Windows 8 Desktop UI - Change Title Text Color?

[rdwray]

I tried Hopachi's:

[Control Panel\Colors] 
TitleText=255 255 255 
InactiveTitleText=255 255 255

and it worked as designed. I also tried the following and every time I put the PC to sleep, it changes back to the original colors:

[Control Panel\Colors] 
Hilight=255 0 0

why? thanks....

 

[Hopachi]

I also tried the following and every time I put the PC to sleep, it changes back to the original colors:

[Control Panel\Colors] 
Hilight=255 0 0

why? thanks....

Can you describe what it changes? I don't see it working at all here.
Thanks.

 

[Hopachi]

I also tried the following and every time I put the PC to sleep, it changes back to the original colors:

[Control Panel\Colors] 
Hilight=255 0 0

why? thanks....

Can you describe what it changes? I don't see it working at all here.
Thanks.

OK. Got it!

Works in HiContrast mode only. You got red colored selected items.

See this example in HiContrast1 but looks bad for the moment.

 

[rdwray]

Hopachi - I did not receive emails on your replies and I just happen to check.

The problem I am finding with High Contrast is that it even messes with Firefox and controls the background on all websites. It looks like the only way to get control of Win 8 is through msstyles like Win 7 and I am not sure I want to dive into that again. I spent months learning and I know Win 8 is totally changed. I tried using Win 7 in Win 8 and that blew up.

 

[Hopachi]

Hopachi - I did not receive emails on your replies and I just happen to check.

The problem I am finding with High Contrast is that it even messes with Firefox and controls the background on all websites. It looks like the only way to get control of Win 8 is through msstyles like Win 7 and I am not sure I want to dive into that again. I spent months learning and I know Win 8 is totally changed. I tried using Win 7 in Win 8 and that blew up.

Yes, hi-contrast looks messy. The only workaround if you use it is by setting a lighter background like the one in default theme. I already applied it to the provided theme in previous post.

But because it looks bad, I don't use it. Most part still needs to be customized or you stick with black and white. I use normal themes and normal AeroLite themes. Unfortunately not all customizations work there so changing the "hilight" is not working in this case.

 

[rdwray]

One thing that I would like for MS to answer is: Why are you so protective of display colors?

The colors they provide are so interactive that you cannot really set them for your "personal" preferences.

 

[drwatz0n]

I was kind of annoyed when I found out they removed this feature from Windows 8. It seems like a no-brainer, but I thought about the reason why. Isn't Windows 8's UI drawn with the GPU? As such, the display color view for the new Aero theme may be in a program and not in the registry/external files. I get that you can adjust the color in the high-contrast theme, or if you patch/install more themes, but I'll keep an eye out for any solutions.

 

[awindowsdummy]

...

aerolite.msstyles ---> Apparently something familiar from Windows 7, honestly not to sure if its exactly the same as Windows 7 Aero Lite But doesn't matter for our case. The only thing that matters is that these are kept in a different repository C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes, have boatloads of color settings defined in the .theme files and text / etc RESPONDS to these settings!!



SO: to change the text, I found it easiest to create a new .theme file out of the color settings from one of the high contrast files, and the majority of the aero.theme file. Going through and comparing the two as I went, and rectifying anything that seemed wrong. Then, simply go through and define your color settings as you see fit.

(NOTE: I didn't have a ready to hand windows 7 theme to grab and compare. it is possible that a favorite windows 7 theme can simply donate its color settings into a modified aero.theme or hc1,hc2,hcwhite.theme.

If taking aero.theme ---> change aero.msstyles ref to aerolite.msstyles

If going from hcwhite.theme file, probably a good idea to change the highcontrast=1 to highcontrast=0, and please for the love of Pete change the colors of the rest of the crap. (this seemed to be simplest)

NOTE 2...
I really only started working on this tonight. I was upset by the fact that I couldn't have white text. SO at this point there is one Caveat to this process. For some reason, Windows explorer (computer) windows, seem to keep their text black. However, in HCWHITE.THEME it is in fact white as it should be. I am working on this on my end, but if someone with more knowledge knows of a difference between that title text, and the other windows title text... let me know.

Hope this helps.

I tried the AeroLite route. In addition to Windows Explorer, the pop-up preview windows for the combined Taskbar buttons also keep their title text black and hard to read with a dark background. Any solutions yet?

