1

PLACEBO VISUAL STYLE

for Windows 7 x86 & x64
Created by Solmiler
http://solmiler.deviantart.om


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PLACEBO VISUAL STYLE

#his *is>al Style is for Windows 7. +t has been tested and it?s wor@inA on both 3/ and 64:bit versions. System 2iles
are for Servie &a@ .. Contains nine *is>al Styles: Cold Light< Cold Light 2< Cold Light Zero< Black Market< Black
Market 2< Ashtray

< A!gst< P"re Mor!i!g and #itsch O$%ect.

&E' BO()E(LESS STYLES * (dded borderless version of vis>al styles. 7esription on how to >se them is at the end
of this file.

&E' BASIC STYLES * "ow all vis>al styles have )(S+C theme that an be >sed even if yo>r hardware or Windows 7
version doesnt s>pport (ero.

&E' VE(SIO&S O+ T'O +AVO(ITE STYLES * Cold Light Zero, Cold Light 2 and Black Market 2 aimed for f>ll
ompatibility. Black Market 2 is basially a liAht style b>t with dar@ explorer window and men>s and is free of
problems assoiated with dar@ vis>al styles.

('' Styles s>pport top< bottom and left tas@bar< and have two different fonts: Windows defa>lt SeAoe ,+ and
smaller Calibri font. (ll styles have )(S+C theme as well and an be >sed even if yo>r hardware or Windows 7
version doesnt s>pport (ero.

*
Warning: Ashtray has black background and you are bound to encounter black text on dark background. If you
know how to tweak everything, use Stylish for Firefox etc, you may enjoy it, else ski it, it!s more of an
exeriment. "ecommended for eole who like #dcc look.



-. I&STALLATIO&*

#o >se any 3rd party *is>al Style yo>r system m>st be pathed first. This !eeds to $e do!e o!ly o!ce, so i/ yo"
already ha0e so1e 0is"al styles r"!!i!g S#IP T2IS STEP. ,se U3Style pather it is in Tools +older. Selet the
riAht one for yo>r version of Windows 7 ;3/bit or 64bit=.

.. $xtrat the downloaded file and Ao to C*4...4Place$o $y SolMiler4Place$o4 folder and opy .theme files and
folders from C*4...4Place$o $y SolMiler4Place$o4 to C*4'i!do5s4(eso"rces4The1es4



2




/. Selet the theme from &resonaliBe men>.


2. T2E SYSTEM +ILES



E67lorer/ra1e.dll hanAes the ba@/forward and searh b>ttons in Windows $xplorer.



Shell82.dll hanAes the panes in the Control &anel and is a separate download alonA with 'MPLOC.dll whih
hanAes Alyphs on tas@bar ontrols for Windows 1edia &layer.

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If you are not exerienced with changing system files, don$t change Shell32.dll it only changes control anel ane
and can be a ain to change, and you wont lose much if you ski it unless you are using Black Market or Ashtray,
then it is a must. %he rocedure is the same and can be done along with changing Explorerframe.DLL.

+f yo> don?t want to hanAe the files yo> sho>ld try T2EME (ESOU(CE C2A&9E( ;see below= it hanAes most of it
a>tomatially witho>t replainA system the files.




I&STALLATIO& *




.. )efore yo> beAin reate System 4estore &oint.

/. +f yo> are replainA the system files for the first time yo> will need to ta@e ownership of the files first.
"aviAate to 4...4 Place$o $y SolMiler4Tools4TakeO5!ershi7 and do>ble li@ I!stallTakeO5!ershi7.reg file.

3. "aviAate to 'i!do5s4Syste1824 folder. riAht li@ the e67olorer/ra1e.dll and hoose Take O5!ershi7 from
the riAht li@ men>.

4. (ESTA(T before yo> ontin>e< sine some people had problems with renaminA the files riAht away.


8. 4iAht li@ e67lorer/ra1e.dll file then selet
Pro7erties:Sec"rity:Edit and ma@e s>re that +"ll
Co!trol is he@ed for yo>r >ser ao>nt.























Shell32.dll and WMPLOC.dll can be downloaded form: http://tinyurl.com/c23e8m3
The described process is the same for all the system files. I am replacing explorerframe.dll
In this example, but the steps are the same for shell32.dll and wmploc.dll


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6. 4ename E67lorer/ra1e.dll to E67lorer/ra1e.dll.origi!al and paste the E67lorer/ra1e.dll from 4...4 Place$o
$y SolMiler4E67lorer/ra1e4 to C*4'i!do5s4Syste1824. 1a@e s>re that yo> >se the riAht version for yo>r system.
+f yo> >se 3/ bit Windows >se the file form folder named C6;<C. (lso >se the one that orresponds to the *S.

