 8 this was driving me nuts, too.
I like to set the background color of my windows to something other than white. It is much easier on the eyes.
So I did a little digging in the registry.
The settings are actually much nicer in Win 8 than in Win 7. I'm surprised no one has written a tool for this yet.
In windows 7 the colors are located in a rather obscure registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes\Current Settings SaveAll\Sizes\0
from there the values are not named with user friendly names. It takes some experimenting to determine that Color #5 is the window background color.
Fortunately, in Win 8 it is much simpler. The colors are stored in this key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
and the values have nice user friendly names, so Window is the window background color and Window Text is the window text, etc.
These are string values and the color format is decimal RGB values for the color you want in RRR GGG BBB.
black = 0 0 0, white is 255 255 255, silver is 192 192 192 and what I use personally is 206 197 151.
The change does not take effect immediately. You need to restart windows first.
As always, when editing the registry directly you are on your own and should only do so if you are comfortable. I take no responsibility.
Hope this helps others,
Rick
- Proposed as answer by Rick - UpperPark Wednesday, October 17, 2012 6:23 PM
When I first loaded Win 8 this was driving me nuts, too.
I like to set the background color of my windows to something other than white. It is much easier on the eyes.
So I did a little digging in the registry.
The settings are actually much nicer in Win 8 than in Win 7. I'm surprised no one has written a tool for this yet.
In windows 7 the colors are located in a rather obscure registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes\Current Settings SaveAll\Sizes\0
from there the values are not named with user friendly names. It takes some experimenting to determine that Color #5 is the window background color.
Fortunately, in Win 8 it is much simpler. The colors are stored in this key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
and the values have nice user friendly names, so Window is the window background color and Window Text is the window text, etc.
These are string values and the color format is decimal RGB values for the color you want in RRR GGG BBB.
black = 0 0 0, white is 255 255 255, silver is 192 192 192 and what I use personally is 206 197 151.
The change does not take effect immediately. You need to restart windows first.
As always, when editing the registry directly you are on your own and should only do so if you are comfortable. I take no responsibility.
Hope this helps others,
Rick
- Proposed as answer by Rick - UpperPark Wednesday, October 17, 2012 6:23 PM
When I first loaded Win 8 this was driving me nuts, too.
I like to set the background color of my windows to something other than white. It is much easier on the eyes.
So I did a little digging in the registry.
The settings are actually much nicer in Win 8 than in Win 7. I'm surprised no one has written a tool for this yet.
In windows 7 the colors are located in a rather obscure registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes\Current Settings SaveAll\Sizes\0
from there the values are not named with user friendly names. It takes some experimenting to determine that Color #5 is the window background color.
Fortunately, in Win 8 it is much simpler. The colors are stored in this key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
and the values have nice user friendly names, so Window is the window background color and Window Text is the window text, etc.
These are string values and the color format is decimal RGB values for the color you want in RRR GGG BBB.
black = 0 0 0, white is 255 255 255, silver is 192 192 192 and what I use personally is 206 197 151.
The change does not take effect immediately. You need to restart windows first.
As always, when editing the registry directly you are on your own and should only do so if you are comfortable. I take no responsibility.
Hope this helps others,
Rick
- Proposed as answer by Rick - UpperPark Wednesday, October 17, 2012 6:23 PM
Thank you for that discovery, Rick. I can think of a lot of things that can potentially be done to improve the usability of Windows 8 just by changing these colors.
Here are the defaults:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors]
"Window"="255 255 255"
"GradientInactiveTitle"="215 228 242"
"TitleText"="0 0 0"
"ButtonAlternateFace"="0 0 0"
"HotTrackingColor"="0 102 204"
"InactiveTitleText"="0 0 0"
"ActiveBorder"="180 180 180"
"ActiveTitle"="153 180 209"
"ButtonShadow"="160 160 160"
"InactiveTitle"="191 205 219"
"Menu"="240 240 240"
"ButtonDkShadow"="105 105 105"
"HilightText"="255 255 255"
"ButtonText"="0 0 0"
"GrayText"="109 109 109"
"InfoText"="0 0 0"
"MenuText"="0 0 0"
"MenuHilight"="51 153 255"
"Hilight"="51 153 255"
"Background"="0 0 0"
"AppWorkspace"="171 171 171"
"ButtonLight"="227 227 227"
"GradientActiveTitle"="185 209 234"
"WindowFrame"="100 100 100"
"InfoWindow"="255 255 225"
"MenuBar"="240 240 240"
"Scrollbar"="200 200 200"
"ButtonFace"="240 240 240"
"WindowText"="0 0 0"
"ButtonHilight"="255 255 255"
"InactiveBorder"="244 247 252"
Off to experiment!
Well, it appears only SOME of those entries actually work, Rick. Typical Microsoft. Rather a mess under the covers.
Here's what I found has any effect, and even then only in some apps and not others:
AppWorkspace Background of older MDI apps and no document open
ButtonFace buttons in legacy apps, column divider in Regedit
ButtonHilight Edges of things in legacy apps
ButtonShadow Edges of things and dividers in legacy apps, highlights in buttons when active
ButtonText Tabs in legacy apps, menus in legacy apps when active
GrayText Menus in legacy apps when inactive
Hilight Background of selected text and items
HilightText Text in selected text and items
InfoText Tooltip Text in older apps
InfoWindow Tooltip Background in older apps
Menu Bottom edge of menu bar in regedit
MenuText Active menu when hovering in legacy apps
Window Edit box background, active pane background in apps, some influence on buttons in legacy apps
WindowText Edit box text, active pane text in apps, folders in File Explorer
I couldn't see any effects from changing these values:
Background
ButtonAlternateFace
ButtonDkShadow
ButtonLight
GradientActiveTitle
GradientInactiveTitle
HotTrackingColor
InactiveBorder
InactiveTitle
InactiveTitleText
MenuBar
MenuHilight
Scrollbar
TitleText
WindowFrame
However, it opened my mind to the possibility of exporting stuff from under Windows 7's HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes\Current Settings SaveAll\Sizes\0 key and seeing if any of that affects the Windows 8 desktop. More experimentation...
Brilliant. I can't wait to tell a user who wants to change their background to simply hack into the registry and modify 20 entries with esoteric RGB values, but only for half the options they want to - because it doesn't work for the other half. Yes, they could do that easily in the previous Windows 7 GUI, but that was then - and this is the new, improved Windows 8 methodology. Ye-haw!
What a complete fail for Windows 8.
All the rest was a waste of time. More and more stuff is being hard-coded and oversimplified, just as one would predict with the demise of the configuration dialogs.
The only thing that seems to change the rest of the UI elements' colors is [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM], which is adjusted by right-clicking the desktop, choosing Personalize, then changing the Color via the several controls listed there. You can't do things like define what color inactive window borders are at all, nor invoke any sort of transparency.
Hi Noel,
Thanks for doing some more research on this.
I wonder if the other colors would have an effect if you could turn off the "automatic" color setting you see in the personalization control panel?
My understanding is a lot of the colors are being determined by the colors in your wallpaper.
I don't see an obvious registry setting that jumps out at me.
Rick
You can't do things like define what color inactive window borders are at all, nor invoke any sort of transparency
Have you tried starting from a High Contrast theme yet? ; }
---
Do you have a specific suggestion or success story that would make further investigation worthwhile?
No. I was just observing that using the customization of a HC theme could answer the original request, changing the background color, without resorting to registry changes. Also, I was wondering if changes made that way would have the same effect as the registry changes which have been proposed here?
---
- Edited by Robert Aldwinckle on forumsMVP Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:07 PM This editor is still broken.
Do you have a specific suggestion or success story that would make further investigation worthwhile?
No. I was just observing that using the customization of a HC theme could answer the original request, changing the background color, without resorting to registry changes. Also, I was wondering if changes made that way would have the same effect as the registry changes which have been proposed here?
---
- Edited by Robert Aldwinckle on forumsMVP Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:07 PM This editor is still broken.
Do you have a specific suggestion or success story that would make further investigation worthwhile?
No. I was just observing that using the customization of a HC theme could answer the original request, changing the background color, without resorting to registry changes. Also, I was wondering if changes made that way would have the same effect as the registry changes which have been proposed here?
---
- Edited by Robert Aldwinckle on forumsMVP Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:07 PM This editor is still broken.
Unfortunately, Robert, that seems to turn off what remains of Aero entirely, much like using a Basic theme used to do in Windows 7, and that brings additional unwanted baggage.
Do you have a specific suggestion or success story that would make further investigation worthwhile? If so, please share! :-)
Do you have a specific suggestion or success story that would make further investigation worthwhile?