 

[rdwray]

You can forget change the title bar through Windows 8 standard parameters including the registry; they will simply change back. Hacking is necessary to make any changes permanent as was in Windows 7. I have not tried in the Windows 8 but there is a lot of stuff that gives info on it.

 

[rdwray]

A little info on patching the uxtheme: I tried to use Safe Mode and it would not activate the display. After trying Safe Mode, I could not any longer boot to the normal desktop until I did a restore...

 

[Hopachi]

A little info on patching the uxtheme: I tried to use Safe Mode and it would not activate the display. After trying Safe Mode, I could not any longer boot to the normal desktop until I did a restore...

That remains unfortunately one of the drawbacks of patching system dll's: if something is changed and doesn't work well afterwards, we need to restore.

Usually simply running sfc /scannow can restore the dlls because backup versions are kept in winsxs folder.

 

[rdwray]

A little info on patching the uxtheme: I tried to use Safe Mode and it would not activate the display. After trying Safe Mode, I could not any longer boot to the normal desktop until I did a restore...

That remains unfortunately one of the drawbacks of patching system dll's: if something is changed and doesn't work well afterwards, we need to restore.

Usually simply running sfc /scannow can restore the dlls because backup versions are kept in winsxs folder.

No problem, I have 2 spare HDD and something like this makes sure they are up-to-date.

BTW: The title bar text color can be changed for most windows other than Explorer using:

[Control Panel\Colors] 
TitleText=255 255 255

[VisualStyles]
Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\Themes\Aero\AeroLite.msstyles
ColorStyle=NormalColor
Size=NormalSize
AutoColorization=0
ColorizationColor=0XC2A15600
VisualStyleVersion=10

Change the ActiveTitleBar with personalization; InactiveTitleBar cannot be changed. Open the theme file in a text editor, here is the path: C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes

 

[Dragon Drop]

You can customize the colors of everything, with no scripts, no third-party software, and no Registry edits. Windows 8 has its own complete color-setup menu. The price you have to pay is simply that your Desktop background will not have a picture. IMO that's a small price.

Your screen doesn't have to be drab and uninteresting just because you use high-contrast mode. As long as you can live without picture backgrounds, you can make a very colorful setup, with all text easy to read, and with the various elements of the Desktop sharply distinguised by the color scheme.

Click the Settings charm; Click "Personalization"; Select one of the high-contrast modes, and then click "Color" at the bottom. You'll get a menu in which you can choose what colors you want for everything. I used these settings:

Theme: "High Contrast Black"
Desktop Background: Black
Window Background: Black
Text: White
Selected Text: Black on Orange
Disabled Text: Light Green
Hyperlinks: Yellow
Title Bar of Active Window: White on Red
Title Bars of Inactive Windows: Black on Light Cyan
Buttons: White on Brown

And here's how it looks.

 

[rdwray]

Watch out for the window buttons (min/norm/max), they will be the same color as the title bar or something else.

Edit: Forgot - will mess with MS Office also.

 

[Hopachi]

BTW: The title bar text color can be changed for most windows other than Explorer using:

[Control Panel\Colors] 
TitleText=255 255 255

[VisualStyles]
Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\Themes\Aero\AeroLite.msstyles
ColorStyle=NormalColor
Size=NormalSize
AutoColorization=0
ColorizationColor=0XC2A15600
VisualStyleVersion=10

Change the ActiveTitleBar with personalization; InactiveTitleBar cannot be changed. Open the theme file in a text editor, here is the path: C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes

We have this:

[Control Panel\Colors]
ActiveTitle=30 30 30
InactiveTitle=51 51 51


InactiveTitleText=160 160 160


GradientActiveTitle=30 30 30
GradientInactiveTitle=51 51 51

Change those to any color you need.

Logically the only thing missing above is ActiveTitleText.

But true, not all of them have the needed effect (one odd example: see Firefox interface when on High Contrast mode, looks more classic than other browsers).

 

[Zaref]

well
it was a pain to read 6 pages of replies
still there isn't anyway to change the color without taking the risk of 3rd party app

 

[rdwray]

Here is a theme that will change the title bar text color to white, but be aware that Windows will overwrite it at time and you may have to re-implement it. Paste the code in a text file and save it as "name.theme".

Check this path to make sure AreoLite.msstyles exists
%SystemRoot%\resources\Themes\AeroRP

; Copyright © Microsoft Corp.