7. <=>BIT 'I&)O'S ? USE(S O&LY naviAate to C*4'i!do5s4Sys'O'<=4 folder< ta@e ownership and replae
E67lorer/ra1e.dll fo>nd there 5ith 82 $it 0ersio! from 4...4 Place$o $y SolMiler4E67lorer/ra1e4...46;<.

8. 4estart and $nDoy.




8. T2EME (ESOU(CE C2A&9E(

+f yo> donEt want to hanAe the files man>ally yo> an install The1e (eso"rce Cha!ger. "aviAate to 4Place$o $y
Sol1iler4Tools4The1e (eso"rce Cha!ger4 and install riAht version for yo>r system. +t will hanAe start b>tton<
naviAation b>ttons in Windows $xplorer and panes in Control &anel< a>tomatially when yo> selet the theme. +t
doesnEt hanAe everythinA that man>al replainA hanAes< tho>Ah.

#heme reso>re hanAer >ses files from folders that are loated within the vis>al style folder. +nside every vis>al
style folder yo> will find the folders named

Fexplorer.exeG H >sed to hanAe the start orb
Fexplorerframe.dllG H >sed to hanAe naviAation b>ttons
Fshell3/.dllG H >sed to hanAe ontrol panel panes

+f yo> want to >se another reso>re while #heme reso>re hanAer is wor@inA< say yo> wo>ld li@e to >se different
start orb< Ao to the folder of the &laebo *S that yo> are >sinA and rename Fexplorer.exeG to FexplorerG. +t is the
same for other two< D>st delete the extension< and if yo> want to >se it aAain later< revert the hanAe






=. (AI&METE( TAS#BA( S2A)O'

#o >se the 4ainmeter s@in for the tas@bar shadow< yo> will of o>rse need 4ainmeter . (fter yo> install the s@in all
yo> have to do is plae it C!n 7es@topC and move it >nder the tas@bar. +t ontains shadows for both vertial and
horiBontal tas@bar.








64-bit files go to System32 folder and 32-bit files go to SysWOW64 folder


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@. BASIC VE(SIO&

(ll &laebo *is>al Styles have been >pdated to offer f>ll s>pport for basi< non aero enviroment. "ow yo> an >se
&laebo *is>al Styles even if yo>r hardware or Windows 7 doesnEt s>pport (ero.
#o >se the Basic version:

.. +nstall the &laebo *S normally by followinA the desription above<

/. then Ao to Place$o $y SolMiler4?. Basic The1e +iles4 and opy the .the1e file that yo> want to >se< and paste
it to the C*4'i!do5s4(eso"rces4The1es4 .


<. T(OUBLES2OOTI&9

<.- I+ YOU( )ES#TOP LOO#S LI#E 'I&)O'S CLASSIC

: +f for any reason after applyinA the vis>al style yo>r windows reverts to basi style< 5o to TOOLS folder: Place$o
$y SolMiler4Tools4 and install U6Style.

: +f yo> already have it b>t s>ddenly windows reverts to Classi theme instead (ero< yo> will need to ,ninstall the
U6Style from Co!trol Pa!el4Progra1s a!d +eat"res4< and then Ao to Place$o $y SolMiler4Tools4 and install
U6Style.


<.2 +I3 +O( T2E SMALL BUTTO&S I& I&TE(&ET E3PLO(E(

#here is a @nown b>A in +$ that ma@es b>ttons really small with vis>al styles that >se speifi font for b>ttons. #o
fix it 5o to #ools I +nternet !ptions I (dvaned tab. ,nder the )rowsinA setion remove he@ mar@ from C$nable
vis>al styles on b>ttons and ontrols in webpaAesC li@ !6.


<.8 +I(E+O3 > )A(# TE3T I& ME&US

+f yo> >se 2irefox with A!gst or #itsch O$%ect yo> Aet bla@ font on dar@ ba@Aro>nd< +t an be fixed with:
Place$o $y Sol1iler > )ark 1e!"s Light +o!t* htt7*AAti!y"rl.co1A8/h6!1t
+nstall it alonA with Stylish if yo> donEt already have the (dd:on.
























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<.= +I(E+O3 > )A(# TE3T I& +I(E+O3 BO3ES

+f yo> >se 2irefox with Ashtray yo> Aet bla@ font on dar@ ba@Aro>nd in text boxes< it an be fixed with:
Place$o $y Sol1iler > Ashtray 5hite te6t $o6es* htt7*AAti!y"rl.co1A8d5h6c6
+nstall it alonA with Stylish if yo> donEt already have the (dd:on.




