How to hack the uxtheme.dll???

Lonman

Bleh!
Joined
2 Dec 2001
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What needs done where to get it to run unsigned themes? I don't use the themes that come with Styles XP, but I still use a hacked Luna theme. Figure I might like this more then having to buy something i'm only using for that purpose - to hack that file.

NE1?
 
Got this awhile back from another site I believe so no credit to me =o)

You can bypass Windows checking if themes are signed, by patching uxtheme.dll yourself. That is,
if you're comfortable with a hex editor.

Here's the changes necessary
- At offset 0x00009C27, change "02" to "00";
- At offset 0x0000B624 to 0x0000B629, change the string "0F 8C 80 00 00 00" to
"90 90 90 90 90 90";
- At offset 0x0000B6BB to 0x0000B6C2, change the string "81 EC 80 00 00 00 56 57" to
"33 F6 8B C6 C9 C2 08 00";
- At offset 0x0000B71E and 0x0000B71F, change the string "7C 38" to "90 90".
 
you'd need to get hex workshop or another suck program and they will be in uxtheme.dll then doa ctrl+F in hex workshop to find the offset and change it's value
 
lol, i just uninstalled styles xp, and all my themes work fine!!! even with a reboot...

I wonder why that happened...any ideas?
 
I'm just kidding. I want to learn how to do it. I don't think it's real difficult and I'd probably forget to save it in another XP life anyway, lol. Thx though. :D
 
Existenz...if you had a version of stylesXP on your comp before version 4 all it did was hack the uxtheme...but seeing as MS was coming down on them since it was considered reverse engineering that is why they changed it to a memory resident patch

so if ya ever had any version before 4, you have a hacked uxtheme on ya comp and no longer really need stylesxp!

heheh
 
Hmmmm. You know what? I have an older version of StylesXP :D .

I guess that makes my original question moot.

One more question though. How can I tell what version of StylesXP I have?
 
open up the tgtsoft directory and run the stylesxp executable and see what ver it says :)
 
Nope. That doesn't work for some reason. I ran the setup again and it gave me no version number. I popped it open with Resource Hacker and I 'think' it's version 1.0> :D

It's the one that warns about the uxtheme.dll hack so I'm good to go.
 
If you want to use style builder, it requires that styles xp be installed on your system also. It won't install without it. Having just a hacked uxtheme.dll won't help you in this case
 
HOWTO

Here's a complete guide on how to hack your uxtheme.dll file. NOTE1: You don't have to do this if you have already installed an older version than the 4.0
NOTE2: If you still want to use StyleXP Email TGT, tell them you were using their beta software, and that it expired. They've always maintained that all betas will be free, so they should give you a registration key to fix the problem. Either that or just download the newest beta. They've also promised to always release a new beta before the old one expires. Either way - you should not have to pay a cent and hopefully you can get it fixed quickly.

Source NeoWin
1) Backup UxTheme.dll to UxTheme.000

2) Don't blame me if you screw this up, these directions are as is in their somewhat correctness and I am not responsible for the government raid that will happen if you conduct this change. I have tested this and it works for me and the 500 other folks who have used this method. Do not put tinfoil in the microwave.

This is very simple to do and amuonts to changes to 17 values and takes less than five minutes to do. This also assumes you don't have StylesXP installed on your system and that you are working with the original UxTheme.dll

3) Open UxTheme.000 in a hex editor, not resource hacker.

4) Replace the following 4 sections in the hex code with the values I provide. You will need to use the

search function in the editor to find the exact address within the file to perform each edit

Adress: 0x00009C27
Original: 02
New Value: 00

Address: 0x0000B624 --> 0x0000B629
Original: 0F 8C 80 00 00 00
New Value: 90 90 90 90 90 90

Adress: 0x0000B6BB --> 0x0000B6C2
Original: 81 EC 80 00 00 00 56 57
New Value: 33 F6 8B C6 C9 C2 08 00

Address: 0x0000B71E --> 0x0000B71F
Original: 7C 38
New Value: 90 90


5) Check your changes, make sure you did not use the letter O in place of zero. SAVE

6) Reboot to safe mode (press F8 before the bootup-screen appears and choose boot to safe-mode), rename UxTheme.dll to UxTheme.bak ... and rename UxTheme.000 to UxTheme.dll
"
Download hex-edit program here: http://www.diplodock.com/program/hep.zip
 
Thank you VERY much andyp. I've never edited a hex before... I'm used to leaving those(and the evil-eye) alone after they've been delivered, but in this case maybe a little voodoo is in order. :p
 
sweet!!!

heehee.

I don't use stylebuilder, so I uninstalled StylesXP!

Now, I don't need it :D
 
This seems to work. (I wish to heck I knew what I was doing!) One note, for those who tried this and failed to find the 'offset' strings mentioned, just search for the last 4 digits, ignore the 0x0000 stuff, for example:

Where you're told to search for...

0x00009C27

...just search for the 9C27. We newbies are clueless! :confused:

- Micah
 
Ok, decided to put out the hacked dll here as well! Enjoy...
Remember that you have to run in safe mode to replace the dll.
 
can you still add themes once you've got the hacked uxtheme.dll and got rid of Styles XP?
 

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