Installing the "Energy Blue" theme on a computer running Windows XP Professional

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Microsoft has released the “Energy Blue” theme (used in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005) for tablet PC users. The theme provides new colours, new effects and a new wallpaper, which according to Microsoft “will give your Tablet a fresh, updated appearance”.

The normal setup mechanism will not allow the update to install on non-Tablet PCs, but as hinted by the Windows IT Pro magazine network WinInfo Daily Update, it is still possible to install the theme on a PC running Windows XP Professional. To do this:

Use a third-party extraction utility (e.g. WinZip) to extract the files within the downloaded file (WindowsXP-TabletPC-EnergyBlueTheme-x86-ENU.exe) to a temporary folder.
Once extracted, copy the files as follows, creating folders as necessary (once all files are copied, the temporary folder created in step 1 may be deleted):
- royale.theme -> %systemroot%\Resources\Themes
- royal.msstyles -> %systemroot%\Resources\Themes\Royale
- shellstyle.dll -> %systemroot%\Resources\Themes\Royale\Shell\Homestead
- shellstyle.dll -> %systemroot%\Resources\Themes\Royale\Shell\Metallic
- shellstyle.dll -> %systemroot%\Resources\Themes\Royale\Shell\NormalColor
- shellstyle.dll -> %systemroot%\Resources\Themes\Royale\Shell\Royale
- energybliss.jpg -> shellstyle.dll -> %systemroot%\Resources\Themes\Royale\Wallpaper
Within the Display Properties select the Energy Blue theme from the drop-down selection on the Themes page. A new Color Scheme called Royale will also be available on the Appearance page.