Saturday, September 03, 2005

Windows XP default theme missing!

Sometimes the default theme of Windows XP will be missing from the Themes tab in Desktop Properties, and there will be only Classic them in the drop down list. This is one of the common problems I have seen ;-).

To recover the default XP theme (also called as Luna theme), the following solutions can be used:-
1 Start the Themes Service: Go to Start > Run and type services.msc and press Enter key to open the Services window. Here, navigate to Themes service, and right-click on it and select Properties, and make sure that the Start Up type is set to Automatic. And if the service is stopped, click the Start button to start it.

2 Locate the Luna.theme file manually: Right click on the desktop and choose Properties. On the Themes tab, choose the Browse... option. Next browse and locate the file C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Luna.theme and apply this as theme.

3 Luna.theme file not present: If Luna.theme file itself is not present, then it has to be restored back. Download this Zip file from Kelly’s Korner, and then extract the contents of this file to C:\Windows directory. Then, apply this theme as given in previous step.

4 Registry fix: If the above steps do not solve the problem, then there is a chance of changes in the default Registry values related to Themes. Download this Registry fix from Kelly’s Korner, and merge it with the Registry. Restart the computer to make the changes to take effect.

75 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Man, that was helpful. This was driving me nuts lately.

12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice one mate!

8:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dude, great job!

4:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah! Works for me!!

11:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thank you thank you thank you!
that was helpful!

There should be more your kind of people who can make difficult things so easy for me! :P

have a nice day!

7:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

omg, thank you! thank you!

8:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Okay why in anybody's name would you have to start a SERVICE to see a theme. Thank you

7:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Solved my problems with the desktop.

Thanks.

3:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Solved my problems with the desktop.

Thanks.

3:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Damn that was bugging me for ages thanks alot dude :D

8:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks. I totally deleted it on mistake and had no idea how to get it back.

10:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mike from the Isle of Man sends muchos gratious. My grey taskbar was driving me NUTS!! Your help was invaluable.

Mike.

3:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks very much for that info. Having a few issues like the theme changing and the sound not working and it is all linking back to the Services!

Any idea as to why this happens?

8:39 PM  
Blogger swatkat said...

Glad to hear that the post was helpful.
Thanks for visiting.

11:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

this was so helpful! this problem has been annoying me for awhile!

11:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a problem. I used the zip file, sine mine was missing. And it didn't quite fix it, so i used the registry merge, and now i'm stuck in classic windows. and when i right click my desktop and go to properties, and then themes, and try to select xp theme, it tells me unable to load access is denied. and if i go to appearence, the button is greyed out. Please help.

9:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

u r my hero!!!!!!!!! thanks soooooooooo much. i was so worried about this problem but now it's all okay cuz of you :)

8:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jey Thanks a lot man, i didn't know what to do, and there's when you appeared, so man you are like a superman!! in this moment

9:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for this. I couldn't figure out why XP themes were disabled. Was looking for other, more complicated, causes than a disabled service :P

7:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey I need help on this???? I tried everything to start my windows themes but when i try to start the themes it says: Error 126: the specified module could not be found. :( wat do i do? plzz help me....its drivin me crazyyyyyyy thankz

Pleaseeee helpppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh my God thank you! Somehow the Themes Service got stopped. All I could think was "**** What do I do?!". Thank you SOOO much.

2:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I downloaded the file and found very useful. Tons of thanks!

5:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks! Realy needed this. :)

9:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your comments were very helpful. thanks a ton.

8:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Simple and concise - thanks saved driving me nuts!

8:53 PM  
Anonymous Joshua Cloutier Hacker said...

Look I really really appreciate this more then you will know, Thank You not only for the help but for the distribution of that file Resources/
Luner Thanks man

5:52 AM  
Blogger Zorigoo said...

thank you very much man!

4:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks a lot!!!!!!! this really helps.... :)

7:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

tnx a lot.. you rock!!!
-reignydeyz

1:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanx dude, it was really helpful.

11:16 PM  
Anonymous carlos said...

thanks for help! I don't know why it happened, but thanks to you I am back to normal

12:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Useful one, this information is not available widely. Thanks for putting it here.

6:48 PM  
Anonymous chet said...

Thanks man !!!!! iT waz helpful.......

10:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

UHHHHM please email me. I got a trouble. when I downloaded the registry fix, everytime I reboot my PC it goes back to Windows Classic. Please email me: original_kyo@yahoo.com.ph

10:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

aagh! please help! i tried using xp style but it isn't working!

9:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have the same problem like someone on the comment..

i already put the themes in the ressources and use the registry, then i can use the luna theme again..

but the problem is when i restart my computer, it will go back into classic mode, i have to change it manually in the themes (every time i restart the computer..)

is there any solution to this?
email me, mtm_00@hotmail.com

4:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks!! That too, was driving my crazy!

2:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As everybody in this blog already confirmed. your approach and recipe was extremely helpfull. thanks for the post!

3:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Come on, I was changed to Windows Classic Theme.You really helped me to get XP back in my life!!!

8:19 PM  
Anonymous swapnil said...

Thanks man ... This 1 totallly helped me to get my xp theme back....

5:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

rohit
yes man I'm very thankful to u

8:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nice going mate :)

4:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Step 3 worked for me, thanks bud!

1:15 AM  
Blogger nebojshaaaha said...

WOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!THAAAAAAAANX U VERY MUCH!!!!

6:14 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Like everyone on here I thank you. It work for me right away.
I wish there was a place like this for every problem out there.
Douglas

8:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It doesnt work i did it well and an error says:An exeption occured while trying to run ":\WIDNOWS\system32\shell32.dll,control_RunDLL
\file:"C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes\Luna.theme""

If u know how to fix it please post it here

Thanks

8:05 PM  
Anonymous tearingmyhairout said...

Thanks Swatkat. Would you believe it!! I found a solution before reading your reply, after all the days of searching. Apparently it was becuase I had Terminal Services disabled in Services. One click and it restored my "switch users" function and at the same time allowe me to keep the xp theme on, which was previously not saving every time I logged off.
I'm glad my question prompted help from you for so many people. This is my first time on this forum and I'm impressed. I will be back in a while to ask some more questions as I still have faults in my registry settings, I hope you will still be there.

11:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great, wish I'd looked here earlier!!
Cheers

3:04 AM  
Blogger jOnes said...

Thanks...

8:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks alot man, that really helped me!

8:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

omg your amazing, this was killing me

12:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow this really worked!!!!!!!

THX
....

10:05 AM  
Blogger Darwin said...

Great information..my PC get healed..
Thanxs

10:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thank you thank you thank you...finally..something that worked..solved my problem in a flash...thanks again

11:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

plz send me the solution to the problem
" when i restart my computer, it goes back into classic mode, i have to change it manually in the themes (every time i restart the computer..)"

11:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thx!

10:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This really helps. Thanks. My XP theme is back AGAIN... ^_^

10:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks so much, I thought I was never going to fix it!

8:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

rocks... thanks dear

3:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you so much :)

4:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The classic theme was driving me crazy... Thatnk god I found your tut on the net... =]

3:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is still running and i have done all of the above and it is still classic looking, what do i do now?

8:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thank you very much""helped a lot""

1:41 AM  
Anonymous James said...

I just wanana say, that is a legend life saver, ive trawlled all over to try and find replacement themes and had so much rubbish thrown at me when i came upon this, a perfect guide to a pc fix.
big thanks, wish there was more people like you.
Cheers
James

10:33 PM  
Blogger howlinwolfcustoms said...

Thanks

9:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thank you very much i thought my computer had been attacked by virus but your second step saved me!!

REALLY THANK YOU!

7:25 PM  
Anonymous poppinjeremy said...

THANK YOU SOOO DAMN MUCH! i was about to freakin restore my whole computter because this wasnt working
but now i read this and this is perfect :D
thanks a bunch mann :D

4:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

THANK THANK THANK THANK THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

4:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Big thanks.

5:23 AM  
Blogger kgfkiller.864 said...

I still have a icons problem! how to make them default?

6:57 PM  
OpenID indiapavan said...

Very simple solution. Good job. Thanks...

6:34 PM  
OpenID indiapavan said...

Great work... Really helpful. Thanks.

6:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OMG!!! I am a perfectionist and messed my icons up on my "start" bar. It was making me pull my hair out.

THANKS A MILLION!!!!

10:46 AM  
Blogger Ellyse said...

Thanks, it's helpful ~

5:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OMG! thank youuuuuuuu. geniussss!

8:25 AM  

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