How-To Geek
Access Hidden Regional Themes in Windows 7
Windows 7 offers you location specific Aero themes based on the language and location you pick during installation. Here we will take a look at accessing other hidden themes from different countries.
When you first start the Windows 7 installation the first thing you will do is select a language, time and currency format. This is where Windows determines what themes you’re presented with by default.
Being from the US I’m presented with location specific themes from the United States with desktop backgrounds such as scenery from Maine, Idaho, Oregon etc.
To access the other international themes copy and paste the following path into the search box and hit Enter.
C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT
In the MCT folder you will find additional themes for Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Great Britain.
You can go in and grab just the Wallpapers…
Or go into the Theme folder double click on the the thumbnail to add it.
Here you can see I added all of them and now they will be available under the My Themes section for when you want to change them around.
This is a neat little trick that will let you customize Windows 7 with hidden themes already available. Also if you want to get more themes head over to the Microsoft site.
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Comments (42)
Programmer by day, geek by night, The Geek, also known as Lowell Heddings, spends all his free time bringing you fresh geekery on a daily basis. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 08/24/09
Great man ;-)
many thanks
Thanks! I already downloaded additional themes from the Microsoft-website, but not all of these where available.
Keep up the good work!
Nice find!
Tried this but didn’t work, the search part said “no items match your search” also checked for C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT and there is not MCT file at that address.
same prob here.
i’ve got a german win7-installation (rtm)
nothig else then the german files
Not in the RC version :(
Thanks, Mystic — it’s nice to have more themes. Also see:
http://windows7themes.net/
These hidden themes are not available in Windows 7 RC ?
Anyway thanks for the post.
@anyone who cannot find the hidden themes: I don’t know what is wrong but I am using the RC Build 7100 release and have all of the hidden themes.
Unlock hidden Windows 7 Themes
Some themes you can unlock yourself! The Windows 7 beta has some hidden & locked themes that were created for countries all over the world (Australia, Canada, Great Britain, United States and South Africa).
Actually it’s pretty easy to unlock them.
1. Simply open the Explorer (Windows + E) and goto C:\Windows\winsxs
2. Enter *.theme into the search field. If you have problems to type *, use the * sign on the number block.
3. Now it should look like this: Click me!
4. Double-click the themes ZA, US, GB, CA, AU to install them.
5. Voilà, you have unlocked 5 cool themes.
Mystic Geek… Thnks 4 this cool tip. But it doesn’t work in my Windows 7 RTM(PT-BR)…
I Search C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT and nothing else then the brazilian files…
Anyway, i have downloaded the other themes in the MS Site.
Thanks You!
my PC windows vista cannot find directory if I type the above code into the search box
Thank you very much barak obama! ;)
works great!
i can’t get these themes to show up when i follow the instructions. Any further suggestions?
@Hannelore: that is because this is only available on Windows 7.
Aloha Oe Barak!! Thanks Cuz..your instructions worked!! Mahalo from da Islands!!
cool job dude .
Thnx man tht was gr8 share. :)
really its nice…thnx man!
This was a great tip…thank you!
my uncle lives in one of the cottages near the cliff in the UK theme.
Nice job, thanks.
When I tried the search on Windows 7 Home Premium, I couldn’t find the file either. Then I did the search on “computer” , and the MCT folder finally showed up. After the initial search comes up empty there is an option to search in various locations that are listed beneath the original search box. Hopes this makes sense. I finally saved the search cuz every time I clicked on a file to save the theme, the search disappeared and I had to search all over again!!
Hope this helps if anyone is still having trouble.
Hi guys,
I’m happy that i did subscribe to HOW-TO GEEK believe me it wort it Thank you for the trouble that your doing to please your client every days.
you can also add all the wallpapers from them all to the us folder, first take ownership of the folder with the “take ownership ” hack found on this site.
next you will want to use the ” open with notepad ” hack to open one of the themes, i opened the US file found at “C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper”
i edited it so it looked like this
[quote]; Copyright © Microsoft Corp.
