nrp2009 Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 a few months ago i installed window blinds which is one of those programs that allows the user to change the theme of windows xp. one day i change a theme and my laptop died, i restarted it to find the windows xp and media centre themes had gone. now when i try to change to them a box comes up . This makes me unable to even change my desktop picture with out having to open the image in another program e.g. firefox and set as wallpaper there. I no this doesnt sound like a big problem but due to the fact the program stopping any changes is there to prevent damage i might have some kind of virus, malware etc. i have done virus, spyware, adware, malmare scans and nothing comes up. Also i tried putting my windows disc in to try and repair but as the disk is SP2 and im running SP3 the disk was useless. im only asking because im trying to get my laptop working as good as possible before i leave for university where it will be getting constant use sp i would be greatful for any help offered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.See if there's a restore point to before you tried changing this setting and you may be able to make your computer go back to how it was before this happened.Also, there is a Microsoft Support article on the URL below explaining what the problem is and how it can be prevented. Not too technical either :)Microsoft Support - DEP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrp2009 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 thanks for replying. i managed to restore to before this happened at the time of the problem started but the problem didnt fix. As for the link you gave ive tried it but still broke but this is probably due to me forgeting to mention when i try and change the colour of the windows scheme another box comes up "The visual styles could not be loaded because the file failed to load" Is it maybe the program i installed deleted the windows default visual styles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 ???? try the fixes on line 187 here :-http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrp2009 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Thanks but thats not working either. but after trying that i get a message "An exception occurred while trying to run "C:\WINDOWS\system32.dll,Control_RunDLL "C:\WINDOWS\system32\desk.cpl",Display" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted September 4, 2009 Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 By any chance, have you downloaded customized themes from the internet and have one of them set as your current theme?I've had a much similar problem before except that one also stopped me from using Windows Live applications like MSN. The way I got rid of that was only to remove the downloaded themes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrp2009 Posted September 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 I found out it was a customized theme from crystal xp not window blinds which is now removed. my current theme says modified but looks like classic so im not sure if the customized is set to default. ive removed all traces of the themes which are not the origonal microsoft ones, still not fixed. However after looking back at the website i downloaded the theme from it was never compatible with sp3 and the theme program overwrit certain origonal xp files so im assuming this is my problem. Ive been advised to remove sp3 and reinstall to recover the lost windows files does anyone think this sounds like the best thing to do. (i dont want to do a restore install of xp from the disk incase i lose everything on my cd). thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dencandy Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 I think you've got nothing to lose by trying that. Just make sure you follow the correct procedure for uninstalling then downloading & installing again SP3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 A lot of the themes and stuff from Crystal XP aren't fully compatible with XP or Vista, even though they say they are.Is there no way of copying the files from the windows disc to the directory they're supposed to be stored in rather than reformatting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrp2009 Posted September 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Im not sure if there is since i tried inserting my disk but couldnt run it as my laptop said i had a newer version of windows installed which im assuming means sp3. Im not exactly sure which files are missing so wouldnt know what to copy. i think im just going to leave it on classic theme as ive got my laptop working pretty well and dont want to break anything else. Thanks for everyones help though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Yeah, could be right. Well, good luck with your laptop anyway! :D and in the future, stay away from Crystal XP if you can and you would like to follow my personal advice. Everytime I have used that website, I have had problems with my Windows' files being corrupted, unusable or something stupid and annoying.Usually if you download themes you will get these types of problems. I have tried just about every website out there with both my XP pro and home laptops and Vista computer and never got away with being able to use a downloaded theme.Alienware's GUIse is another one to look out for. Anyway. Glad to have helped :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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