[Theme]
; Landscape - IDS_THEME_DISPLAYNAME_THEME2
DisplayName=White Text
ThemeId={1FD1C34E-913F-4063-9E06-ED59BB152300}

; Computer - SHIDI_SERVER
[CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-109

; UsersFiles - SHIDI_USERFILES
[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\Desktop]
Wallpaper=F:\Backup\Images\Desktop\Wallpaper\Untitled.jpg
Pattern=
MultimonBackgrounds=0
PicturePosition=4
WallpaperWriteTime=130608824609310204

[Control Panel\Colors]
ActiveBorder=180 180 180
ActiveTitle=255 255 225
AppWorkspace=171 171 171
Background=0 0 0
ButtonAlternateFace=255 0 0
ButtonDkShadow=105 105 105
ButtonFace=240 240 240
ButtonHilight=255 255 255
ButtonLight=227 227 227
ButtonShadow=160 160 160
ButtonText=0 0 0
GradientActiveTitle=185 209 234
GradientInactiveTitle=215 228 242
GrayText=109 109 109
Hilight=51 153 255
HilightText=255 255 255
HotTrackingColor=255 0 0
InactiveBorder=244 247 252
InactiveTitle=240 240 240
InactiveTitleText=255 255 255
InfoText=0 0 0
InfoWindow=255 255 225
Menu=240 240 240
MenuBar=240 240 240
MenuHilight=51 153 255
MenuText=0 0 0
Scrollbar=200 200 200
TitleText=255 255 255
Window=255 255 255
WindowFrame=100 100 100
WindowText=0 0 0

[Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]

[VisualStyles]
Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\Themes\AeroRP\AeroLite.msstyles
ColorStyle=NormalColor
Size=NormalSize
AutoColorization=0
ColorizationColor=0XC2A15600
VisualStyleVersion=10

[boot]
SCRNSAVE.EXE=

[MasterThemeSelector]
MTSM=RJSPBS

[Sounds]
; IDS_SCHEME_DEFAULT
SchemeName=Windows Default


[Slideshow1]
Item0=YBgVAIDAgmmAAcOQZABIAkWbndjLqB3ZAAgPAgAAEAw7+mPQ1Ia+AVjoqAAAAQCzBAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQaA0GAnBwNA4CAqBAcAcGAAAAGAAAA

Item1=YBgVAIDA9hVAAcOQZABIAkWbnhjLqB3ZAAgPAgAAEAw7+mPQ1Ia+AVjoqAAAAgCzBAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQaA0GAnBAOA4CAqBAcAcGAAAAGAAAA

Item2=YBgVAIDAImhAAcOQZABIAkWbnljLqB3ZAAgPAgAAEAw7+mPQ1Ia+AVjoqAAAA8CzBAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQaA0GAnBQOA4CAqBAcAcGAAAAGAAAA


[Slideshow2]
Item0=aBAWAIDA2QaAAcOQZABIAkWbnFDMuoGcnBAQAgAAEAw7+mPQ1Ia+AVjoqAAAAY7yBAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQaA0GAnBQMAADAuAgaAAHAnBAAAgBAAAA

Item1=aBAWAIDAI/SAAcOQZABIAkWbnFTMuoGcnBAQAgAAEAw7+mPQ1Ia+AVjoqAAAAY8yBAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQaA0GAnBQMAEDAuAgaAAHAnBAAAgBAAAA

Item2=aBAWAIDAZZeAAcOQZABIAkWbnFjMuoGcnBAQAgAAEAw7+mPQ1Ia+AVjoqAAAA89yBAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQaA0GAnBQMAIDAuAgaAAHAnBAAAgBAAAA

 

[Hopachi]

Check this path to make sure AreoLite.msstyles exists
%SystemRoot%\resources\Themes\AeroRP

For normal users, remove "RP": that was for "Release Preview" version.

Your theme code is tested and works fine.

 

[Hopachi]

well
it was a pain to read 6 pages of replies
still there isn't anyway to change the color without taking the risk of 3rd party app

Not exactly: to keep it simple, switch to AeroLite and no 3rd party is needed. Rdwray just posted an example.
This is however only for titles and a few other options. To complicate it a bit: the rest of colors is changeable in High Contrast Mode custom themes.
Thanks anyway for reading the 6 pages!

 

[Edwin]

@ rdwray :

You may have something here!
I applied the code in the Windows 10 Technical Preview and it's comin up real nice! No glitches so far. Kind of a combination of a high contrast theme and a regular theme! :thumb:
Still fiddling!