[Theme]
; Windows 7 – IDS_THEME_DISPLAYNAME_US
DisplayName=@%SystemRoot%\System32\mctres.dll,-200000
SetLogonBackground=0
; Computer – SHIDI_SERVER
[CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-109
; Documents – IDI_MYDOCS
[CLSID\{59031A47-3F72-44A7-89C5-5595FE6B30EE}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-123
; Network – SHIDI_MYNETWORK
[CLSID\{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-25
; Recycle Bin – SHIDI_RECYCLERFULL SHIDI_RECYCLER
[CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon]
Full=%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-54
Empty=%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-55
[Control Panel\Cursors]
AppStarting=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_working.ani
Arrow=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_arrow.cur
Crosshair=
Hand=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_link.cur
Help=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_helpsel.cur
IBeam=
No=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_unavail.cur
NWPen=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_pen.cur
SizeAll=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_move.cur
SizeNESW=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_nesw.cur
SizeNS=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_ns.cur
SizeNWSE=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_nwse.cur
SizeWE=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_ew.cur
UpArrow=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_up.cur
Wait=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_busy.ani
DefaultValue=Windows Aero
DefaultValue.MUI=@main.cpl,-1020
[Control Panel\Desktop]
Wallpaper=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\US-wp1.jpg
TileWallpaper=0
WallpaperStyle=10
Pattern=
[VisualStyles]
Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles
ColorStyle=NormalColor
Size=NormalSize
ColorizationColor=0X6669372D
Transparency=1
[boot]
SCRNSAVE.EXE=
[MasterThemeSelector]
MTSM=DABJDKT
[Sounds]
; IDS_SCHEME_DEFAULT
SchemeName=@%SystemRoot%\System32\mmres.dll,-814
[Slideshow]
Interval=1800000
Shuffle=0
ImagesRootPath=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper
Item0Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\US-wp1.jpg
Item1Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\US-wp2.jpg
Item2Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\US-wp3.jpg
Item3Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\US-wp4.jpg
Item4Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\US-wp5.jpg
Item5Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\US-wp6.jpg
Item0Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ZA-wp6.jpg
Item1Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ZA-wp5.jpg
Item2Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ZA-wp4.jpg
Item3Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ZA-wp3.jpg
Item4Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ZA-wp2.jpg
Item5Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ZA-wp1.jpg
Item0Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\TR-wp6.jpg
Item1Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\TR-wp5.jpg
Item2Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\TR-wp4.jpg
Item3Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\TR-wp3.jpg
Item4Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\TR-wp2.jpg
Item5Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\TR-wp1.jpg
Item0Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\RU-wp6.jpg
Item1Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\RU-wp5.jpg
Item2Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\RU-wp4.jpg
Item3Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\RU-wp3.jpg
Item4Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\RU-wp2.jpg
Item5Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\RU-wp1.jpg
Item0Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\PL-wp6.jpg
Item1Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\PL-wp5.jpg
Item2Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\PL-wp4.jpg
Item3Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\PL-wp3.jpg
Item4Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\PL-wp2.jpg
Item5Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\PL-wp1.jpg
Item0Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\NL-wp6.jpg
Item1Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\NL-wp5.jpg
Item2Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\NL-wp4.jpg
Item3Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\NL-wp3.jpg
Item4Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\NL-wp2.jpg
Item5Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\NL-wp1.jpg
Item6Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\MX-wp6.jpg
Item7Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\MX-wp5.jpg
Item8Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\MX-wp4.jpg
Item9Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\MX-wp3.jpg
Item10Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\MX-wp2.jpg
Item11Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\MX-wp1.jpg
Item12Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\KR-wp6.jpg
Item13Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\KR-wp5.jpg
Item14Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\KR-wp4.jpg
Item15Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\KR-wp3.jpg
Item16Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\KR-wp2.jpg
Item17Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\KR-wp1.jpg
Item18Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\JP-wp6.jpg
Item19Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\JP-wp5.jpg
Item20Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\JP-wp4.jpg
Item21Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\JP-wp3.jpg
Item22Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\JP-wp2.jpg
Item23Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\JP-wp1.jpg
Item24Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IT-wp6.jpg
Item25Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IT-wp5.jpg
Item26Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IT-wp4.jpg
Item27Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IT-wp3.jpg
