Windows Vista Update

Customize your Shell Style – Changing colors of Toolbar and Detail Pane

by Rahul Manekari
(India)

In Windows Vista, Microsoft has introduced new Explorer UI includes Navigation Pane, Forward & Backward buttons, Toolbars, Address bar, Search box, Detail pane etc…
Here is simple and straight guide to customize shell style…that helps to change colors of Toolbar and Detail pane.

Requires:
Resource Editor: Resource Hacker
Text Editor: my favorite Notepad
How to:
Extract a text file from shellstyle.dll, open the file in ResHacker


Changing Toolbar color
Open the text file (1.txt) in Notepad and search for string
Gradient(argb(255,4,80,130),argb(255,17,101,132),argb(255,29,121,134),3)
Actual color code for Toolbar - its gradient color, combination of three colors.
Search occurrence will be two times…
Explanation
argb(X,R,G,B)

Where X ->Transparency, R -> Red, G -> Green, B -> Blue

background="Gradient(argb(255,R1,G1,B1),argb(255,R2,G2,B2),argb(255,R3,G3,B3),3)"

Replace the code with desired one. I have replaced with this.

Gradient(argb(255,15,55,107),argb(255,50,110,210),argb(255,15,55,107),3)




Changing Toolbar’s text color
Search for 1st occurrence for Windows Explorer’s toolbar

Change the highlighted entry to same as argb(X,R,G,B) combination
Example: black argb(255, 0, 0, 0)
2nd occurrence for Control Panel’s toolbar

Change the highlighted entry to same as argb(X,R,G,B) combination
Example: white argb(255, 255, 255, 255)

Changing Detail Pane’s color
Open the text file (1.txt) in Notepad and search for string
Gradient(argb(255,244,252,255),argb(255,236,251,254),argb(255,187,217,240)
Actual color code for gradient color style of Detail pane
Search occurrence will be eight times…
Change with your color combination



NOTE: By modifying shellstyle in this manner preserve Windows Energy animation.
Save the text file and replace in ShellStyle.dll with ResHacker.

We can change detail pane by replacing Image (PNG file, can contain transparency or alpha channel too) file (782) in aero.msstyle

NOTE: After modification in aero.msstyle, Uxtheme patch is required.