Skinstudio7 Windows 7 explorer preview pane

Windows7 explorer preview pane background color

from Stardock Forums

Hi,

Can anyone tell me how to apply color to the Windows 7 explorer preview pane please.

I have looked through the "change colors" section and can see no reference to it.

Any help is much appreciated.

skinstudio
8,176 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

As far as I know, the preview pane and the navigation pane colors can not be changed, that is why I keep them hidden.

Although they can be changed by editing the shellstyle.dll in Windows > Resources > Themes > Aero > Shell > NormalColor, but can be confusing trying to find what you're looking for.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Thanks for the reply Heigar, yes although Skinstidio7 does seem to have the facility to apply an image or a color to the navigation pane background, I could not get it to work and neither could I find a reference to the preview pane

So I used the shellstyle.dll in Windows > Resources > Themes > Aero > Shell > NormalColor as I've often done before and it works fine , however I was hoping Skinstudio7 would make it possible to avoid altering system files.

I could find no clear instruction on how to change the preview pane background color via any system file so I will have to leave it unchanged I guess.

Was really hoping Skinstudio7 would cater for skinning one of the most often seen and used parts of Windows 7 i.e. explorer.

WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

As far as I know, the preview pane and the navigation pane colors can not be changed, that is why I keep them hidden.
End of quote

preview pane cannot be changed, but the navigation pane can.

Edit Vista/7 Explorer Parts > folders bar > extra settings tab. Not very logical since the folders bar doesn't show in Win7 (that I have seen), so it's not a section you are likely to look at when skinning Win7.

Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting borednomore, reply 2
Thanks for the reply Heigar, yes although Skinstidio7 does seem to have the facility to apply an image or a color to the navigation pane background, I could not get it to work and neither could I find a reference to the preview pane

So I used the shellstyle.dll in Windows > Resources > Themes > Aero > Shell > NormalColor as I've often done before and it works fine , however I was hoping Skinstudio7 would make it possible to avoid altering system files.

I could find no clear instruction on how to change the preview pane background color via any system file so I will have to leave it unchanged I guess.

Was really hoping Skinstudio7 would cater for skinning one of the most often seen and used parts of Windows 7 i.e. explorer.
End of borednomore's quote

 

It would be nice to be able to skin Win 7 without resorting to altering system files, I will do a little investigating and testing in shellstyle .dll and see if I can find it and post my discoveries here. I have dug around in there quite a bit before and have paid no attention to finding those color references, but I have managed to play around to get the change your view icon, drop down arrow, show preview pane icon in the command module centered and also got it so the text and icons don't shift when pressed( which is so annoying).