I have 3 Media Center PCs in my home, two of which I proudly built myself. What I love about Windows 7 Media Center is that it is even easier to use than Vista Media Center, rather than new functionality being added just for the sake of it.
One feature that I was hoping would be improved in Windows 7 Media Center was better theme support. Unfortunately this isn’t so, but over at Theme7MC they are creating a list of some great 3rd party themes for Windows 7 Media Center. The gallery below has a few images to whet your appetite:
Windows Media Center has never looked so good! Installing a Windows 7 Media Center Theme is easy if you follow these instructions:
Installing themes with installers
- double-click to begin the installation process then follow the directions on-screen to complete the installation.
- Once you’ve completed the installation process you will most likely need to run a shortcut to enable the new theme.
- Find the theme’s start menu listing in Start -> Programs and locate the shortcut to enable the theme.
- Then right-click the shortcut and select “Run As Administrator”.
- Once the process begins a black window and a patch dialog will appear. Double check to be sure that the two input dialogs point to “C:\windows\ehome\ehres.dll” (this location make be different depending on the location of your Windows installation) and press “Start”.
- Once the process has completed successfully, restart your Media Center.
Installing themes with patches
- Before installing a theme that uses a patch you should backup your “ehres.dll” file. Open Windows Explorer and browse to “C:\Windows\ehome\” and find “ehres.dll” then copy this file to a safe location. Make sure you now have two copies of this file before continuing, one in the original location and one in a safe location.
- To install a theme that comes with a patch file you must first make sure you have ownership of the ehres.dll file located in “C:\Windows\ehome\” (This location may vary depending on the location of your Windows installation). To do this first download and execute the own.reg file located here.
- Then open Windows Explorer and navigate to “C:\Windows\ehome\”. Find the “ehres.dll” file, right-click and select “Take Ownership”. If you do not see “Take Ownership” listed you haven’t installed the own.reg file correctly.
- Once you have ownership of the “ehres.dll” file, run the .exe patch file included in the theme download as an administrator by right-clicking the file and selecting “Run as Administrator”. Make certain that the two input dialog boxes say “C:\Windows\ehome\ehres.dll” (Again, this location may vary depending on the location of your Windows install) then press “Start”. When the patch process completes restart your Media Center.
Enjoy!