No. I was just observing that using the customization of a HC theme could answer the original request, changing the background color, without resorting to registry changes. Also, I was wondering if changes made that way would have the same effect as the registry changes which have been proposed here?
---
- Edited by Robert Aldwinckle on forumsMVP Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:07 PM This editor is still broken.
The configurability from the UI leaves a lot to be desired, as I mentioned. I tried selecting all the different High Contrast themes. I don't see a lot of promise.
The one biggest thing I need to reiterate is that what's left of Aero is becoming quite fixed in function - for example one can't avoid having non-current windows be anything but a very bright gray. They're so bright I find my mental focus being drawn away from what I'm working on. This was handled much better in Aero prior to Windows 8 RTM by the level of transparency being higher in the non-current window UI elements. It's knowing that even the option to select that form of operation has been actively removed that gets my goat.
I tried selecting all the different High Contrast themes.
Just one would let you start customizing it. E.g. via Windows colors. I'm on W7 so I'll have to check more closely when I get back on W8 but my impression was that the HC Windows colors dialog was similar to W7's Advanced appearance settings... I specifically remember seeing an item for Inactive title there but just assumed that you would be given a palette there, not just shades of grey.
---
Okay, you've prompted me to do more experimentation (never a bad thing), and I DO see that it leads to a different set of configuration options.
Unfortunately, still only a few things are configurable via the altered color and appearance dialog - but not all that's needed. I see, for example, that the close buttons are now blue, not red, and no way to set that. Note that the common controls both gained some style and lost some (e.g., scroll bar thumbs have lines in them, but nothing has any depth)...
This shows a fairly quick attempt to turn a high-contrast theme into something usable. I need to experiment some more to see if registry tweaking on top of this can help at all. I don't hold a lot of hope for it though. Note that it screws up the appearance of this site in IE10.
Heh, by keeping the above dialog open while switching to an Aero theme I even managed to invoke some kind of broken transparency mode where the Taskbar and window title bars are completely transparent with artifacts. After that, fooling with things further ended up netting (accidentally) some combination of both modes with no transparency (even in the Taskbar) but which doesn't look as bad as what's shown above and actually seems better than the pure Aero theme. This is actually the most usable "theme" I've managed.
There may be potential here yet. I have to examine the differences in saved registry exports to see how all this stuff is happening.
Nah, on additional experimentation every road leads to a dead end.
The registry key that caused the title bars, et. al. to become completely transparent was this one:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM]
"ColorizationGlassAttribute"=dword:00000002
It's becoming ever more clear (pardon the pun) to me that there has simply been functionality removed from C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero\aero.msstyles for blurring the background of title bars and making it partially transparent, as well as for giving buttons visual styles. Notably aero.msstyles in the RTM is a little smaller than the one in Win8RP, and replacing it with the Win8RP file not surprisingly breaks the entire system (the screen just goes black).
Microsoft should be nice and provide an alternate aero.msstyles file that can bring back just the significant drop shadow around windows? You still have the configuration option available for it, but the effect is so puny as to be nonexistent... Hell, I'd even pay extra for a "plus pack" to do it.
I just found this thread by accident.
For the past month, I have been wasting a lot of time trying to tweak the theme files but not getting results. First, like what others here have said, only one or two parameters worked.
On boot up, the selected theme file is not obeyed. But on Hibernate and switching on again, sometimes the theme file is obeyed (for those few parameters).
The color configuration in that dialog shown above looks like a half done job. Just windows border and taskbar? Windows 95 was better.
For the last 12 years, I have always selected Classic Windows, the one that is same as Windows 2000. The windows adornments occupy the least space, and it provides the fastest way to pick out the active window - bright dark blue against gray for all others. For the past month I have wasted enormous time from hitting Alt-F4 on the wrong windows because the shade of gray between the active and inactive are hardly distinguishable.
How are themes supposed to work in Windows 8? Has anyone developed a Classic Windows theme yet?
I'm with you on wanting to minimize the chrome - and I've found a couple of ways to accomplish that.
But the ability to visually differentiate between windows has been very nearly destroyed in Windows 8. There's virtually no drop shadow on the current window, and none at all on the other windows. Those were essential for visually differentiating overlapping windows. Windows 8 fanboys seem blind to this, probably because they only ever ran one thing at a time maximized anyway. Oh, if only life were that simple.
Near as I can tell from all my research, aero.msstyles (really a DLL under the covers) and some parts of the DWM were involved in rendering the full Aero Glass theme, and none of the hacks I've been able to find have done more than just make the drop shadow a little better and replace some of the buttons - at the expense of creating a Frankenstein's monster of an OS that won't pass an SFC check and won't upgrade properly in the future - not worth it.
One would have to program a new .msstyles DLL to get back all but transparency. Apparently a shader that Microsoft had created for doing the blurring and which was working right up through the RP is now completely gone in the RTM build.
Hi Noel
I just bought your configure windows 8 ebook, and will now begin reading it. If I like it I will send you a reader recommendation.
Thanks,
Violet Weed aka 'tante waileka'
For us desktop users Win8 needs to provide the options that already existed regarding customization of themes/menus (classic).
White background ruins my eyesight and the high contrast are 10xtimes worse.
So rather stick to an older version than starting to have health issues from using this OS
Thank you, Tante.
When I first loaded Win 8 this was driving me nuts, too.
I like to set the background color of my windows to something other than white. It is much easier on the eyes.
So I did a little digging in the registry.
The settings are actually much nicer in Win 8 than in Win 7. I'm surprised no one has written a tool for this yet.
In windows 7 the colors are located in a rather obscure registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance\New Schemes\Current Settings SaveAll\Sizes\0
from there the values are not named with user friendly names. It takes some experimenting to determine that Color #5 is the window background color.
Fortunately, in Win 8 it is much simpler. The colors are stored in this key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
and the values have nice user friendly names, so Window is the window background color and Window Text is the window text, etc.
These are string values and the color format is decimal RGB values for the color you want in RRR GGG BBB.
black = 0 0 0, white is 255 255 255, silver is 192 192 192 and what I use personally is 206 197 151.
The change does not take effect immediately. You need to restart windows first.
As always, when editing the registry directly you are on your own and should only do so if you are comfortable. I take no responsibility.
Hope this helps others,
Rick
OMG Rick, you are The Man.
Windows 7 has nice 'white' background with black text, and that's so eye friendly; while win8 has too bright irritating white!!!!!!!!
Here is one pic: http://i46.tinypic.com/2sbvkly.jpg
I need some help/advice on Windows about irritating WINDOW size-POSITION, AUTOMATICALY SORTING FILES, COPY TO-MOVE FILE HISTORY DELETE, TO MUCH CLICKS ON PREVIOUS SIMPLE TASKS(ex.shutdown)....After all, new Start corner isn't that bad!
My e-mail: ljubo.gr@hotmail.com
I hate that white background in excel, outlook, visual studio - and it can't be changed now! I was able to change it to gray using this regedit method (window node). It works when I log in. But after I logout (e.g. by screen saver or Win+L) and login again, it's reset to white again. I'm sorry, but how stupid can you be to remove such feature? White hurts my eyes, I'm used to gray background!
Michal
Not "how stupid can you be" but "how devious"!
They hobbled Aero on purpose. The removal of perfectly good visual styles and configurability was actively done by changing the programming, yet enough of it remains that there can be no possible argument that it was done to save resources. They even tried to do it a little at a time, by changing each of the preview versions (Developer Preview, Customer Preview, Release Preview, RTM) incrementally, removing a bit more of the "ease of use" with each version.
This is precisely what has many desktop users miffed at Microsoft!
Microsoft seems to think that making it less pleasant to use the desktop means it will be more likely you'll want to find Metro/Modern solutions (in their App Store of course) for everything you do. As if such apps could possibly replace what you do on the desktop.
They are incredibly stupid, not devious. They just cause headache to desktop users. And now I have to watch stupid white everywhere and my eyes are more tired when working all the day... And it's really pity, because W8 works great, very fast.
I like the Metro tabs and I like my WM7 phone, but to work in Metro? Really? I can't even imagine using that Messaging app, it's terrible waste of time.
And I also think usually Microsoft customers like they can adjust most of the features, to adjust their desktop/working place - those who don't, use Apple...
Michal
Definitely ... being afraid of missing another train called Tablets they've decided for even worse - let's kill our strongest desktop market totally ... And it's really pity, because as I said, W8 is great in speed, working with it is a pleasure...