Item28Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IT-wp2.jpg
Item29Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IT-wp1.jpg
Item30Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IN-wp6.jpg
Item31Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IN-wp5.jpg
Item32Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IN-wp4.jpg
Item33Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IN-wp3.jpg
Item34Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IN-wp2.jpg
Item35Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\IN-wp1.jpg
Item36Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\FR-wp6.jpg
Item37Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\FR-wp5.jpg
Item38Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\FR-wp4.jpg
Item39Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\FR-wp3.jpg
Item40Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\FR-wp2.jpg
Item41Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\FR-wp1.jpg
Item42Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ES-wp6.jpg
Item43Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ES-wp5.jpg
Item44Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ES-wp4.jpg
Item45Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ES-wp3.jpg
Item46Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ES-wp2.jpg
Item47Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\ES-wp1.jpg
Item48Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\DE-wp6.jpg
Item49Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\DE-wp5.jpg
Item50Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\DE-wp4.jpg
Item51Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\DE-wp3.jpg
Item52Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\DE-wp2.jpg
Item53Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\DE-wp1.jpg
Item54Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\BR-wp6.jpg
Item55Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\BR-wp5.jpg
Item56Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\BR-wp4.jpg
Item57Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\BR-wp3.jpg
Item58Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\BR-wp2.jpg
Item59Path=%SystemRoot%\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper\BR-wp1.jpg[/quote]
next i did a search in the “C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT” folder for ” *.jpg ”
i copied everything that came up, and added it to the
“C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper”
folder , now i get to see all the wallpapers on random and changing normally with out having to chose one of them over the other, country that is
all country wallpapers are now added to the US theme
there are 59 total
hope someone besides me finds this useful ;)
i hv Windows Vista in my laptop, now my problem is that i want to make new partion in HD without formateing coz when i hv purches this laptop their wr two drive C(290GB) and D(12GB) now want to make three drive and make all drive hv same volum.
so plz help me
What type i have windows 7 ultimate i found somthing like that and it couldnt open it.
@syntax error,
It’s actually a lot easier to do. If you’d rather save yourself 20 mins…
1. Open windows explorer as administrator
2. In the address bar type: C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT
3. Open a country’s folder
4. Then open the folder with the country’s name
5. Copy the .jpg files
6. Go back and open the US folder and paste the jpgs there
7. DONE
This how to unlock them in 5 seconds:
1. Open “Run”
2. Type: “C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT”
3. Window should open with the themes. :)
(Note you must be on a administrator account)
I found on the Internet someone claim to have a hidden Swedish theme. Is that genuine?
why does microsoft keep all the good stuff hidden. if they were only as strait forward as my sony motherboard….
can’t find it…
If you just go here all of them plus many others are there to download free. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/personalize/themes
Peast that path in “search” and press enter then the theme window will open
thanks for the great suggestion. I searched for the themes and after clicking them to add i just went back to my current theme and selected all for the picture backgrounds, changing them every 10 mins. looks great
You can add the additional wallpapers that come with Windows 7 for Australia, Canada, UK, US, and South Africa by doing the following:
1. Open regedit
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WWindows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Wallpapers\KnownFolders\Windows Wallpapers\MergeFolders
3. Right click the right hand pane
4. Select -> New -> String Value
5. Paste in the following folder location:
C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\MCT-AU\Wallpaper
6. Repeat steps 3 – 5 with the following folder locations:
C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\MCT-CA\Wallpaper
C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\MCT-GB\Wallpaper
C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\MCT-US\Wallpaper
C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\MCT-ZA\Wallpaper
7. Reboot.
8. Right click your desktop
9. Select Wallpapers and you should see all the available regional wallpapers that came with Windows 7.
KUDOS! I had to reinstall WIN7 with a new hard drive and lost my entire collection. It’s nice to start out with this small group to save me some downloading time at Microsoft’s site. What I like most is that when you use this method, you can pick the specific wallpapers you want without having to take the ones that suck as a package deal. That’ why I use mostly third party wall paper sites (checked for viruses and other nasties first) instead of Microsoft mostly because they are still hung up on the “take it all or leave it all” mentality.
This was really fun! I also had Korea, Japan, India, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Turkey!
thanks alot for the tip!
For those of you having trouble finding it on search make sure you’ve selected “Show hidden files and folders” in the Control Panel, or just open task manager then new task and paste C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT
Hope this helps :)
These are a lot of fun to find. :D
cool! Thanks