Weird PC problem -- XP Theme changes at startup

[Devo37]

i'm trying to figure out a weird issue on my pc. recently, when i booted up my pc, about 10% of the time, my desktop theme gets changed. specifically, the desktop appearance gets set to the "Windows XP style" instead of the "Windows Classic style" that i normally use. when it would happen, rebooting my pc would fix the problem.

just a few days ago, it got worse. every time i boot up my pc, my desktop theme is switched to the "XP style" and i have right-click on the desktop, choose Display, and manually restore my saved theme. i also have to restore my Sound settings, as they get reset to the default xp sounds.

i've run every type i scan i have on my pc. i've cleaned up the registry, scanned for various malware, run a full virus-can, etc. nothing seems out of whack. also, i haven't installed anything new recently. i can't figure out what's going on.

anyone run into anything like this???

[CountryBob]

Yeah I have experienced something similar in the past. Sometimes I will find an awesome porn pic and set it as my background for awhile. Well, I had replaced it with a non-porn pic but almost every time I would start my computer - the porn pic would come back. This was embarrasing because my aunt needed to use my computer and she turned it on and BINGO - there was the old pic that I had replaced months before.
NOW... it has not happened for about 6 months - who knows why or why not.

[Gritty]

i'm trying to figure out a weird issue on my pc. recently, when i booted up my pc, about 10% of the time, my desktop theme gets changed. specifically, the desktop appearance gets set to the "Windows XP style" instead of the "Windows Classic style" that i normally use. when it would happen, rebooting my pc would fix the problem.

just a few days ago, it got worse. every time i boot up my pc, my desktop theme is switched to the "XP style" and i have right-click on the desktop, choose Display, and manually restore my saved theme. i also have to restore my Sound settings, as they get reset to the default xp sounds.

i've run every type i scan i have on my pc. i've cleaned up the registry, scanned for various malware, run a full virus-can, etc. nothing seems out of whack. also, i haven't installed anything new recently. i can't figure out what's going on.

anyone run into anything like this???

I haven't seen this particular problem but have you tried running 'MSCONFIG'? If not, run it and turn off all your startup options. Reboot to activate the changes and then keep track of your theme to see if it continues to change. If it stabilizes, run msconfig again and start turning back on startup options one at a time, rebooting and watching until the problem reappears. If it does, whatever the last option you turned on is responsible.

You can use this procedure to turn off system services and the default .ini files that XP needs - system, win and boot.

[MadMatt]

Try going to your 'My Computer' icon, Right Click it and choose 'Manage.'

In the Services Management Console, go to the last section called 'Services and Applications.' Then go to Services. All the services will now be listed in the right part of the screen. Go down to the 'Themes' service, double click it, then Stop the service and choose 'Disable' under 'Startup Type.' Click OK to accept the changes.

I think that should solve the problem.

EDIT: And it won't goof up your current settings. You can still choose your desktop picture, etc.

[Snoogans]

Yeah I have experienced something similar in the past. Sometimes I will find an awesome porn pic and set it as my background for awhile. Well, I had replaced it with a non-porn pic but almost every time I would start my computer - the porn pic would come back. This was embarrasing because my aunt needed to use my computer and she turned it on and BINGO - there was the old pic that I had replaced months before.
NOW... it has not happened for about 6 months - who knows why or why not.

thats fuckin funny shit

[Devo37]

Try going to your 'My Computer' icon, Right Click it and choose 'Manage.'

In the Services Management Console, go to the last section called 'Services and Applications.' Then go to Services. All the services will now be listed in the right part of the screen. Go down to the 'Themes' service, double click it, then Stop the service and choose 'Disable' under 'Startup Type.' Click OK to accept the changes.

I think that should solve the problem.

EDIT: And it won't goof up your current settings. You can still choose your desktop picture, etc.

Nice! i think that did the trick, Matt! A few reboots later and the problem seems to be resolved. :thumbup:

is there anything that ronfez.net can't do???

p.s. gritty, thanks for the suggestion, but i'd already run msconfig and nothing seemed messed up there...

[Gritty]

Nice! i think that did the trick, Matt! A few reboots later and the problem seems to be resolved. :thumbup:

is there anything that ronfez.net can't do???

p.s. gritty, thanks for the suggestion, but i'd already run msconfig and nothing seemed messed up there...

np, bro. Glad you got it fixed. I never would have guessed there was a 'themes' service. Freakin' Microsoft, eh?

[Devo37]

i never would've thought to look there, especially since you can keep all of your 'theme' settings without the theme service running.

several days later and still no problems.

f'n bloated xp. but it's still better than vista!

as a follow-up, any ideas what would've caused this to suddenly happen after a year or so with no problems?

[bnceo]

I had one of these weird XP problems. After a new fresh install of XP a few years ago, I notice that all my folders would default to reverse alphabetical order. ALWAYS! Thought it was the strangest thing. I lived with it for 3 months and went for a fresh format.

Sometimes, silly XP problems just need a fresh format. It might be due for one anyways (I usually do it twice a year).

[MadMatt]

i never would've thought to look there, especially since you can keep all of your 'theme' settings without the theme service running.

several days later and still no problems.

f'n bloated xp. but it's still better than vista!

as a follow-up, any ideas what would've caused this to suddenly happen after a year or so with no problems?

Very glad I could help. :bye:

My guess would be an OS, software, or driver update made things go "wonky." But, you never know - weird stuff just happens sometimes.

Usually it's a software or driver update that has unexpected or unplanned consequences. Kind of like changing something when time traveling - if you go back in time and squish a snake, you might come back to the present to find frogs have taken over Florida. Unexpected and "drastic" consequences from a relatively minor act.

Sometimes programmers can't/don't plan for all of the eventualities.