Glow Air theme for Windows 7

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.

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Dexonic 5 pts

I installed but just the Start button & the Back and forward changed nothing else . I am on Windows 7 Ultimate and its support Aero transparency , what did i do wrong pleas help

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ogi

it says explorer.exe cant be copied

Jal

You have to take the ownership of explorer.exe. I have mentioned it. Please check the tutorial again.

Marc

I'll give it a try. Thanks a million Jal.

@Marc So you're saying that you don't have the explorer.exe.old backup? That's the only backup you need. If you don't have it then try System Restore to a date prior to Glow Air theme installation date. Hope it helps.

I need some help... I need to literally reverse all the steps that this took me through, so that I can revert back. I forgot to make a back up, thinking I wouldn't need it, and now I'm having a WHOLE bunch of issues with permissions for files, its really slowing down my computer and causing a lot of problems. I love the theme though, and it did in fact work. But the aforementioned tidbits out way the good that its doing. I really hope someone can help.

nathi

i followed the instructions to the core but when i try and start glow air the system says this edition of window does not support the theme. what should i do?

Can you please quote the exact error message that you are getting? Have you disabled Aero transparency?

Sander

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...

John

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!

@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'

ralph

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

mariano

sorry man, its the same..! i patch and unpatch and nothig T_T

Alex

Same problem as 'mariano' and I have installed the uxthemepatcher.exe already.

@Alex If uxthemepatcher.exe does not work, then use VistaGlazz instead. Here's the link. Keep the rest procedure same. Hope this helps.

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)

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.

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. :)

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...!