Michal
i downloaded a patched theme called dark 8 that has a dark gray window background, patching isnt that hard nor has it messed my stuff up, so i could refer you to a link if you are interested. this feature lack was driving me nuts as well
and that goes for anyone reading this thread as well
- Edited by Daemon8 Wednesday, January 02, 2013 2:58 AM
i downloaded a patched theme called dark 8 that has a dark gray window background, patching isnt that hard nor has it messed my stuff up, so i could refer you to a link if you are interested. this feature lack was driving me nuts as well
and that goes for anyone reading this thread as well
- Edited by Daemon8 Wednesday, January 02, 2013 2:58 AM
i downloaded a patched theme called dark 8 that has a dark gray window background, patching isnt that hard nor has it messed my stuff up, so i could refer you to a link if you are interested. this feature lack was driving me nuts as well
and that goes for anyone reading this thread as well
- Edited by Daemon8 Wednesday, January 02, 2013 2:58 AM
i downloaded a patched theme called dark 8 that has a dark gray window background, patching isnt that hard nor has it messed my stuff up, so i could refer you to a link if you are interested. this feature lack was driving me nuts as well
and that goes for anyone reading this thread as well
- Edited by Daemon8 Wednesday, January 02, 2013 2:58 AM
Daemon8, please put up a screenshot or a link to images showing that theme. I'd like to see it.
Hi, my screen, which is an ASUS PA248Q is extremely bright even when set to its minimum level of brightness.
The white backgrounds are hurting my eyes very much and I can't work for a long time because of it. I tried the regedit workaround but as Noel pointed out, it doesn't work with the window backgrounds (Edit box background, active pane background in apps, some
influence on buttons in legacy apps).
For me it's definitely ruining my experience and I wonder why not more people had not protested, ergonomically spleaking this is a terrible thing.
If nothing is done to fix it I will probably have to revert to Windows 7, which is a shame.
- Edited by Raphael Ruis Thursday, January 31, 2013 4:05 PM
Hi, my screen, which is an ASUS PA248Q is extremely bright even when set to its minimum level of brightness.
The white backgrounds are hurting my eyes very much and I can't work for a long time because of it. I tried the regedit workaround but as Noel pointed out, it doesn't work with the window backgrounds (Edit box background, active pane background in apps, some
influence on buttons in legacy apps).
For me it's definitely ruining my experience and I wonder why not more people had not protested, ergonomically spleaking this is a terrible thing.
If nothing is done to fix it I will probably have to revert to Windows 7, which is a shame.
- Edited by Raphael Ruis Thursday, January 31, 2013 4:05 PM
Hi, my screen, which is an ASUS PA248Q is extremely bright even when set to its minimum level of brightness.
The white backgrounds are hurting my eyes very much and I can't work for a long time because of it. I tried the regedit workaround but as Noel pointed out, it doesn't work with the window backgrounds (Edit box background, active pane background in apps, some
influence on buttons in legacy apps).
For me it's definitely ruining my experience and I wonder why not more people had not protested, ergonomically spleaking this is a terrible thing.
If nothing is done to fix it I will probably have to revert to Windows 7, which is a shame.
- Edited by Raphael Ruis Thursday, January 31, 2013 4:05 PM
Hi, my screen, which is an ASUS PA248Q is extremely bright even when set to its minimum level of brightness.
The white backgrounds are hurting my eyes very much and I can't work for a long time because of it. I tried the regedit workaround but as Noel pointed out, it doesn't work with the window backgrounds (Edit box background, active pane background in apps, some
influence on buttons in legacy apps).
For me it's definitely ruining my experience and I wonder why not more people had not protested, ergonomically spleaking this is a terrible thing.
If nothing is done to fix it I will probably have to revert to Windows 7, which is a shame.
- Edited by Raphael Ruis Thursday, January 31, 2013 4:05 PM
Does anyone know how to get around or delete what I see in this key? That is SystemProtectedUserData?
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SystemProtectedUserData\S-1-5-21-2815722600-42913553-908455757-1001\AnyoneRead\Colors]
This key clearly blocks all subsequent attempts to change the color scheme on Win 8. Changing the color of the window background has zero effect in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\HighContrast.
Imagine looking at College courses or your bank statement with these ridiculous shades of bright white burning your eyes!
This Win 8 operating system clearly is and should be renamed "The System From Hell" If you do not believe me just look at the ridiculous Spire on the roll up window covering the login page. Then go and look at this Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5zn8MRKOskw
and other similar ones regarding the Venus Project and United Nations Agenda 21. My personal opinion is that the psychopath / sociopath criminals are closer and more powerful than we know.
I am re-plugging my Win XPpro sp3 disk, looking into Linux and maybe selling my Win 8 disk to the first dummy that steps up!
Here is how you control background (and other dialogs, etc) color in Windows 8
Go to the Desktop
Right Click on a blank area and Select Personalize
Scroll down to High Contrast Themes and Select High Contrast White. Note: Everything will become annoyingly bright.
Click on the Color item at the bottom of the window or type 'Color and Appearance' in the search box at the upper right.
Customize to your heart's content.
Apparently, these options are only available if you select the high contrast themes.
Post back if you have questions.
Sterling
SterlingSupport.net
Here is how you control background (and other dialogs, etc) color in Windows 8
Go to the Desktop
Right Click on a blank area and Select Personalize
Scroll down to High Contrast Themes and Select High Contrast White. Note: Everything will become annoyingly bright.
Click on the Color item at the bottom of the window or type 'Color and Appearance' in the search box at the upper right.
Customize to your heart's content.Apparently, these options are only available if you select the high contrast themes.
Post back if you have questions.
Sterling
SterlingSuppo
I found solution by reading this thread.
The idea to update windows background color in registry was correct, but the location was wrong. You may want to use this value in order to change window background color:
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2704394503-4225220067-2356620788-1009\Control Panel\Colors\Window
This will not change color in windows explorer though. This works only for windows such source code (.cs file) in VS, MS Word, right side in registry, etc.
The numbers in your actual registry path will look different.
Don't forget to reboot PC.
Enjoy.
Right click on your desktop, Personalize, and then Color. Change it from there. Hope this helps!
Result:
Hi Andrew,
This is the same answer I proposed back in Oct. As you point out it works with some windows and not with others.
It is what I've learned to live with.
Rick
Hi Geeky,
I don't mean to appear rude, but did you actually read this thread/topic?
What we've been trying to do is way beyond what the "personalize/color" dialog allows.
We want to be able to controls specific colors for parts of the window like earlier versions of windows.
If you know of a trick to get the "personalize/color" dialog to allow us to do that - it would be great!
Thanks,
Rick
Having waded through this thread in sun glasses (my new laptop is win 8) I was wondering if anyone has looked at customising the css files ?
there seems to be an interesting selection in this and other locations in windows
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\ASP.NETWebAdminFiles
There are products in the wings that allow you to alter Windows' requirements for Themes (i.e., that they be supplied by Microsoft and only Microsoft).
There is also a product almost ready for release called Aero Glass for Win8 that will offer you the ability not only to resurrect the translucent glass effect but also to modify the theme settings, and ultimately to be able to load alternate themes that give you control over all the colors.
Microsoft clearly doesn't want us doing these things.
Why?
Because they WANT the desktop to suck, so we'll be encouraged to try to find Metro/Modern replacements for the things we already have - as though just the look and feel is all that we care about when selecting applications.
Hint, Microsoft: There actually HAVE to be Metro/Modern applications that do the job. And the environment has to work well enough to support real work. You're being WAY too aggressive in trying to hobble your desktop support in the hopes that people will magically be able to find Metro/Modern solutions for the things they need.
I know it's hard for people with sub-100 IQs to understand, but you actually have to have the new environment rich with good choices before trying to force people off the old one. Otherwise you just come off as incompetent.
It's also not true that the Metro/Modern environment actually can be as productive as the desktop. Not everyone maximizes their window when they run their one application!
Thanks. This works well once I restart.
One issue that I noticed is that whenever I put my computer to sleep, when I wake it up the background color goes back to WHITE. The registry settings haven't changed, but it appears that it is not being read coming back from sleep. If I restart, the color settings in the registry are read again and the color is set to what I changed it to.
Have you encountered this? Do you have any idea of how to make this more permanent (e.g., waking from sleep)?
- Proposed as answer by Mamoonkhan Thursday, June 19, 2014 6:33 PM
- Proposed as answer by Mamoonkhan Thursday, June 19, 2014 6:33 PM
here Is my windows 8 explorer color,,, blurred even..........
you should see my dark glass transpaRENT THEME.....
Robert, I need to be able to fine tune colors for this customer *** this is for mainly the desktop, Visual Studio, dialogs and all........ ***
* Please update this in Windows 8.1 or and update
Aero Glass for Windows 8 is released. With some online sleuthing for "secret" registry parameters, you will find it offers the ability to disable Windows' signature verification so alternate themes can be loaded. Of course, do this at your own risk, but it does offer a way to completely revamp your desktop look and feel.
