Windows XP Service Pack 3 Uxtheme.dll patch

Contact Us

The first operating system that I setup anew on my new computer was Windows XP which was also updated with Service Pack 3. One thing that I noticed when trying to change to my favorite Thallos theme from the default Windows XP theme was that it was not possible because I forgot to patch the file uxtheme.dll which protects the system from third party themes.

The uxtheme.dll patcher that I had installed on my previous system was not working anymore because Microsoft seemed to have replaced the uxtheme.dll file with a newer version which had the result that the patch failed. A quick research on the Internet brought me to Rafael’s website(http://www.withinwindows.com/uxtheme-patches/) that offered a patched uxtheme.dll that was compatible with the English Windows XP Service Pack 3 final.

I then used the small application Replacer(http://www3.telus.net/_/replacer/) to replace the existing uxtheme.dll in c:\windows\system32 with the patched one. Replacer displays a command window upon execution and all that needs to be done is to drag and drop the original file and then the new file into the window. Everything else will be done by replacer.

I was able to change the theme after the next reboot.