• SwitchToWindowsClassicStyle

Switching to Windows Classic style when locked

One client has an annoying habit of locking me out of Windows Classic style on the desktop.

The best way to fix this seems to be to make several Windows registry settings by hand using regedit. See this page for reference: http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/1076/

Go to:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Add or modify the following keys:

    DWORD NoColorChoice = 0
    DWORD NoSizeChoice = 0
    DWORD NoVisualStyleChoice = 0
    String SetVisualStyle = %SystemRoot%\resources\themes\Windows Classic.theme

Another way to fix this is through the Group Policy manager. I found that this only works inconsistently, so I don't recommend it.

• Run gpedit.msc
• Navigate to: User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar\Force Classic Start Menu
• Right click on Properties and choose Enabled
• Navigate to: User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Display\Desktop Themes\Load a specific visual style
• Right click on Properties and choose Enabled
• Make sure to leave the theme blank, which chooses the default "classic" theme.

Another way is to go through that entire Desktop Themes folder and disable everything.

Here is one reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc782067(WS.10).aspx