Rick,
This is great! Thank you so much for putting it together!!
Talasi
Cheers for this thread, it gave me the clues to get the window color working in all situations for Windows 8 & 8.1.
My preferred window color RGB is ec,ee,df.
1. It's fairly easy to get it set for the current user initially via the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="236 238 223".
Then save it to a .deskthemepack file via Control Panel | Personalisation. This file is just a CAB file containing Win7 style .theme text file and a desktop background jpg.
2. The bigger hassle is getting the color to stick after resuming from sleep or screen lock. I could only get this to work by writing to HKLM. So only suitable for a machine that's primarily for personal use.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00dfeeec
Note that for some reason, Microsoft made the colors BGR rather than RGB. Just to make it hard to find I guess?
- Proposed as answer by Nikolai S Tuesday, December 30, 2014 1:40 AM
Cheers for this thread, it gave me the clues to get the window color working in all situations for Windows 8 & 8.1.
My preferred window color RGB is ec,ee,df.
1. It's fairly easy to get it set for the current user initially via the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="236 238 223".
Then save it to a .deskthemepack file via Control Panel | Personalisation. This file is just a CAB file containing Win7 style .theme text file and a desktop background jpg.
2. The bigger hassle is getting the color to stick after resuming from sleep or screen lock. I could only get this to work by writing to HKLM. So only suitable for a machine that's primarily for personal use.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00dfeeec
Note that for some reason, Microsoft made the colors BGR rather than RGB. Just to make it hard to find I guess?
- Proposed as answer by Nikolai S Tuesday, December 30, 2014 1:40 AM
Cheers for this thread, it gave me the clues to get the window color working in all situations for Windows 8 & 8.1.
My preferred window color RGB is ec,ee,df.
1. It's fairly easy to get it set for the current user initially via the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="236 238 223".
Then save it to a .deskthemepack file via Control Panel | Personalisation. This file is just a CAB file containing Win7 style .theme text file and a desktop background jpg.
2. The bigger hassle is getting the color to stick after resuming from sleep or screen lock. I could only get this to work by writing to HKLM. So only suitable for a machine that's primarily for personal use.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00dfeeec
Note that for some reason, Microsoft made the colors BGR rather than RGB. Just to make it hard to find I guess?
- Proposed as answer by Nikolai S Tuesday, December 30, 2014 1:40 AM
Cheers for this thread, it gave me the clues to get the window color working in all situations for Windows 8 & 8.1.
My preferred window color RGB is ec,ee,df.
1. It's fairly easy to get it set for the current user initially via the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="236 238 223".
Then save it to a .deskthemepack file via Control Panel | Personalisation. This file is just a CAB file containing Win7 style .theme text file and a desktop background jpg.
2. The bigger hassle is getting the color to stick after resuming from sleep or screen lock. I could only get this to work by writing to HKLM. So only suitable for a machine that's primarily for personal use.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00dfeeec
Note that for some reason, Microsoft made the colors BGR rather than RGB. Just to make it hard to find I guess?
One year topic and still the same issues. Neither of solutions really helps. Sometimes white blinds me, sometimes black text is written on dark-grey background, menu colors are not configurable without high-contrast (even worse theme). The most ridiculous - in a lot of windows different components are painted with different colors (as an example just open regedit and compare tree area with value area).
Looks like this is official MS politics to make UI worse and worse. I hadn't significant problems in Win-98, then more and more of them were appearing - editing registry, setting-up buggy utilities, recompiling DLLs, now don't know what to do at all.
Looks like UI stuff was not even tested with non-default settings. Do MS developers use this by themselves and looking at that white spotlights?
No penny to MS until this is fixed.
One year topic and still the same issues.
Looks like this is official MS politics to make UI worse and worse.
It's starting to sink in.
Everything they do is on purpose.
I honestly don't know what's worse - devious manipulativeness or incompetence.
That one really hits home. I'm indeed another unsatisfied Windows user, and feel left out big time. That whole metro thing makes my working station feel like a cheap copy of an iphone. Dear Microsoft, if I wanted a gadget, I would have bought one!
And now give me back the dark background without feeling like I'm in a bad 80ies disco. I wonder why they added those contrast themes in the first place, did anybody actually use them?
I contacted Windows Support to see if they could provide a solution. The answer I was given made me laugh...
Hi, thanks for visiting Answer Desk. I'm Dennis A.
You:
10:47:15 PM hi
Dennis A:
10:47:22 PM Welcome to Microsoft Answer Desk! I'm Dennis A How can I help?
You:
10:47:44 PM hi dennis, i'm having trouble personalizing my theme for windows 8
Dennis A:
10:47:57 PM why is that?
You:
10:48:46 PM I like using a dark theme for my windows and it looks nice, but when I have the window dark the title text of the window remains black, and so I can't read the title of the window
is there a way to change the color of the title text?
Dennis A:
10:49:27 PM yes
when you click personalize,
\go go to change color scheme
You:
10:52:12 PM ok
then what?
Dennis A:
10:53:41 PM then change the color until you can see the fonts
You:
10:54:09 PM that didn't answer my question though
I asked if I could change the color of the title text and you said yes
Dennis A:
10:54:32 PM I got confused
sorry
You:
10:54:38 PM o ok
so is there a way to change the color of the title texts of my windows?
Dennis A:
10:55:56 PM oh okay Windows
now I get it
no
that is the default
it is your background that you will need to change
(i am referring to your theme)
You *could* go with a 3rd party tool that restores Aero Glass and the ability to load alternate themes. There are even themes now that look just like Windows 7 that run on Windows 8+, if that's what you like. And you can do things like load alternate graphics to restore title bar glow behind text with dark backgrounds and color choices.
Posted <abbr class="published" itemprop="commentTime" title="2012-09-23T10:27:51+00:00">23 September 2012 - 10:27 AM</abbr>
How to: Enable Aero Glass Transparency in Windows 8 Finalhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PK_j-Iz8WM
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsDWM] "Composition"=dword:00000001 "ColorizationColor"=dword:af4ca0fe "ColorizationColorBalance"=dword:0000004e "ColorizationAfterglow"=dword:af4ca0fe "ColorizationAfterglowBalance"=dword:0000000a "ColorizationblurBalance"=dword:00000012 "EnableWindowColorization"=dword:00000001 "ColorizationGlassAttribute"=dword:00000001 "EnableAeroPeek"=dword:00000001 "AlwaysHibernateThumbnails"=dword:00000001
hello Dj41510
can u tell me where i can get that theme
????????
Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization
Under "High Contrast Themes (4)"
Select High Contrast #2
Select "Color" High Contrast
this is not a solution. this is a weird workaround. in windows 95/98/ME/XP i was able to change this color into the control panel.
in Vista/Seven the GLOW maintains visibility of it.
in Eight, you simply forgot to code the color change of titles (complementary colour?) and without the aero glow thing, the title vanish in dark title colors.
try to test your software more often.
bye.
- Edited by khronos_one Sunday, January 05, 2014 8:21 PM
this is not a solution. this is a weird workaround. in windows 95/98/ME/XP i was able to change this color into the control panel.
in Vista/Seven the GLOW maintains visibility of it.
in Eight, you simply forgot to code the color change of titles (complementary colour?) and without the aero glow thing, the title vanish in dark title colors.
try to test your software more often.
bye.
- Edited by khronos_one Sunday, January 05, 2014 8:21 PM
this is not a solution. this is a weird workaround. in windows 95/98/ME/XP i was able to change this color into the control panel.
in Vista/Seven the GLOW maintains visibility of it.
in Eight, you simply forgot to code the color change of titles (complementary colour?) and without the aero glow thing, the title vanish in dark title colors.
try to test your software more often.
bye.
- Edited by khronos_one Sunday, January 05, 2014 8:21 PM
this is not a solution. this is a weird workaround. in windows 95/98/ME/XP i was able to change this color into the control panel.
in Vista/Seven the GLOW maintains visibility of it.
in Eight, you simply forgot to code the color change of titles (complementary colour?) and without the aero glow thing, the title vanish in dark title colors.
try to test your software more often.
bye.
- Edited by khronos_one Sunday, January 05, 2014 8:21 PM
You should try to understand that not everyone who responds to you is with Microsoft, khronos_one. Your wording implies you think you're talking to them here. Most of us are just peon users like you.
You should look into the Aero Glass tool mentioned up thread. With suitable theme atlas resources you can put a nice glow back behind most title text. Ribbon windows are an exception - for that you need a theme replacement-enabling hack. But the good news is that File Explorer is the one big application that's ribbon-enabled, and it puts the path near the top of the window, so you really don't need to see the titles much.
