Custom Windows 7 Taskbar

Programs
UxStyle
HxD
Resource Hacker I use 64-bit

Change taskbar button font color
the default is white i wanted to change it to black
1. go to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Aero

2. make a copy of aero.msstyles, that way you can work with the copy

3. open aero.msstyles in hex editor

4. go to hex address 35840 and change the color from FF FF FF to color of your choice, i did black which is 00 00 00

Change taskbar date/time font color
1. go to hex address 39D78 and change the color from FF FF FF to color of your choice

2. save and close

Change taskbar color
the color of the taskbar is determined by a PNG file located inside of the aero.msstyles file. before you can edit the file you need to extract the file from aero.msstyles

1. open aero.msstyles in Resource Hacker

2. go to IMAGE\841\1033

3. Action > Save [IMAGE : 841 : 1033]

4. the file should only be 3 pixels height by 1 pixel wide, its only the bottom pixel that needs to be changed (i changed the color to silver C0C0C0)

5. after editing the picture right click on the original resource inside of resource hacker and choose "Replace Resource..."

6. Resource Type is "IMAGE", Resource Name is "841", you can leave Resource Language blank, then hit "Replace"

Apply the Custom Theme
1. rename C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Aero\aero.msstyles to aero-old.msstyles

2. rename new file to aero.msstyles

3. log off and back on

4. right click on desktop and choose "Personalize"

5. choose "Windows 7 Basic" under "Basic and High Contrast Themes"

Links

sevenforums.com/customization/24620-change-taskbars-font-color.html
sevenforums.com/tutorials/4315-taskbar-customize-skin.html
windows7center.com/forums/useful-guides/1878-how-change-colour-windows-7-basic-2.html
winmatrix.com/forums/index.php?/topic/14250-tutorial-hex-editing-vista-visual-styles