Best Download Locations for Windows 7 Themes

I will continue our series about to customizing visual aspects in Windows 7 with an article in which I will share some of the most interesting themes which can be found online. Even though there aren't too many great locations for downloading such themes, you can still find some good looking ones to download and install. At the end of the article I'll also show you how to install the themes you download.

Download Locations for Windows 7 Themes

The best site for downloading Windows 7 themes is Microsoft's Personalization Gallery. You can find here a large number of themes with great wallpapers and interesting customizations. Also, you can get all the international themes that Microsoft has to offer, not only the ones hidden in your computer, about which I have discussed in our previous article: How to Unveil Hidden Regional Themes.

intowindows.com also offers 14 new Windows 7 themes. Each of them has different wallpapers, window colors and sounds. I strongly recommend themes 7 and 12, which have some good looking wallpapers.

I couldn't leave aside one of the most artistic sources : deviantART. Even though it doesn't have too many themes, there are some great artists in this community who continuously come up with new content. So, it's worth checking from time to time

Some of the themes, like Windows 7 RED theme even have customized gadgets, apart from the classical wallpaper/window color/sound/screen saver personalization.
Beingmanan.com also offers a theme that contains wallpapers that didn't manage to enter in Windows 7 default themes. This theme is definitely worth installing.
All of these websites offer a way to download their themes, either as a stand-alone *.themepack file or as a *.zip file that will contain also *.themepack -s.

How To Install a Theme

To install the theme you have just downloaded, double-click the *.themepack file. The theme will be saved in the 'My Themes' section from Personalization Control Panel and is automatically applied. Therefore, if you want to, you can delete the downloaded file.

If you modify the theme, an 'Unsaved Theme' is created which contains the initial settings plus your modifications. The original, installed version is kept as a separate theme. To save the newly customized theme, click on the 'Save theme' button. In case you want to delete the initial version you installed, select first another theme and then right-click on the theme you want to delete and select Delete. Further details on customizing Windows 7 themes elements like wallpaper, window color, sound or screen saver, you can find in our article How to Customize Windows 7 themes.

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