Background color in Windows Explorer

[D. Arlington]

I cannot find any way to change the background color in
Windows Explorer. Is there some way to do it in Vista?

 

[Gordon]

I cannot find any way to change the background color in
Windows Explorer. Is there some way to do it in Vista?

AFAIK there never HAS been any way to do this.
Is there some reason why you would want to?

 

[SC Tom]

I cannot find any way to change the background color in
Windows Explorer. Is there some way to do it in Vista?

I don't know about Vista, but it can be done in Windows 7. Unfortunately,
you have to choose a Basic or Classic theme for it to work.
Right-click on your desktop and pick Personalize. Click on Windows Colors
near the bottom, then on Advanced appearance settings... Once there, you can
change backgrounds, toolbars, fonts, etc.

This has been available in all versions of Windows since 3.1 that I know of.
Don't know if 3.0 had these options- I only used it for a few weeks before
changing to 3.1.

 

[Gordon]

I don't know about Vista, but it can be done in Windows 7.

But only if you use a Basic Windows theme. If you use Aero then those
functions don't apply...

 

[SC Tom]

But only if you use a Basic Windows theme. If you use Aero then those
functions don't apply...

And if you had continued reading instead of jumping on one line, you would
have seen that's what I said. And I quote;

"I don't know about Vista, but it can be done in Windows 7. Unfortunately,
you have to choose a Basic or Classic theme for it to work."

 

[Char Jackson]

I don't know about Vista, but it can be done in Windows 7. Unfortunately,
you have to choose a Basic or Classic theme for it to work.
Right-click on your desktop and pick Personalize. Click on Windows Colors
near the bottom, then on Advanced appearance settings... Once there, you can
change backgrounds, toolbars, fonts, etc.

This has been available in all versions of Windows since 3.1 that I know of.
Don't know if 3.0 had these options- I only used it for a few weeks before
changing to 3.1.

The background color for applications seems to be a global setting, so
changing it affects (nearly) every application, not just Windows
Explorer. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[SC Tom]

The background color for applications seems to be a global setting, so
changing it affects (nearly) every application, not just Windows
Explorer. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

No, you are correct. I assumed (maybe incorrectly) that the OP realized
that.

 

[D. Arlington]

I don't know about Vista, but it can be done in Windows 7. Unfortunately,
you have to choose a Basic or Classic theme for it to work.
Right-click on your desktop and pick Personalize. Click on Windows Colors
near the bottom, then on Advanced appearance settings... Once there, you
can change backgrounds, toolbars, fonts, etc.

I did Vista but what you're describing doesn't change the background inside
the folders in W-7 where I need to turn white to a color. So I must need to
change it to Basic Theme. How do I select the "Basic Theme" in W-7?

 

[D. Arlington]

But only if you use a Basic Windows theme. If you use Aero then those
functions don't apply...

How can I tell of it's in Basic Theme or Aero?

 

[D. Arlington]

The background color for applications seems to be a global setting, so
changing it affects (nearly) every application, not just Windows
Explorer. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

You are correct where Vista is concerned. I need to find how to change W-7
to Basic Theme. I have no idea where to look. ???!?!?!???

 

[D. Arlington]

I don't know about Vista, but it can be done in Windows 7. Unfortunately,
you have to choose a Basic or Classic theme for it to work.
Right-click on your desktop and pick Personalize. Click on Windows Colors
near the bottom, then on Advanced appearance settings... Once there, you
can change backgrounds, toolbars, fonts, etc.

You can't change the backgrounds in folders in W-7. It does not work in
W-7 under Basic or Classic themes. Just another bitter disappointment in
W-7. For images in my folders, the folder must have a colored background to
see which images have transparent backgrounds and which don't. Why on earth
is MS removing all these things people use? What is the point? Now I
can't even use W-7 for my Imaging work. >:-(

 

[Roy Smith]

I did Vista but what you're describing doesn't change the background
inside the folders in W-7 where I need to turn white to a color. So I
must need to change it to Basic Theme. How do I select the "Basic
Theme" in W-7?