So to clarify - we have to hack unsupported registry entries and set things to High Contrast in Windows 8 just to get a background that kind of works like we had in previous versions?
That's just mind-numbingly stupid. Really.
Well you can always use uxstyle that doesn't alter registry and a custom theme for getting the white text.
There are themes for 8 and 8.1 that have a white text if you like to use dark frames at Deviantart under Customization/Skins/Windows 8 Utilities/ Visual Styles..
If you want light frames you use your normal theme!
That's what I do from the beginning without any problem..
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/YYp09cD.jpg[/IMG]
Just to follow-up for folks who would prefer to load an alternate theme, there's now a program available that will make run-time modifications to your system to avert the signature check.
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/170945-uxtheme-signature-bypass/
The advantage to this method is that it will not affect the integrity of your system files - your system will still pass an SFC check. That could matter for future updates.
Hello,
I hope I'm not oversimplifying this and that this is what you were looking for but did you go to control panel / personalize? I found options to change just about any color including text and background.
I found options to change just about any color including text and background.
On Windows 8? Show us, please.
So to clarify - we have to hack unsupported registry entries and set things to High Contrast in Windows 8 just to get a background that kind of works like we had in previous versions?
That's just mind-numbingly stupid. Really.
I'm using a modified theme with a theme patcher, no need for registry hacks and high contrast themes:
http://uxstyle.com/ +
http://x0lis.deviantart.com/art/Windows-8-1-White-Titlebar-Dark-theme-423021868
By the way, this bug is still present in Windows 8.1 Update 1 (April update).
Theme patchers often make changes inside system files. That's a bad idea for obvious reasons.
Does your theme patcher break system protection? In other words, can your system pass an SFC /VERIFYONLY test?
If not, then you may want to consider other means to alter your UI experience.
I found options to change just about any color including text and background.
On Windows 8? Show us, please.
After all the tips and tweaks I got over the years for XP, which I had setup absolutely perfect I now have a chance to give back a little something.
The answer seems to be in the theme itself.
C:\%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes
Open with Notepad and be sure this code is present:
[VisualStyles]
Path=%SystemRoot%\Resources\Themes\Aero\AeroLite.msstyles
ColorStyle=NormalColor
Size=NormalSize
AutoColorization=0
ColorizationColor=0X7F000000 (not sure what this does)
VisualStyleVersion=10
HighContrast=1 (this is the answer)
Now scroll down to [Control Panel\Colors] and change to your liking.
Unfortunately in High Contrast mode there can be no Start Screen or Lock Screen image or color. Now we have to find a way around that.
Now scroll down to [Control Panel\Colors] and change to your liking.
Thank you very much Jana_2003, I want to add something more;
1. Open C:\%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes
2. Open with Notepad which themes you use
3. Find [Control Panel\Cursors] and add ;
[Control Panel\Colors]
Window 128 128 128
and--> file and --->save . First chance your theme to another and then chance it back to your theme.
For more color scheme like window 128 128 128 , visit http://www.debbiesthemes.com/utilities/color_scheme.html. I am also trying to find the best.
If you're asking me, that's the donationware package Aero Glass for Win 8.1:
There's a (big) forum thread where the author introduces it here:
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/170850-aero-glass-for-win81-125/
So far I've found it perfectly stable, and a welcome usability enhancement to the desktop.
Here is the registry key value I changed from 255 255 255 to 100 100 100. Restart the system All Set.
After Restart : Light background applies across windows, E.g. Run, Notepad etc.
The problem with that, Srigopal, is that not everything is affected by those settings.
And so you end up with brilliant white stuff next to gray stuff, which doesn't help with readability at all. The core issue is that the THEME implementation is basically just fixed, and (without hacking) you can't load or create a new one.
I don't understand how Microsoft can think that removing configurability from the user interface could help any part of their operating system to be more popular with customers. It's pretty clear to me the engineers have been instructed to fail.
how to get this?
None of those methods can change Windows Explorer white background in Windows 8 :(
Need help...
Hibernation - resume - loss of colour- workaround/solution
Hi, here's what I've found which appears to offer a way to keep the background colours for most programs (explorer excluded of course!!). Comments welcome as I'm no expert, and forgive me if I completely wrong.
1. Set a background colour
As we know:
To set a background colour, you need to change the RGB values here: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
& here: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Colors.
If some theme colors are changed then Microsoft Office programs may need to be restarted to get them. For example, the Word styles don't always take the new colors until Word is restarted.
Restore background colours after resume from hibernate
This frustrated me for a long time. A number have commented on the loss of background colour after resuming from hibernation and I've seen no solution so far. So..
Once you can see your background colour in programs such as Wordpad, and probably your start menu search box, save the theme.
Here's my way to overcome the irritating loss of background colour on resume from hibernate.
Create 2 copies of your preferred theme, with the background colour set in the registry entries as above. (Those are 'normal' Windows theme, no theme tools like Windows Blinds or anything like that).
Now write a simple script (Autohotkey for example) which is run on logon. (That's assuming you get a logon prompt on resume from hibernate, else you'll have try to do sthg clever with task scheduler or find a test for displayed background colour, for example to trigger the script).
That script simply swaps the theme- but it's the SAME theme.
That restores the background colour. (Just tried it..except I've not done the script yet).
Of course all that still leaves explorer whiter than white.. so hey, ditch it, and use XYplorer or Directory Opus or whatever you prefer... (configurable, tabbed...)
Throw in Aeroglass and y'z shadow to add shadows - and I'd have added an image except this requires a URL to do, not an upload, so imagine two partly overlaid instances of Wordpad, Aero frames, shadow where one overlies the other, and pale yellow backgrounds.
PROBLEM SOLVED!
Many thanks to David J Gibson who posted the solution above.
I have a 64-bit regular Windows 8.1.
The workaround is as follows:
1) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="170 170 170"
Reboot. This step #1 is unreliable and stops working for no reason even without a log off or screen saver. I am not even sure that this step is necessary. Step #2 below seems to be the permanent solution.
2) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00999999
Rebooting is not necessary. After you apply your unsaved or saved theme that contains step #1, the next time it fails, it will fall back on step #2 for good.
Now I have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is still white in Windows Explorer, but that is not a serious problem for me.
UPDATE:
I also tried software applications called WindowBlinds and Xplorer2, which allow you to use various background colors or patterns in Windows Explorer (actually, Xplorer2 is a replacement for Windows Explorer). Both are shareware.
I do not recommend these applications and suggest that you stick with the white background of Windows Explorer in your Windows 7 or 8 (make the Explorer window smaller to reduce eye irritation). The detailed explanation is as follows:
WindowBlinds: it seriously messes with Windows system processes and destabilizes Windows 8.1 64-bit (which I have). For example, the WindowBlinds executable process is by default set to the highest priority ("real time," same as the "NT Kernel & System" process), which is an extremely risky strategy. My work involves serious multitasking, and with WindowBlinds, my computer crashes every other day (either freezes or throws a blue screen event). It should be noted that I have a pretty powerful PC: 8 GB of RAM, a big SSD system drive, and Intel Core i7-3770 CPU. Under 64-bit Windows 8.1, I have never experienced a system crash either before or after I tried WindowBlinds.
Xplorer2: It is advertised as a replacement for Windows Explorer. This option is better than WindowBlinds because it does not affect stability of the operating system. Nonetheless, Xplorer2 crashes every few days (for example, when I launch the Control Panel) and has to be restarted (and the executable process has to be terminated using the Task Manager). This is tolerable but a bit annoying. Another reason I wanted to test Xplorer2 is that the search option in Windows Explorer fails to find files when your search term is inside a file name (not at the beginning). Eventually, I figured out that you need to insert an asterisk before a search term, if you want to search inside file names in Windows Explorer.
Conclusion: I haven't found a viable option to change the white background color in Windows Explorer. Nevertheless, it is easy to permanently change the background color in most other applications (MS Word, Notepad, etc.) in Windows 8. See the beginning of my post.- Edited by Nikolai S Friday, January 30, 2015 9:06 PM Update
PROBLEM SOLVED!
Many thanks to David J Gibson who posted the solution above.
I have a 64-bit regular Windows 8.1.
The workaround is as follows:
1) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="170 170 170"
Reboot. This step #1 is unreliable and stops working for no reason even without a log off or screen saver. I am not even sure that this step is necessary. Step #2 below seems to be the permanent solution.
2) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00999999
Rebooting is not necessary. After you apply your unsaved or saved theme that contains step #1, the next time it fails, it will fall back on step #2 for good.
Now I have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is still white in Windows Explorer, but that is not a serious problem for me.
