pros and cons in using uxtheme » Forum Post by Rychian

I tried it ("StyleXP") and decided against it for the following reasons:

1 - Skins selections were fairly limited.

2 - Incorporation with other installed programs was not as good as the native "uxtheme.dll" included in Windows XP.

3 - The uninstall process does not restore the original files.

If the patch was clean and allowed the files to run exactly the same as the native ones do, and if the uninstall process restored the original files flawlessly, I would use the progam extensively. Unfortunately, it is a "hack" which is flawed, and therefore I do not use it.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Plus why use it when Windowblinds is a superior product. It can do so much more than StyleXp. If you find a style you like done in StyleXP you can convert it to Windowblinds (with Skinstudio) so you can have the best of both worlds.

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central

Successfully updated karma reason!

starkers

Join Date 05/2004

+1153

Rychian...Using StyleXP can cause problems with 'system restore' and using your XP installation disk to do repairs and etc, particularly if using the bootsceen part of it. I found this out the hard way when Windows said there was a file missing or corrupt and needed to be replaced to restore full functionality. The only way to do this was via a 'repair installation' using the XP disk, which would not run due to the hacked files.

Took me a while to figure out what the problem was, but when StyleXP was uninstalled, I noticed some things were not restored to their normal state. Fortunately the 'repair installation' fixed all that, but it'd be a pain in the arse to have to do that when it's not otherwise needed to restore system functionality.

It wasn't a mistake I was going to make twice, so it it led me to a search for another customisation program, which eventually led me to Stardock and the ObjectDesktop suite of programs, which in my opinion are far superior and do not hack any system files.

Furthermore, Stardock programs have the distinct advantage over StyleXP, in that an individual one can be uninstalled/reinstalled if it causes an issue. Sure, StyleXP has a convenient interface combining everything, but as I soon discovered, convenience is not necessarily better...when one aspect Of StyleXP decides to go guts up, it affects others and the whole program/system can go haywire.

Best bet...stick with Stardock programs and port any msstyle themes over to WB's using SkinStudio

Successfully updated karma reason!

Link

Successfully updated karma reason!

Thats why I have not used it...Like I mentioned I used it once, then had to do a complete reinstall of windowsxp. I heard that it was illegal to use this patch, and that it breaks an agreement concerning the "EULA". I'm trying to understand the info. about this patch, so If I help someone who wants to use it I can give them the facts. So thank you, everyone...

Successfully updated karma reason!

To be fair, StyleXP hasn't (for quite some time) altered the Uxtheme on disk. They've switched to modifying it in memory using a kernel-mode driver. Because of this switch, you need not concern yourself with system restore/etc.

About the legal concerns -- I patch and store pre-patched Uxtheme libraries in my widely-used repository and have yet to receive a C&D. TGTSoft patches this binary and sells their patcher as commercial software too. You'll be fine.

Successfully updated karma reason!

thats what i hate about this site...

the guy didnt ask about stardock fanboys he wanted to know the experiences from the uxtheme patch...as for me i didnt really have a problem with it and im using it on my laptop right now.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Phoon

Join Date 10/2001

+382

hats what i hate about this site...

the guy didnt ask about stardock fanboys he wanted to know the experiences from the uxtheme patch...as for me i didnt really have a problem with it and im using it on my laptop right now.

Gee, unless I misread, I think he got an informed and well presented case against using the uxtheme hack/stylexp. If you hate the site so much Threi, what keeps you here?

Successfully updated karma reason!

Furthermore, Stardock programs have the distinct advantage over StyleXP, in that an individual one can be uninstalled/reinstalled if it causes an issue. Sure, StyleXP has a convenient interface combining everything, but as I soon discovered, convenience is not necessarily better...when one aspect Of StyleXP decides to go guts up, it affects others and the whole program/system can go haywire.

that whole paragraph wasnt needed

Plus why use it when Windowblinds is a superior product. It can do so much more than StyleXp. If you find a style you like done in StyleXP you can convert it to Windowblinds (with Skinstudio) so you can have the best of both worlds.

another example of unnessary promotion of stardock products

he did not ask "which is better...styleXP or windowblinds"...he asked "what are your experiences with the uxtheme patch?" now if you are inclined to reply "it screwed up my system" something similiar (comment #1 is ideal), i have no problem in the world with that.

Gee, unless I misread, I think he got an informed and well presented case against using the uxtheme hack/stylexp. If you hate the site so much Threi, what keeps you here?

indeed it does piss me off but its a matter of taking the good with the bad...if i left every site cause of annoyances in the community, i would just rather unplug my internet cable.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1845

About the legal concerns -- I patch and store pre-patched Uxtheme libraries in my widely-used repository and have yet to receive a C&D.

MS really is slack at times.

Were I MS I would have vigorously protected my IP...and gleaned even more dollars into my bank account...