<.@ +I(E+O3 > ME&U +I3 +O( BLAC# MA(#ET 2

(ltho>Ah both listed fixes solve the readablity problem< ative seletion is white. #his >serstyle has dar@ ative
item font to ompliment the seletion style.
Place$o $y Sol1iler > Black Market 2 Me!"s* htt7*AAti!y"rl.co1A<<$2a@!
+nstall it alonA with Stylish if yo> donEt already have the (dd:on.





<.< +I3 T2E CAPTIO&BMI&, MA3, CLOSEC BUTTO&S




+f somethinA li@e this happens when yo> apply the vis>al style go to:
Co!trol Pa!el4All Co!trol Pa!el Ite1s4)is7lay and he@ if 7&+ is set to CSmaller .%%J;defa>lt=C

#hen Ao to:
Co!trol Pa!el4All Co!trol Pa!el Ite1s4Perso!aliDatio!4'i!do5 Color a!d A77eara!ce4Ad0a!ced a77eara!ce
setti!gs and set ative title bar heiAht to /..




<.? '2E& USI&9 )I++E(E&T STA(T O(B IT (EVE(TS TO PLACEBO

#heme reso>re hanAer >ses files from folders that are loated within the vis>al style folder. +nside every vis>al
style folder yo> will find the folders named

Fexplorer.exeG H >sed to hanAe the start orb
Fexplorerframe.dllG H >sed to hanAe naviAation b>ttons
Fshell3/.dllG H >sed to hanAe ontrol panel panes

+f yo> want to >se another reso>re while #heme reso>re hanAer is wor@inA< say yo> wo>ld li@e to >se different
start orb< Ao to the folder of the &laebo *S that yo> are >sinA< and rename Fexplorer.exeG folder to FexplorerG. +t
is the same for other two< D>st delete the extension< and if yo> want to >se it aAain later< revert the hanAes.







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?. BO()E(LESS STYLES

)orderless versions of plaebo vis>al styles offer more !S9 li@e experiene. #here are fo>r borderless *is>al styles
based on Cold 'iAht< &>re 1orninA< (nAst and 6itsh !bDet. #0ey have SeAoe ,+ and Calibri font versions and
s>pport )!##!1 and #!& tas@bar plaement. #ho>Ah they loo@ better then reA>lar Windows styles there are few
short>mminAs that Ao with >sinA borderless styles. Some of them anEt be fixed< li@e plaement of Caption bar
text too lose to the left edAe< or narrow top frame on web browsers< b>t some an be fixed and here is how:

4(1/video memory yo> will have to >se this tool.

?.- 2I)E BLU(

#o eliminate the bl>r aro>nd the edAes of windows Ao to TOOLS folder and >se 2ideBl"r. +f yo> have never
pathed bl>r before r>n Patch 82>$it Syste1 +iles.$at ;or 64 dependinA on yo>r system=. +t needs to be done oly
one. (fter that r>n )isa$le Bl"r.$at to remove the bl>r< or E!a$le Bl"r.$at to revert it to normal Alass bl>r.




I recommend you to use this tool even if you are using regular &lacebo '(, not only borderless styles, or with
any non)transarent '(. Aero is not heavy on the resources since it uses grahic hardware instead of *&+.
,isabling blur and colori-ation is ractically the only tweak you can do that will increase the erformance.
,isabling transarency in control anel doesn$t do anything erformance wise, so if you want to free some
"A./video memory you will have to use this tool.



?.2 TAS#BA( ICO& BLA&#E(

Sine #itles and ions are too lose to the edAe when >sinA borderless styles< >se this >tility to hide the titlebar
ion. Simply r>n the $9$ file and enDoy the minimal loo@.
#o Aet the ions ba@< open #as@ 1anaAer ;by riAht:li@inA on #as@bar and selet C#as@ 1anaAerC or by pressinA
CCtrlKShiftK$sC @eys toAether= and $nd #as@ of C#)ar+on)lan@er.exeC.
-o> an add its short>t to CStart>pC folder in (ll &roArams men> to start it a>tomatially with Windows.


;. C(E)ITS*

+ wo>ld li@e to than@ )a0eSe!ior2E-E< Mr9(iME- and (a%Thee$a!F@ for all the help and @nowledAe they share.
(lso speial thans to Ether for all the amaBinA wallpapers she reates.

Created $y Sol1iler
Lice!sed "!der a Creati0e Co11o!s Attri$"tio!>&o!co11ercial>&o )eri0ati0e 'orks 8.E Lice!se.