Currently there are not many third party Windows 8 themes are available but developers are working on it and you will soon see many such themes. So you want to install a theme other then what Microsoft offers, but how? Just like previous editions of Windows, you won’t be able to install any third-party visual styles/themes in Windows 8 directly. But don’t worry; there are ways to bypass this restriction easily.
Install Third-Party Visual Styles/Themes in Windows 8
All you need to do to install third party themes is to patch a few files and you’re good to go. You don’t need to do this manually and there are some tools available that can do that for you.
Before proceeding forward, we would recommend you to create a system restore point so that you can revert back your changes if you want to.
UltraUXThemePatcher is one such tool that that will modify system files so that you can install third-party themes. One feature of this program is that it will backup the original system files before making any changes to them.
This tool is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows 8 (for 32bit and 64bit versions).
Another tool for such purpose is the UxStyle for Windows 8 but it is still in experimental stage.
These tools are very easy to use and all you need to do is to simply click on the appropriate button on the program. Once you patch the OS, restart your computer.
Now you can copy the theme files to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes. From your desktop, right click and then select Personalise and you should now see the new theme listed there. Select it and apply it as your theme.
This way you can install themes other than what Microsoft offers. Go ahead, try it now and install any themes that you want.
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