Q. How can I install the new Energy Blue display theme that's available for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (XP MCE) 2005 and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 on a standard Windows XP machine?

A. Microsoft has created a new theme for the latest XP MCE and XP Tablet PC versions, which you can download at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=86268ffa-70b1-4814-bd00-2d380dc5a89d&displaylang=en. The theme, which is known as Energy Blue or Royale, is included in XP MCE 2005 and can be installed on an XP Tablet PC 2005 system. You can install the theme on a regular XP system by performing this workaround:

1. Open the downloaded windowsxp-tabletpc-energybluetheme-x86-enu.exe file in WinZip (or another program that can extract files from a packaged executable) and extract its content to a local folder--for example, C:\temp\bliss.
2. Create the following folders under the C:\windows\resources\themes folder:
   royale
   
   royale\shell
   
   royale\shell\homestead
   
   royale\shell\metallic
   
   royale\shell\normalcolor
   
   royale\shell\royale
   
   royale\wallpaper
   
3. Copy the royale.theme file that you extracted into the main C:\windows\resource\themes folder.
4. Copy the royale.msstyles file into the \royale subfolder.
5. Copy the shellstyle.dll file into each of the \shell subfolders (royale\shell\homestead, royale\shell\metallic, royale\shell\normalcolor, royale\shell\royale).
6. Copy the energybliss.jpg file into the \royale\wallpaper subfolder.

When you select the Display Properties Appearance tab--which the Figure shows--you'll see two Windows XP style options listed. One of the XP style options includes a Royale color scheme; select this scheme. Then, on the Theme tab, select the Energy Blue theme. Click Apply and OK. Enjoy your screen's new appearance!