Firefox 4 feature list finalized; Chrome turns 2 with version 6 released http://su.pr/2rbxt3

Glow Air theme for Windows 7

by Jal on January 26, 2010

Didn’t I tell you that the guys at deviantArt are crazy geniuses? Well, some of them are Winboys too. A deviantArt user kAtz93 made a superb Windows 7 theme called ‘Glow Air’ that caught my attention. Yes, it is a full fledge theme and not a themepack.

Glow Air is for those who seek slick¹ and edgy themes with some extra glare. Glow Air turns windows sharp edged and with extra faded and translucent borders. It flaunts a cool new ‘Start’ button too!

How to install Glow Air theme on Windows 7?

Installation of Glow Air is a bit tricky. Follow these steps:

1) Download Glow Air theme by clicking the link given below.

2) Extract the RAR file to a folder, let’s name it ‘GA’.

3) Now go to ‘GA’ > ‘uxtheme patch’. Here run the UXThemePatcher.exe. [There are two such files. One for Windows 7 x64 and the other for Windows 7 x86. So use it according to your Windows 7 architecture]. This will enable third party themes to be installed on your computer.

3) Now again go to ‘GA’ > ‘Theme’ folder and you will find a ‘Glow Air’ folder and Glow Air.theme file. Copy these two and paste them in ‘C:/Windows/Resources/Themes’.

4) Now go to ‘C:/Windows’. Here, you need to take ownership of ‘explorer.exe’ file. [Don’t know how to take ownership? Read this small tutorial]

5) Once you have taken the ownership of ‘explorer.exe’, rename it to ‘explorer.exe.old’ [This will be your back-up].

6) Now proceed further according to your Windows 7 architecture.

For Windows 7 – x86 (32 bit) users

Go to ‘C:/Windows/System32’, take ownership of ‘Explorerframe.dll’ and rename it to ‘Explorerframe.dll.old’.
Now in ‘GA’ folder, go to ‘System files’ > ‘Explorerframe (x86 Only)’ folder, copy the ‘Explorerframe.dll file and paste it in ‘C:/Windows/System32’.
Again, in ‘GA’ folder, go to ‘System files’ > ‘x86 (32-bit)’ folder, copy the ‘explorer.exe’ file and paste it in ‘C:/Windows/’.

For Windows 7 – x64 (64 bit) users

In ‘GA’ folder, go to ‘System files’ > ‘x64 (64-bit)’ folder, copy the ‘explorer.exe’ file and paste it in ‘C:/Windows/’.

7) Finally, go to ‘C:/Windows/Resources/Themes’ and double-click ‘Glow Air.theme’ to apply the theme.

If at all you find the Start button not properly displayed, restart your PC and hopefully everything will be fine.

Phew! Enjoy!

Download Glow Air theme for Windows 7 / 14 MB

¹ I am much into Alliteration these days.

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

Aditya B. January 27, 2010 at 1:11 pm: Thanks :)
mariano February 10, 2010 at 3:54 am: hey i do everything as your tutorial says but it doesnt work! when i aplly the theme change to the “Clasic Windows” theme.. Please if someone can help me im crazy about this theme i lovew it…!
Jal February 10, 2010 at 4:07 am: Hi mariano, may I know what flavor of Windows 7 you are using? Is Aero enabled? is it 32bit or 64bit?.. I’d be glad to help. :)
mariano February 10, 2010 at 8:44 am: oh! thanks u so much..! :D its W7 ULTIMATE, RTM, yes its aero enabled its 32 bit (i did how the tuto for 32 bits says)
Jal February 10, 2010 at 9:41 am: Ok. Well, as you said on applying the theme, it changes to ‘Classic’ theme, I think you need to install the uxthemepatcher.exe (32 bit). This problem occurs because Windows 7 does not allow 3rd party themes by default. Install uxthemepatcher.exe (32-bit), restart your PC and then try to apply the Glow Air theme. Hope this helps. Let us know if the problem persists.
Alex February 10, 2010 at 4:53 pm: Same problem as ‘mariano’ and I have installed the uxthemepatcher.exe already.
Jal February 10, 2010 at 7:45 pm: @Alex If uxthemepatcher.exe does not work, then use VistaGlazz instead. Here’s the link. Keep the rest procedure same. Hope this helps.
mariano February 11, 2010 at 2:07 am: sorry man, its the same..! i patch and unpatch and nothig T_T
ralph February 28, 2010 at 10:36 am: My start button changed but I don’t have the transparency I should have according to the pictures, someone help me please?????

Windows 7 – 32 bit
Jal March 2, 2010 at 11:32 am: @ralph Are you using Windows 7 Home Basic?? If yes, then it wont support Aero transparency. If your using any other flavor of Windows 7, enable Aero (enable transparency) in ‘Control Panel > Personalization > Window Color and Appearance’
John July 21, 2010 at 6:00 am: I installed the theme and everything works well except for one thing: the start button is not the black and white arrow (>) shape in the picture and instead is simply a white windows icon that is transparent all around it (styled the same way as the power, volume, and connectivity icons). I really like the theme otherwise but the start button remodel is one of the things that drew it to me initially, so is there some way to fix this by chance?

Also, where can I find the image used in the background? The one of the plant leaves? i would love use that as my background also!
Sander August 14, 2010 at 8:30 pm: I’ve used the theme, and with a error that brings me panic!
I’ve installed the new explorer.exe and the explorerframe.dll and renamed the old files.
And if i restart my laptop, with windows 7 Ultimate all of the screen is grey!!!
I’ve opened the taskmanager and tried to open explorer.exe, it says that i don’t get ernough rights!
I’ve clicked on new task and browse and i’ve deleted the special explorer.exe and the explorerframe.dll.
I’ve set the names back and my windows works perfectly! If i use the theme without the special explorer.exe and the explorerframe.dll.
All works perfectly, but my taskbar is the same as the default theme…..
Can anyone help me? I like the theme so much but now i miss the cool taskbar…