Simple... just right-click an empty space of your desktop and choose
Personalize. Then in the themes, just scroll down to find the basic
theme. Though I think what you want is really called Windows Classic
and not the Windows Basic theme.


--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Professional
Thunderbird 3.1.9
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 5:46:52 AM

 

[Roy Smith]

Here it is in case someone else asks. I'm going to try it on W-7 when I
get a chance. I needed it colored to see which pictures needed a
transparent background. You can't tell with a white background in the
folders.

Changing the background color of windows. Great for looking at images.

Windows Vista

* 1

Click the "Start" menu on the desktop and click the "Control Panel."
* 2

Click "Appearance and Personalization" and click "Personalization."
Click "Window Color and Appearance" and select the toolbar color you want.
* 3

Click the "Open classic appearance properties for more color options"
link to change the Windows Explorer background color. Click the
"Advanced" tab and select "Window" on the "Item" box. Click the "Color
1" button and select the color you want to use for Windows Explorer.
Click "OK" to save the changes and click "OK" again.
* 4

Click the "Start" menu and click "Computer" to launch Windows Explorer.
You should see your new background color.

That does work, though the process is slightly different:

1. Right-click on a blank area of the desktop and select Personalize.

2. Click on Window Color at the bottom of the window.

3. Click on Advanced appearance settings...

4. In the item drop-down menu select Window, then in the Color 1
drop-down menu choose your desired color.

So basically it' the same it's just a few of the names have been changed.


--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Professional
Thunderbird 3.1.9
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 6:02:01 AM

 

[SC Tom]

You can't change the backgrounds in folders in W-7. It does not work in
W-7 under Basic or Classic themes. Just another bitter disappointment in
W-7. For images in my folders, the folder must have a colored background
to see which images have transparent backgrounds and which don't. Why on
earth is MS removing all these things people use? What is the point?
Now I can't even use W-7 for my Imaging work. >:-(

Don't know what version Windows 7 you have, but it works just fine on Home
Premium 32-bit

 

[Char Jackson]

You can't change the backgrounds in folders in W-7. It does not work in
W-7 under Basic or Classic themes. Just another bitter disappointment in
W-7.

There are bitter disappointments? Granted, there are some things
that are different, but I don't know about bitter disappointments.

 

[Paul]

There are bitter disappointments? Granted, there are some things
that are different, but I don't know about bitter disappointments.

I wouldn't try it, but if you want something like that bad
enough, third party tools can do it. I tried a search on
Windows 7 Themes and "change folder background" and there is
an application here that will mess up your folders for you.

http://windows7themes.net/how-to-change-folder-background-in-windows-7.html

http://aveapps.com/AveFolderBg.zip (181KB)

Comments here, that it's glitchy in Windows 7. Wikipedia claims the
feature was removed in Windows 7, to add background images. A background
image of a single color would perform the equivalent of changing
the color of a folder.

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/117191-usb-background.html

(Derivative work based on Andreas Verhoeven's VistaFolderBackground.dll DLL from
AveFolderBg.zip . I didn't download anything here for a look.)

http://leewhittington.deviantart.com/art/AveFolderBG-For-Windows7-32Bit-166914444

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_7

"The new items view control also ignores certain desktop.ini parameters
like IconArea_Image and IconArea_Text preventing users from setting a
background picture for folders. In Windows Vista, this feature was not
built-in, however the list view control supported this if shell extensions
or folder customization utilities which set the correct desktop.ini
parameters and attributes were installed."

I'd do a complete backup before trying something like that, and
if anything bad happens, just wipe and restore

This is a claimed picture of a folder after it's been modified. You could
just as easily make a folder picture consisting of a single color.

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachments/hardware-devices/104171d1286923576-usb-background-capture.jpg

The more "locked down" an OS is, the harder it is to have fun with it.

Paul