# Classic Theme for Windows 8.1



## contraswm (Nov 3, 2013)

Hi !

Is it possible to get the real Windows classic theme back with the good old colours ?

I have downloaded all kinds of "Classic themes for Windows 8.1", but still the colours are not as they used to be. Ugly, plain, eye disturbing colours. Same colour for taskbar and software title bar. Impossible to distinguish text on taskbar because some is black, some is white. For some older programs title bar itmes and windows buttons are invisible (see attached screenshot of Girder).

"Classic themes" imitate the old colours, but they are plain, typical Windows 8.1. What's more annoying, because these themes are high contrast themes, some details become invisible. For example apps from Google Apps button (like Youtube, Maps, Search etc.).
I even tried to import a classic theme from Windows 7, but no results with the colours.

Furthermore it would be nice to have the taskbar hidden when a program is maximized, but not with autohide option, because it becomes annoying when the mouse gets too close to the bottom of the page.

I hoped Windows 10 would solve the colour problems, but it didn't !

Thanks


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Change Windows to Classic view


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## contraswm (Nov 3, 2013)

In the indicated link it says:
To change the theme to Windows Classic

 Open Theme Settings by clicking the Start button







, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, clicking Personalization, and then clicking Theme. 
 Under Theme, select the Windows Classic theme in the drop-down list, and then click OK.


But in Windows 8.1 there is no Windows Classic theme. Is the indicated link perhaps for Windows 10 ?
I gave up Windows 10 shortly after installation because it heavily slows down the PC.


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## contraswm (Nov 3, 2013)

The link: Change Windows to Classic view
applies to Windows Vista.

In Windows 8.1 the Windows classic theme is not included !


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Rather than pursue this, I'd recommend trying Windows 10 again, but this time after installation, update any driver that has an update available.


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## contraswm (Nov 3, 2013)

What damned driver should I update any more ??? Nvidia is very aggressive and updates the drivers all the time. If drivers have to be updated, than certainly something is wrong somewhere.

Unfortunately Windows 10 has done nothing to improve themes and colours. Starting with Windows 8 everything has been messed up. I have spent almost two weeks googling, searching and tweaking registry but no result at all. Ok, perhaps I could live with those ugly, plain, splashed colours but many things are unreadable, as if Microsoft would like to destroy our eyes and health.

Being thick and tired of searching, this site was my very last hope, but you haven't any solution either. It seems like nobody on earth cares or is capable to solve the colour problem in Windows 8.

There are no other options rather than to get ill, sue Microsoft, get back to Windows XP, or perhaps migrate to some Linux distro. At least one does not have any problems there.


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Maybe someone else can help. Linux is not the best answer either in fact you'd encounter problems you've never thought of before.


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## contraswm (Nov 3, 2013)

After several more researches, it seems like the Windows classic theme is still there in the GUI, but not somehow blocked, not accessible to the user.

Simple hack enables classic theme in Windows 10 (and 8, too!) - Windows 10 - MSFN





So, what can I do, in order to access it ? In the first link the author talks about a batch file, but he doesn't upload it.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

contraswm said:


> So, what can I do, in order to access it ? In the first link the author talks about a batch file, but he doesn't upload it.


Here is the batch file -- it was attached to the post just as the author said it was.

I have not tested this; have no idea what it does. *Run it at your own risk*.


```
[FONT=Lucida Console]
@echo off
FOR /F "delims=^T" %%G IN ('Handle ThemeSection') do set output=%%G
FOR /F "tokens=6" %%G IN ('echo %output%') DO set handleid=%%G
FOR /F "tokens=3" %%G IN ('echo %output%') DO set pid=%%G
echo %handleid%
echo %pid%
Handle -c %handleid% -p %pid% -y
[/FONT]
```
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/173...heme-in-windows-10-and-8-too/#comment-1093169

Copy it to a Notepad and save it with the file extension *.bat*.

You will also need SysInternals "Handle" app for the batch file to run successfully - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896655.aspx

"handle.exe" must reside in the same directory as the batch file in order for the batch file to execute properly.

The user in post #3 suggests that this batch file will work just as well -

```
[FONT=Lucida Console]
@ECHO OFFSETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONSFOR /F "tokens=3,6 delims=: " %%A IN ('Handle ThemeSection') DO (ECHO handleid=%%BECHO Pid=%%AHandle -c %%B -p %%A -y)
[/FONT]
```
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/173...-10-and-8-too/?do=findComment&comment=1093187

Like the other batch file... I have not tested it; do not know what it does.* Run it at your own risk.*

I must say that I am perplexed as to why you would want your system to look like this.

Good luck to you.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

`


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## contraswm (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks. 

Well, I need to change the colours, because they are horrible, and eye disturbing. Some texts on the taskbar, windows menu even are very difficult to distinguish. I tested high contrast themes, but they made things even worse: Google buttons impossible to see and Goolge apps icons missing.
I just want to see sharp and clearly ! Is that too much to ask for ?

So I shall try the bat file. In case something goes wrong there is a backup of the OS partition.


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