How-to Enable Hidden Themes in Windows 7

One of the improvements in Windows 7 is the multiple choices and new way of organizing the Personalize section of the Control Panel. Among the new things is out of the box support for themes. A theme is a set of desktop backgrounds, window color, sounds and screen savers. There are several themes included with Windows 7 as you can see from the screenshot below.

Since I chose to install the English language version of Windows 7, but with Norway and Norwegian as my choices for location and keyboard layout those are the options available to me in the RC. After having roamed around the net, I knew there to be additional localized themes somewhere in the OS. Enabling these are quite easy, and I will lay out the procedure here in 5 easy steps:

Step 1: Folder Options

Open up the Start menu and start to type Folder Options in the search pane. The Folder Options should be the first result, now hit enter to open it up.

Choose the View tab and select to Show hidden files, folders and drives. Then unselect Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). Click Apply

Step 2: Open up Explorer

Open up Explorer and browse to C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT . In this hidden protected system folder you will find this;

Step 3: Select the Themes you want.

Each one of those folders; AU, CA, GB and ZA contains localized information as well as themes for those countries. Navigate your way into each one, open the Themes folder and doubleclick on the Windows Theme File. That theme is now activated, and will be available for you under Your Themes in the Personalize section of the Control Panel.

Step 4: Open Folder Options and redo your choices there.

Go back to the Folder Options and make sure you now select Don’t show hidden files, folders and drives, and that you select Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) and then click Apply

Step 5: Open up Personalize and Choose Your Theme

Right click anywhere on the desktop and choose Personalize from the right-click-menu that appears. If you double-clicked and all available localized themes in the MCT folder in step 3 your Personalize section should look something like this now;

Voila!