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Sweet Black Theme for Windows XP

I've received a number of emails asking where we got the sweet black theme for Windows XP in most of the screenshots. It's the Zune theme from Microsoft, which you can get directly from their download site:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75078

The best thing about this theme is that it doesn't require any cracks or hacked versions of system files, since it was created by Microsoft. Just run the installer and it's ready to go.

Here's a screenshot of the default theme look.

image

The first thing I do is swap out the background image with something better.

image

Enjoy!

The Geek is the founder of How-To Geek and a geek enthusiast. When he's not coming up with great how-to articles, he's probably writing at his personal blog. This article was written on 06/1/07 and tagged with: Windows

Comments (47)

  1. Nik P

    Thanks for this! It's awesome! Does Microsoft have any others like this? My Media Center Laptop came with a different one as well.

    Thanks!

  2. mysticgeek

    In fact I was skeptical at first, but now I set all of my PC's to this theme (not my Linux box's though). Definitely want to change the Desktop Background right away though … LOL!

  3. Sajid

    oh…This theme is too old, launched with Zune arrival. I am using it from last 5 months.

  4. The Geek

    I've been using it for many months as well, but most people don't know about it.

  5. John Casablanca

    "…but most people don't know about it."

    yeah, like me, many thanks for the link. :) i was tired of the old look of my xp.

    but is there a way to change the color of the 'Start' buttom?

  6. The Geek

    Sadly, you can't change the color of the start button… you could always use a custom theme if you patch XP's userstyles file.

    The only problem with that is that every time I use a patched theme I end up with out of memory errors and stuff like that. I prefer the legit signed themes if I can help it.

    Of course, I'm running Vista and Ubuntu… I only use XP in a virtual machine these days.

  7. James

    If you don't like the orange button try the royale noir theme. Its more or less the same but with a black button ;) http://www.softpedia.com/get/D.....heme.shtml

  8. Kal

    Sadly, you can't change the color of the start button… you could always use a custom theme if you patch XP's userstyles file.

    The only problem with that is that every time I use a patched theme I end up with out of memory errors and stuff like that. I prefer the legit signed themes if I can help it.

    Of course, I'm running Vista and Ubuntu… I only use XP in a virtual machine these days.

  9. Kal

    good

  10. Burrd

    wow this looks really sweet, thanks for the tip!

  11. Seth

    i think that blue ice from add ons from mozilla and this are a good mix

  12. Wil

    Is there a way to change FireFox and Thunderbird to match now?

    \/\/

  13. Blaine G Hunt

    awasome a color theme that works without crashing your system thank you very much

  14. Jim

    Praise the lord almighty!

    I've been wanting a black theme to match my windows media player for months…

    I'll deal with the orange…

  15. Omar

    gr8 theme
    thanks for the link
    been waiting for black theme without the hassle of installing n e software for it !!
    orange on black is my fav combination !!

  16. Tiberiusfury

    It doesn't work on Win Xp x64 :(
    At least, not with SP1 only; I won't install Sp2 because it supposedly disables DaemonTools.

  17. Jojai

    This won't work on XP x64 even with SP2. I read else where that it is possible to install on a compatible machine then manually install on x64 by dragging and dropping to replace the current theme… Sounds dodge to me, plus I gave my second PC away.

  18. Jason Biggs

    Hey man thanks! I have been searching for a real theme forever and you are the first. Thanks a million!

  19. levi

    ty 4 the download was gr8 :) looks good!
    and no hastle :D

  20. vance

    I like the royale noir but it's unfinish theme…

  21. bob1337

    i love this! tell microsoft i said thank you! :)

    5/5

  22. johnnylectric

    oh bangin! thanks! i've been waiting for a cool black theme for ever now for xp, now my nasa space launch firefox and office 2007 black finally match my everything else :)

  23. Rubbelu

    I like this theme,because it looks like FireFox's skin with theme.Thx for sharing!!

  24. John Kiely

    ''if you don't like the orange button try the royale noir theme. Its more or less the same but with a black button ;) http://www.softpedia.com/get/D…..heme.shtml''

    Wow this theme is awesome, thanks james !!

  25. Dan

    Neat design and look. It's just nice to have it on your desktop ;)

  26. Chris

    Hey, thanks a lot! I just formatted my PC and I was too bored to go through the usual theme-download-then-crack thing, but this solved my problem!

  27. Min

    One problem I have had with the Zune theme is that when I point to a file or item in a windows explorer window, the selection turns solid blue which obscures the name of the file (dark blue on black). This does not happen on drop down menus.

    Any ideas

  28. Ashley

    This is awesome! Thanks!

  29. Omer

    Thanks for the link. its a cool theme I have found another theme that matches to this one but Without the orange and the start button is black . To install that theme you must have style xp and then you can apply the theme without any problems..

  30. ibn Suleiman

    Try this with the Pitch Black theme for Firefox and Thunderbird

  31. robert

    I finaly found what i wanted!
    other sites are junk!

  32. syed faisal ahmed

    first i doesn't know about my xp colour then i knew by my frnds about this and i go thru it and changed my windows xp color

  33. moonzai

    What a fantastic theme is this.
    i love it very much!!!!!

  34. Jayesh

    Thanks Friend for this excellent theme. :-) XP has discontinued themes but I could get it through the direct link you have provided here.

  35. james burniston

    wayhay! love this theme. goes with my windows live and my firefox i think black on a computer looks the bizz thanks mate

  36. sybor 9

    cool theme!!!

  37. Queen

    I love this theme, its so great. Makes me feel like im using a brand new computer. It so sleek and shiny! GREAT WORK!

  38. x1c3c0ldx

    Try this with the Zune theme for Firefox, looks awesome xD

  39. Jesper Ginge

    Hi
    Thanks for even making this site.
    You can find all kind of stuff on this site.

    I just want to say this

  40. Ess Sider

    10x a lot! it`s a great them.. those who use Firefox muat try the nasa lunch theme f firefox..

  41. John

    Wow, I've been searching for non-blue-ish theme for XP for years. FINALLY!

  42. Geek

    Wow!! U guys are realy cool! u have been using this for months? I just worship u!

  43. Andrew

    Fracking awesome! finally something useful related to Zune :-)

  44. Vinay

    man u rock…thnx a lot for this

  45. jony

    awesome theme!! AHH im gonna set that up right now! by the way…is that coachella i see in the background??

  46. George

    it doesn't work , i have an error and it says "This installation package could not be opened. Verify that the package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid windows istaller package"

  47. TzG

    thanks man, i just reformatted my comp and it didn't feel right with the default themes.

    cheers.


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