Windows XP theme service missing...

[wreck]

I recently had a virus on my computer, which i deleted. Somehow, in the midst of it all, my Windows XP theme was changed to the Windows Classic. So when i went to change it back, in my Display Properties, there wasn't even a 'Windows XP style' theme in the drop down menu. So i went Google searching. I found out that my Theme service may be disabled. So in run i typed "services.msc", and looked for 'Theme' in the services list, but it wasn't there. So now, where i am at is: I got the Windows XP theme back on the dropdown list, but when i select it, it tells me to enable my Theme service, which isn't there. Any help would be appreciated torevert back to my old theme. I miss it dearly .

[vidster]

I believe you need: START/ CONTROL PANEL/ ADMINISTARIVE TOOLS/ SERVICES, make your way down the list to THEMES then right click, select PROPERTIES, then select STARTUP TYPE then select AUTOMATIC.
Now apply and ok your setting and reboot, your themes should be back now .

[wreck]

yea but the thing is, i dont have a 'Themes' service listed there, so i cant go into it's properties lol. anyone else? D:

[Zxian]

Try running System File Checker.

Go to Start->Run and type in "cmd" without quotations.

Insert your WindowsXP CD and hold the shift key to bypass the autorun.

In the command window, type in

sfc /scannow

Windows will scan your current system files and compare them to what they should have been fresh out of install.

Just be warned that if you've been keeping up to date with Windows Update, you'll have to reapply some Updates since SFC will overwrite some of the update files.

If you want to find out more options with the SFC command, simply type it in

sfc
[or]
sfc /?

Hope this helps.

[wreck]

i dont have an XP disc because i built the computer for a Cisco class in school last year. I borrowed a disc and CD key from the teacher (MSDN, legal.) and installed it. lol, i guess i can get another disc soon, but meh.

[vidster]

Looks like you are needing to download some themes from the net!.
Try here:
http://www.deviantart.com/
Or here:
http://www.themexp.com/

There better than the basic xp ones anyway!

[muzai]

I'm having the same problem, can someone please help? I'm deserate..

[witzgeek]

It's an old thread, I know, but I found a quick fix for this one.

Go to a computer where the Themes service is working fine, open regedit and go down to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services. Scroll down until you see Themes. Right click on the key and choose export. Save it to a USB key or shared drive, whatever the broken PC has access to. Copy the exported key to the desktop and double-click it answering yes to all the questions. Restart the computer and the Themes service will be running again.

Make sure to verify that the OS's are THE SAME! I did not test this on any OS other than Windows XP Pro SP2. Hope this helps.