Find Windows 7’s hidden Desktop themes

To check which themes have been installed with Windows 7, right-click an empty area of the Windows Desktop and select Personalize from the menu. If the default hasn’t been changed, the Desktop will display the standard Windows 7 theme (light blue with swirly lines). It’s nice, but we can do better by picking one of the country-specific themes that are also included. Scroll down to the section in the main window that says United Kingdom and click that to select it.

The first of the UK-specific themes will be displayed, including an attractive wallpaper background – ours shows the standing stones at Stonehenge. Now scroll down to the very bottom of the Personalize window to find and click the Desktop Background icon: this shows all the backgrounds available for the UK-specific themes – a selection of high-quality, high-resolution photos that enhance the look and feel of Windows 7. Switch to a different one by clicking on it and then click Save Changes to use the new image.

Next, click the X at the top right to close the Personalization and have a look at the Windows Desktop. It looks great, but Windows 7 has a guilty secret, as there’s more than one set of country-specific themes hidden away on the hard disk. Open the Start menu and choose Computer. When the window opens, double-click the drive icon where Windows 7 is installed (it’s usually drive C) and then in turn open the Windows folder and then the Winsxs folder. Then type *.theme into the search box at the top right and press Enter.

A list of themes appears, with the ones we’re interested in at the top. We’ve already got GB installed, so let’s have a look at the US themes. To add one to your Windows 7 setup, simply double-click on the theme. This will add it to the Personalize window covered at in the first couple of steps so that we can be activated in Windows 7. Now minimise this Windows Explorer window (because we’ll go back and add any more themes in a moment).

Once the new theme has been double-clicked in the Step 4, Windows 7 opens the Personalize window again and adds it to the theme library. Click the Desktop Background icon again (see Step 2) and the various wallpaper photographs will be displayed in the main window. Pick one by clicking on it and then minimise the window to get a good look. When ready, click on the Personalize thumbnail on the Taskbar to restore the window to the screen.

Make sure the US Desktop background pictures are still on the screen and then click Select All. Notice that the ‘Change picture every:’ setting underneath has become active. Now, it’s possible to have the pictures cycle like a slideshow at pre-determined intervals – just select a delay from the dropdown menu. To play the pictures back in random order, just tick the Shuffle box. Click Save changes to confirm and then sit back and enjoy the show. Add as many of the other included themes as you like in the same way.