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The v4.0.0 release notes say that ThemeTool is removed, and patching style files is no longer needed. I was under the impression that ThemeTool is what SecureUxTheme is, and patching styles is what it does. With these features removed, what exactly does it still do? (And what is the purpose of making ThemeToolSharp separately available?) I tried installing v4 and I don't see anything has changed on my system; I don't see a program to run or anything. |
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The main purpose of SecureUxTheme is being a uxtheme patcher, that is, patching out the signature verification of themes in Windows. For technical reasons, it was easier and more stable to make it allow invalid signatures than to not check themes at all. This is why in addition to having SecureUxTheme installed every style had to have an invalid signature added (“patched”) as well. With 4.0.0 this is no longer required, you can just set unsigned themes. Another feature of ThemeTool was patching out the local (in-process) verification too, however with the new COM proxying (also added in 4.0.0) we can just automagically load SecureUxTheme into any process attempting to set themes, and as such SystemSettings and Personalization works as it always did. All in all, 4.0.0 works just like UltraUxThemePatcher on all but a technical level. As for making ThemeTool available separately: ThemeToolSharp is now simply a program that allows you to do the exact same thing as Settings or Personalization, but also with the various ignore flags. If you have a patcher installed (such as SecureUxTheme or UltraUxThemePatcher) then custom themes will work, if you don’t then they won’t. Installing either or adding invalid signatures is no longer its job, it is simply the theme changer as some people liked that functionality. |
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Okay, cool. So, if I understand correctly, v4 does not have any GUI application because it all just happens automatically with no configuring required? Nice! |
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Correct, neither configuration nor a custom theme changer is required anymore, both just work automatically. The only two possible actions one would ever need to take is installing and uninstalling, which are already served by being an install package now. |
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Is there a way to check whether SecureUxTheme v4 is properly installed/running? (Does it have any running processes?) After a recent Windows Cumulative update, my themes are no longer being applied... |
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With System Informer you can open the properties of winlogon.exe and look for the SecureUxTheme_Loaded named event:
This is how the indicator in old ThemeTool worked, and was never changed. |
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The main purpose of SecureUxTheme is being a uxtheme patcher, that is, patching out the signature verification of themes in Windows. For technical reasons, it was easier and more stable to make it allow invalid signatures than to not check themes at all. This is why in addition to having SecureUxTheme installed every style had to have an invalid signature added (“patched”) as well. With 4.0.0 this is no longer required, you can just set unsigned themes.
Another feature of ThemeTool was patching out the local (in-process) verification too, however with the new COM proxying (also added in 4.0.0) we can just automagically load SecureUxTheme into any process attempting to set themes, and as s…