UPDATE:
I also tried software applications called WindowBlinds and Xplorer2, which allow you to use various background colors or patterns in Windows Explorer (actually, Xplorer2 is a replacement for Windows Explorer). Both are shareware.
I do not recommend these applications and suggest that you stick with the white background of Windows Explorer in your Windows 7 or 8 (make the Explorer window smaller to reduce eye irritation). The detailed explanation is as follows:
WindowBlinds: it seriously messes with Windows system processes and destabilizes Windows 8.1 64-bit (which I have). For example, the WindowBlinds executable process is by default set to the highest priority ("real time," same as the "NT Kernel & System" process), which is an extremely risky strategy. My work involves serious multitasking, and with WindowBlinds, my computer crashes every other day (either freezes or throws a blue screen event). It should be noted that I have a pretty powerful PC: 8 GB of RAM, a big SSD system drive, and Intel Core i7-3770 CPU. Under 64-bit Windows 8.1, I have never experienced a system crash either before or after I tried WindowBlinds.
Xplorer2: It is advertised as a replacement for Windows Explorer. This option is better than WindowBlinds because it does not affect stability of the operating system. Nonetheless, Xplorer2 crashes every few days (for example, when I launch the Control Panel) and has to be restarted (and the executable process has to be terminated using the Task Manager). This is tolerable but a bit annoying. Another reason I wanted to test Xplorer2 is that the search option in Windows Explorer fails to find files when your search term is inside a file name (not at the beginning). Eventually, I figured out that you need to insert an asterisk before a search term, if you want to search inside file names in Windows Explorer.
Conclusion: I haven't found a viable option to change the white background color in Windows Explorer. Nevertheless, it is easy to permanently change the background color in most other applications (MS Word, Notepad, etc.) in Windows 8. See the beginning of my post.- Edited by Nikolai S Friday, January 30, 2015 9:06 PM Update
PROBLEM SOLVED!
Many thanks to David J Gibson who posted the solution above.
I have a 64-bit regular Windows 8.1.
The workaround is as follows:
1) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="170 170 170"
Reboot. This step #1 is unreliable and stops working for no reason even without a log off or screen saver. I am not even sure that this step is necessary. Step #2 below seems to be the permanent solution.
2) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00999999
Rebooting is not necessary. After you apply your unsaved or saved theme that contains step #1, the next time it fails, it will fall back on step #2 for good.
Now I have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is still white in Windows Explorer, but that is not a serious problem for me.
UPDATE:
I also tried software applications called WindowBlinds and Xplorer2, which allow you to use various background colors or patterns in Windows Explorer (actually, Xplorer2 is a replacement for Windows Explorer). Both are shareware.
I do not recommend these applications and suggest that you stick with the white background of Windows Explorer in your Windows 7 or 8 (make the Explorer window smaller to reduce eye irritation). The detailed explanation is as follows:
WindowBlinds: it seriously messes with Windows system processes and destabilizes Windows 8.1 64-bit (which I have). For example, the WindowBlinds executable process is by default set to the highest priority ("real time," same as the "NT Kernel & System" process), which is an extremely risky strategy. My work involves serious multitasking, and with WindowBlinds, my computer crashes every other day (either freezes or throws a blue screen event). It should be noted that I have a pretty powerful PC: 8 GB of RAM, a big SSD system drive, and Intel Core i7-3770 CPU. Under 64-bit Windows 8.1, I have never experienced a system crash either before or after I tried WindowBlinds.
Xplorer2: It is advertised as a replacement for Windows Explorer. This option is better than WindowBlinds because it does not affect stability of the operating system. Nonetheless, Xplorer2 crashes every few days (for example, when I launch the Control Panel) and has to be restarted (and the executable process has to be terminated using the Task Manager). This is tolerable but a bit annoying. Another reason I wanted to test Xplorer2 is that the search option in Windows Explorer fails to find files when your search term is inside a file name (not at the beginning). Eventually, I figured out that you need to insert an asterisk before a search term, if you want to search inside file names in Windows Explorer.
Conclusion: I haven't found a viable option to change the white background color in Windows Explorer. Nevertheless, it is easy to permanently change the background color in most other applications (MS Word, Notepad, etc.) in Windows 8. See the beginning of my post.PROBLEM SOLVED!
Many thanks to David J Gibson who posted the solution above.
I have a 64-bit regular Windows 8.1.
The workaround is as follows:
1) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="170 170 170"
Reboot. This step #1 is unreliable and stops working for no reason even without a log off or screen saver. I am not even sure that this step is necessary. Step #2 below seems to be the permanent solution.
2) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00999999
Rebooting is not necessary. After you apply your unsaved or saved theme that contains step #1, the next time it fails, it will fall back on step #2 for good.
Now I have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is still white in Windows Explorer, but that is not a serious problem for me.
UPDATE:
I also tried software applications called WindowBlinds and Xplorer2, which allow you to use various background colors or patterns in Windows Explorer (actually, Xplorer2 is a replacement for Windows Explorer). Both are shareware.
I do not recommend these applications and suggest that you stick with the white background of Windows Explorer in your Windows 7 or 8 (make the Explorer window smaller to reduce eye irritation). The detailed explanation is as follows:
WindowBlinds: it seriously messes with Windows system processes and destabilizes Windows 8.1 64-bit (which I have). For example, the WindowBlinds executable process is by default set to the highest priority ("real time," same as the "NT Kernel & System" process), which is an extremely risky strategy. My work involves serious multitasking, and with WindowBlinds, my computer crashes every other day (either freezes or throws a blue screen event). It should be noted that I have a pretty powerful PC: 8 GB of RAM, a big SSD system drive, and Intel Core i7-3770 CPU. Under 64-bit Windows 8.1, I have never experienced a system crash either before or after I tried WindowBlinds.
Xplorer2: It is advertised as a replacement for Windows Explorer. This option is better than WindowBlinds because it does not affect stability of the operating system. Nonetheless, Xplorer2 crashes every few days (for example, when I launch the Control Panel) and has to be restarted (and the executable process has to be terminated using the Task Manager). This is tolerable but a bit annoying. Another reason I wanted to test Xplorer2 is that the search option in Windows Explorer fails to find files when your search term is inside a file name (not at the beginning). Eventually, I figured out that you need to insert an asterisk before a search term, if you want to search inside file names in Windows Explorer.
Conclusion: I haven't found a viable option to change the white background color in Windows Explorer. Nevertheless, it is easy to permanently change the background color in most other applications (MS Word, Notepad, etc.) in Windows 8. See the beginning of my post.PROBLEM SOLVED!
Many thanks to David J Gibson whose post helped me to find the solution.
It is possible to set the background color to gray in Windows Explorer and in other programs (Word, Notepad, etc.) without any serious hacking. The method involves only the control panel and editing the registry.I have 64-bit Windows 10 Home. This method also works for Windows 8.1 Home 64-bit.
1) Go to Control Panel, select "Personalization" and "Theme" ->
Edit theme -> select the first (leftmost) high-contrast theme at the bottom.
Now all backgrounds turned black and text color yellow. We will fix that in a moment.
Change the desktop wallpaper to your previous settings by selecting the option "Background" in the left panel (perhaps you had a slideshow or whatever).
2) Hold down the Windows Key and press the R key
type regedit
press Enter
Click "OK" when you see a warning
3) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
"Window"="170 170 170"
"WindowText"="0 100 0"
(the above colors are gray and dark green, in that order; you can set the text color to some other dark color instead of dark green, but you shouldn't set it to black because some system and Office messages will become invisible against the black background of the high-contrast Windows theme)
4) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\HighContrast
"Window"=dword:00999999
"WindowText"=dword:00006400
(the above colors are gray and dark green, in that order, all in hexadecimal format)
5) Reboot.
Now you will have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is also gray in Windows Explorer. If you try the above method under a standard Windows theme (not a contrast theme), then the background color will be white in Windows Exporer and gray in most other programs such as Word or Notepad (in this case, at step 4 above, you will need to edit the registry folder Standard instead of HighContrast because you are using a Standard theme). You can use black as text color under the standard Windows themes.
THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE:
Do not use third-party software to change the background color in Windows Exporer because these software packages are buggy or make Windows unstable. I tried software applications called WindowBlinds and Xplorer2, which allow you to use various background colors or patterns in Windows Explorer (actually, Xplorer2 is a replacement for Windows Explorer). Both are shareware.