Successfully updated karma reason!

Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1048

another example of unnessary promotion of stardock products

It's not unnecessary at all. Someone trying to recommend a better product is just fine.

Successfully updated karma reason!

stardock fanboys

Really now, what do you expect? You go to a Chevy forum, don't you figure there's going to be a few Chevy Fanboys there?

Successfully updated karma reason!

It's not unnecessary at all. Someone trying to recommend a better product is just fine.

how convenient

Really now, what do you expect? You go to a Chevy forum, don't you figure there's going to be a few Chevy Fanboys there?

so its not a customization site?

Successfully updated karma reason!

Furthermore, Stardock programs have the distinct advantage over StyleXP, in that an individual one can be uninstalled/reinstalled if it causes an issue. Sure, StyleXP has a convenient interface combining everything, but as I soon discovered, convenience is not necessarily better...when one aspect Of StyleXP decides to go guts up, it affects others and the whole program/system can go haywire.

that whole paragraph wasnt needed

I disagree. That paragraph appears to be from experience which ties in with:

. I wanted to here from you guys about your expiriences with it.

Successfully updated karma reason!

I wanted to here from you guys about your expiriences with it.

yay a sentence class...my favorite

i was led to beleive that by "it" he meant the uxtheme patch...not windowblinds

Successfully updated karma reason!

What part of:

Sure, StyleXP has a convenient interface combining everything, but as I soon discovered, convenience is not necessarily better...when one aspect Of StyleXP decides to go guts up, it affects others and the whole program/system can go haywire.

escapes you?

Successfully updated karma reason!

ok i tried to be nice but now you arent making sense...i thought i explained that already...

!!!!!

now if you are inclined to reply "it screwed up my system" something similiar (comment #1 is ideal), i have no problem in the world with that.

is my point really that hard to grasp? its just a pet peeve i have on this site and i didnt want to keep quiet about it.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Starker's statement was based on experience which is what the OP asked for.

You state "...I have no problem in the world with that." right after you said his paragraph was unnecessary.

Why was it unnecessary?

Successfully updated karma reason!

god...so thick...i give up. *sigh*

whatever u win im usin my old motto again

"no time spent = no time wasted"

Successfully updated karma reason!

god...so thick...i give up. *sigh*

Yes.... you really are, aren't you?

Yes, this is a customization site, and the vast majority of the regulars know WindowBlinds to be the superior product, through experience.

Successfully updated karma reason!

*sigh* that ruined my day

i know very well that windowblinds is the superior product...its pretty obvious

u just dont have to promote it so much...its annoying...

Successfully updated karma reason!

Cavan1

Join Date 08/2004

+173

indeed it does piss me off but its a matter of taking the good with the bad...if i left every site cause of annoyances in the community, i would just rather unplug my internet cable

That is funny coming from the one being the annoyance in this thread

Successfully updated karma reason!

Cavan1

Join Date 08/2004

+173

u just dont have to promote it so much...its annoying...

Stardock makes WindowBlinds, Stardock owns and runs this site, what else would you expect.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1845

OK....you want 'experience' with uxtheme.dll patching?

Here's mine.

TGTSoft went out of their way to disparage the one true alternative to an MS hack [on Deviantart, quite some years ago] by spoofing Users' comments with fake Users to give a false impression of the pros and cons of each.

Their subversive modus operandi aided in the newbie/naive acceptance of it [the hack] as a viable alternative.

The first casualty of the 'debate' was truth. [as is the case in war].

Since then there has been variations of the functionality/adoption of this hack...as a response to the MS updates, namely SP1 and 2 which both proved problematic for what actually gets NO support from MS [as you would expect since it is NOT sanctioned as an approved 'mod'].

The TGTSoft-based sites/forums dealing with the on-going issues such hacking causes appear to be conspicuous in their absence.

Microsoft's indifference to the patching of their proprietary content is NOT tacit condoning/approval of its use, but simply indifference towards something that has [apparently] not been a help-desk-complaint issue sufficienly big enough to become "enough is enough....cease and desist".

For anyone who actively skins for the MS GUI it's a no-brainer that Windowblinds provides far more scope for that skinning it becomes a "why bother with an inferior product/method?" - question.

To sum up...

A patched uxtheme.dll [whatever its implimentation] is both inferior and unsupported by anyone 'qualified' to do so.

The only time this opinion will be deemed inappropriate to the thread poster's question is when other's noses are put out of joint by it due to it being at odds with what they would 'like' to hear.

To clarify, I have been known to 'hack' things and seem to have a love of breaking my OS [just ask yrag]....but cannot even BOTHER to do so [with this] when there is a better alternative...

Am I a 'fanboy'? It sure sounds like it...but oddly enough I am sufficiently sentient to form my own conclusions...and need NOT be part of a gestalt...

Successfully updated karma reason!