I do not recommend these applications and suggest that you stick with the above solution. The detailed explanation is as follows:
WindowBlinds: Currently, WindowBlinds is not compatible with Windows 10 (August 2015). It seriously messes with Windows system processes and destabilizes Windows 8.1 64-bit (which I used to have). For example, the WindowBlinds executable process is by default set to the highest priority ("real time," same as the "NT Kernel & System" process), which is an extremely risky strategy. My work involves serious multitasking, and with WindowBlinds, my computer crashes every other day (either freezes or throws a blue screen event). It should be noted that I have a pretty powerful PC: 8 GB of RAM, a big SSD system drive, and Intel Core i7-3770 CPU. Under 64-bit Windows 8.1, I have never experienced a system crash either before or after I tried WindowBlinds (well, not never, but once or twice in several years).
Xplorer2: It is advertised as a replacement for Windows Explorer. This option is better than WindowBlinds because it does not affect stability of the operating system. Nonetheless, Xplorer2 crashes every few days (for example, when I launch the Control Panel) and has to be restarted (and the executable process has to be terminated using the Task Manager). This is tolerable but a bit annoying. Another reason I wanted to test Xplorer2 is that the search option in Windows Explorer fails to find files when your search term is inside a file name (not at the beginning). Eventually, I figured out that you need to insert an asterisk before a search term, if you want to search inside file names in Windows Explorer.
PROBLEM SOLVED!
Many thanks to David J Gibson whose post helped me to find the solutions. I have 64-bit Windows 10 Home. These methods also work for Windows 8.1 Home 64-bit.
FIRST METHOD
This solution allows you to permanently set the background color in most programs (Notepad, Word, etc.) to gray, EXCEPT for Windows Explorer, where the background will stay white. I am assuming that you are not using a contrast theme of Windows.
1) Hold down the Windows Key and press the R key
type regedit
press Enter
Click "OK" when you see a warning
2) Edit the registry in the folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
"Window"="170 170 170"
3) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=00999999
(hexadecimal format)
4) Close the registry editor and press Ctrl+Alt+Del to initiate the theme. Close the Task Manager.
SECOND METHOD
It is possible to set the background color to gray in Windows Explorer and in other programs (Word, Notepad, etc.) without any serious hacking. The method involves only the control panel and editing the registry. Unfortunately,
this theme reverts to the Windows high-contrast theme if you either launch the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) or initiate sleep/standby. Logging off and in again restores the theme.
1) Go to Control Panel, select "Personalization" and "Theme" ->
Edit theme -> select the first (leftmost) high-contrast theme at the bottom.
Now all backgrounds turned black and text color yellow. We will fix that in a moment.
Change the desktop wallpaper to your previous settings by selecting the option "Background" in the left panel (perhaps you had a slideshow or whatever).
2) Hold down the Windows Key and press the R key
type regedit
press Enter
Click "OK" when you see a warning
3) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
"Window"="170 170 170"
"WindowText"="0 100 0"
(the above colors are gray and dark green, in that order; you can set the text color to some other dark color instead of dark green, but you shouldn't set it to black because some system and Office messages will become invisible against the black background
of the high-contrast Windows theme)
4) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\HighContrast
"Window"=dword:00999999
"WindowText"=dword:00006400
(the above colors are gray and dark green, in that order, all in hexadecimal format)
5) Reboot. All done.
6) To restore this theme after a sleep or standby period, log off the current user and log in again.
Now you will have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is also gray in Windows Explorer. If you try the above method under a standard Windows theme (not a contrast theme), then the
background color will be white in Windows Exporer and gray in most other programs such as Word or Notepad (in this case, at step 4 above, you will need to edit the registry folder Standard instead of HighContrast because you are using a Standard theme). You
can use black as text color under the standard Windows themes.
THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE:
Do not use third-party software to change the background color in Windows Exporer because these software packages are buggy or make Windows unstable. I tried software applications called WindowBlinds and Xplorer2, which allow you to use various background colors
or patterns in Windows Explorer (actually, Xplorer2 is a replacement for Windows Explorer). Both are shareware.
I do not recommend these applications and suggest that you stick with the above solution. The detailed explanation is as follows:
WindowBlinds: Currently, WindowBlinds is not compatible with Windows 10 (August 2015). It seriously messes with Windows system processes and destabilizes Windows 8.1 64-bit (which I used to have). For example, the WindowBlinds executable process is by default
set to the highest priority ("real time," same as the "NT Kernel & System" process), which is an extremely risky strategy. My work involves serious multitasking, and with WindowBlinds, my computer crashes every other day (either freezes
or throws a blue screen event). It should be noted that I have a pretty powerful PC: 8 GB of RAM, a big SSD system drive, and Intel Core i7-3770 CPU. Under 64-bit Windows 8.1, I have never experienced a system crash either before or after I tried WindowBlinds
(well, not never, but once or twice in several years).
Xplorer2: It is advertised as a replacement for Windows Explorer. This option is better than WindowBlinds because it does not affect stability of the operating system. Nonetheless, Xplorer2 crashes every few days (for example, when I launch the Control Panel)
and has to be restarted (and the executable process has to be terminated using the Task Manager). This is tolerable but a bit annoying. Another reason I wanted to test Xplorer2 is that the search option in Windows Explorer fails to find files when your search
term is inside a file name (not at the beginning). Eventually, I figured out that you need to insert an asterisk before a search term, if you want to search inside file names in Windows Explorer.
PROBLEM SOLVED!
Many thanks to David J Gibson whose post helped me to find the solutions. I have 64-bit Windows 10 Home. These methods also work for Windows 8.1 Home 64-bit.
FIRST METHOD
This solution allows you to permanently set the background color in most programs (Notepad, Word, etc.) to gray, EXCEPT for Windows Explorer, where the background will stay white. I am assuming that you are not using a contrast theme of Windows.
1) Hold down the Windows Key and press the R key
type regedit
press Enter
Click "OK" when you see a warning
2) Edit the registry in the folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
"Window"="170 170 170"
3) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=00999999
(hexadecimal format)
4) Close the registry editor and press Ctrl+Alt+Del to initiate the theme. Close the Task Manager.
SECOND METHOD
It is possible to set the background color to gray in Windows Explorer and in other programs (Word, Notepad, etc.) without any serious hacking. The method involves only the control panel and editing the registry. Unfortunately,
this theme reverts to the Windows high-contrast theme if you either launch the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) or initiate sleep/standby. Logging off and in again restores the theme.
1) Go to Control Panel, select "Personalization" and "Theme" ->
Edit theme -> select the first (leftmost) high-contrast theme at the bottom.
Now all backgrounds turned black and text color yellow. We will fix that in a moment.
Change the desktop wallpaper to your previous settings by selecting the option "Background" in the left panel (perhaps you had a slideshow or whatever).
2) Hold down the Windows Key and press the R key
type regedit
press Enter
Click "OK" when you see a warning
3) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
"Window"="170 170 170"
"WindowText"="0 100 0"
(the above colors are gray and dark green, in that order; you can set the text color to some other dark color instead of dark green, but you shouldn't set it to black because some system and Office messages will become invisible against the black background
of the high-contrast Windows theme)
4) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\HighContrast
"Window"=dword:00999999
"WindowText"=dword:00006400
(the above colors are gray and dark green, in that order, all in hexadecimal format)
5) Reboot. All done.
6) To restore this theme after a sleep or standby period, log off the current user and log in again.
Now you will have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is also gray in Windows Explorer. If you try the above method under a standard Windows theme (not a contrast theme), then the
background color will be white in Windows Exporer and gray in most other programs such as Word or Notepad (in this case, at step 4 above, you will need to edit the registry folder Standard instead of HighContrast because you are using a Standard theme). You
can use black as text color under the standard Windows themes.
THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE:
Do not use third-party software to change the background color in Windows Exporer because these software packages are buggy or make Windows unstable. I tried software applications called WindowBlinds and Xplorer2, which allow you to use various background colors
or patterns in Windows Explorer (actually, Xplorer2 is a replacement for Windows Explorer). Both are shareware.
I do not recommend these applications and suggest that you stick with the above solution. The detailed explanation is as follows:
WindowBlinds: Currently, WindowBlinds is not compatible with Windows 10 (August 2015). It seriously messes with Windows system processes and destabilizes Windows 8.1 64-bit (which I used to have). For example, the WindowBlinds executable process is by default
set to the highest priority ("real time," same as the "NT Kernel & System" process), which is an extremely risky strategy. My work involves serious multitasking, and with WindowBlinds, my computer crashes every other day (either freezes
or throws a blue screen event). It should be noted that I have a pretty powerful PC: 8 GB of RAM, a big SSD system drive, and Intel Core i7-3770 CPU. Under 64-bit Windows 8.1, I have never experienced a system crash either before or after I tried WindowBlinds
(well, not never, but once or twice in several years).
Xplorer2: It is advertised as a replacement for Windows Explorer. This option is better than WindowBlinds because it does not affect stability of the operating system. Nonetheless, Xplorer2 crashes every few days (for example, when I launch the Control Panel)
and has to be restarted (and the executable process has to be terminated using the Task Manager). This is tolerable but a bit annoying. Another reason I wanted to test Xplorer2 is that the search option in Windows Explorer fails to find files when your search
term is inside a file name (not at the beginning). Eventually, I figured out that you need to insert an asterisk before a search term, if you want to search inside file names in Windows Explorer.
Hi Rick,
Thanks for this info about the registry. I'm pretty new to Windows8.1 and I really miss the ability to change the window color, more than anything. I've always had my window set to a pale yellow - much easier on the eyes. Now to find a registry backup (or will the system restore point work?) and then do the registry edit.
Thanks a lot!
Kriss
<snip>
The workaround is as follows:
1) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="170 170 170"
Reboot. This step #1 is unreliable and stops working for no reason even without a log off or screen saver. I am not even sure that this step is necessary. Step #2 below seems to be the permanent solution.
2) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00999999Rebooting is not necessary. After you apply your unsaved or saved theme that contains step #1, the next time it fails, it will fall back on step #2 for good.
Now I have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is still white in Windows Explorer, but that is not a serious problem for me.
<snip>
Nikolai, thank you SO MUCH for posting this information.
Just to let everyone know, I renamed the entire key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
to "Standard-Old" and I have noticed no ill effects from this change.
This "fixes" the issue of the window Background color set in the Theme and set in the Registry from reseting every time you log off and sleep windows.
You could probably delete the key entirely.
Thanks again everyone.
J
- Edited by Jose Canusi 16 hours 29 minutes ago
<snip>
The workaround is as follows:
1) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="170 170 170"
Reboot. This step #1 is unreliable and stops working for no reason even without a log off or screen saver. I am not even sure that this step is necessary. Step #2 below seems to be the permanent solution.
2) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00999999Rebooting is not necessary. After you apply your unsaved or saved theme that contains step #1, the next time it fails, it will fall back on step #2 for good.
Now I have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is still white in Windows Explorer, but that is not a serious problem for me.
<snip>
Nikolai, thank you SO MUCH for posting this information.
Just to let everyone know, I renamed the entire key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
to "Standard-Old" and I have noticed no ill effects from this change.
This "fixes" the issue of the window Background color set in the Theme and set in the Registry from reseting every time you log off and sleep windows.
You could probably delete the key entirely.
Thanks again everyone.
J
- Edited by Jose Canusi Thursday, May 07, 2015 2:53 PM
<snip>
The workaround is as follows:
1) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="170 170 170"
Reboot. This step #1 is unreliable and stops working for no reason even without a log off or screen saver. I am not even sure that this step is necessary. Step #2 below seems to be the permanent solution.
2) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00999999Rebooting is not necessary. After you apply your unsaved or saved theme that contains step #1, the next time it fails, it will fall back on step #2 for good.
Now I have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is still white in Windows Explorer, but that is not a serious problem for me.
<snip>
Nikolai, thank you SO MUCH for posting this information.
Just to let everyone know, I renamed the entire key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
to "Standard-Old" and I have noticed no ill effects from this change.
This "fixes" the issue of the window Background color set in the Theme and set in the Registry from reseting every time you log off and sleep windows.
You could probably delete the key entirely.
Thanks again everyone.
J
- Edited by Jose Canusi Thursday, May 07, 2015 2:53 PM
<snip>
The workaround is as follows:
1) Edit the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors, "Window"="170 170 170"
Reboot. This step #1 is unreliable and stops working for no reason even without a log off or screen saver. I am not even sure that this step is necessary. Step #2 below seems to be the permanent solution.
2) Edit the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
"Window"=dword:00999999Rebooting is not necessary. After you apply your unsaved or saved theme that contains step #1, the next time it fails, it will fall back on step #2 for good.
Now I have a nice gray background color in most program windows such as Word, Notepad, simple webpages, etc. The background is still white in Windows Explorer, but that is not a serious problem for me.
<snip>
Nikolai, thank you SO MUCH for posting this information.
Just to let everyone know, I renamed the entire key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
to "Standard-Old" and I have noticed no ill effects from this change.
This "fixes" the issue of the window Background color set in the Theme and set in the Registry from reseting every time you log off and sleep windows.
You could probably delete the key entirely.
Thanks again everyone.
J
- Edited by Jose Canusi Thursday, May 07, 2015 2:53 PM
Thanks a lot, Rick.
The second registry key change works great and the color stays on... except... for me, it always ended up with the wrong color
If I edited the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
Window=dword: ffffb3 (RGB 255 255 179) for yelow, after hybernation, I always got a blue background: b3ffff (RGB 179 255 255) - while the registry was still set to what I typed the first time.
it was not until I set the registry to Window=dword: b3ffff when I got the color I wanted.
When I was about to change the key WindowText to "005380" (RGB 0 83 128) for dark blue, I had the same problem. The color I got was nothing like it. I had to reverse the order once again to "805300" (RGB 128 83 0) to get the color I wanted.
this of course is notan issue in cases when all three digits are the same. Ricks "999999" (or 99 99 99) is actually RGB 153 153 153 and the system cannot misread it.
for those who want to tinker with the colors, eventually need to convert RGB to HEX, there is a great tool at : http://www.endprod.com/colors/rgb2hex.htm
- Edited by janod78 8 hours 56 minutes ago
Thanks a lot, Rick.
The second registry key change works great and the color stays on... except... for me, it always ended up with the wrong color
If I edited the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
Window=dword: ffffb3 (RGB 255 255 179) for yelow, after hybernation, I always got a blue background: b3ffff (RGB 179 255 255) - while the registry was still set to what I typed the first time.
it was not until I set the registry to Window=dword: b3ffff when I got the color I wanted.
When I was about to change the key WindowText to "005380" (RGB 0 83 128) for dark blue, I had the same problem. The color I got was nothing like it. I had to reverse the order once again to "805300" (RGB 128 83 0) to get the color I wanted.
this of course is notan issue in cases when all three digits are the same. Ricks "999999" (or 99 99 99) is actually RGB 153 153 153 and the system cannot misread it.
for those who want to tinker with the colors, eventually need to convert RGB to HEX, there is a great tool at : http://www.endprod.com/colors/rgb2hex.htm
- Edited by janod78 Friday, July 03, 2015 10:27 PM
Thanks a lot, Rick.
The second registry key change works great and the color stays on... except... for me, it always ended up with the wrong color
If I edited the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard
Window=dword: ffffb3 (RGB 255 255 179) for yelow, after hybernation, I always got a blue background: b3ffff (RGB 179 255 255) - while the registry was still set to what I typed the first time.
it was not until I set the registry to Window=dword: b3ffff when I got the color I wanted.
When I was about to change the key WindowText to "005380" (RGB 0 83 128) for dark blue, I had the same problem. The color I got was nothing like it. I had to reverse the order once again to "805300" (RGB 128 83 0) to get the color I wanted.
this of course is notan issue in cases when all three digits are the same. Ricks "999999" (or 99 99 99) is actually RGB 153 153 153 and the system cannot misread it.
for those who want to tinker with the colors, eventually need to convert RGB to HEX, there is a great tool at : http://www.endprod.com/colors/rgb2hex.htm
- Edited by janod78 Friday, July 03, 2015 10:27 PM
- Edited by Nikolai S 5 hours 34 minutes ago
I found two solutions, but both are incomplete. See my edited post above.
One solution allows you to permanently set the background color in most programs (Notepad, Word, etc.) to gray, EXCEPT for Windows Explorer, where the background will stay white.
The second solution allows you to set the background color to gray in Windows Explorer and most other programs (Word, Notepad, etc.), using only the Control Panel and editing of the registry. But this theme reverts to the Windows high-contrast theme if you either launch the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) or initiate sleep/standby. Logging off and in again restores the theme.
Perhaps someone can perfect these methods; they work in both Windows 10 and 8.1, 64-bit.
- Edited by Nikolai S 15 hours 2 minutes ago
I found two solutions, but both are incomplete. See my edited post above.
One solution allows you to permanently set the background color in most programs (Notepad, Word, etc.) to gray, EXCEPT for Windows Explorer, where the background will stay white.
The second solution allows you to set the background color to gray in Windows Explorer and most other programs (Word, Notepad, etc.), using only the Control Panel and editing of the registry. But this theme reverts to the Windows high-contrast theme if you either launch the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) or initiate sleep/standby. Logging off and in again restores the theme.
Perhaps someone can perfect these methods; they work in both Windows 10 and 8.1, 64-bit.
- Edited by Nikolai S Friday, August 21, 2015 4:20 PM