CodeGazer

In July Microsoft released a patch for Windows Vista to “improve the product activation and validation process”. Some of our VistaGlazz users have reported problems after installing the patch, so I decided to write a post about it.

The KB933928 doesn’t break any of the functionality offered by VistaGlazz. You might encounter problems with custom visual styles based on the Aero visual style. Before KB933928 was applied, Windows Vista didn’t really care about the name of the visual style folder, .msstyles filename and the MUI. After applying KB933928, your visual style folder, .msstyles filename, MUI and folder structure must be correct, or Windows Vista will drop back to classic mode when you try to apply a custom style.

Below you’ll find an example of the improper layout (works in Vista RTM, but not after applying KB933928) and the proper layout (works in all situations).

Improper layout

C:\Windows\Resources\Themes
│ Vista-Classic.theme
│
└───Vista Classic
    │ Vista Classic.msstyles
    │
    ├───en-US
    │ aero.msstyles.mui << wrong!
    │
    └───Shell
        └───NormalColor
            │ shellstyle.dll
            │
            └───en-US
                │ shellstyle.dll.mui


Proper layout

C:\Windows\Resources\Themes
│ Vista-Classic.theme
│
└───Vista Classic
    │ Vista Classic.msstyles
    │
    ├───en-US
    │ Vista Classic.msstyles.mui << right.
    │
    └───Shell
        └───NormalColor
            │ shellstyle.dll
            │
            └───en-US
                │ shellstyle.dll.mui


Thanks to Rafael and the other AeroXP members for pointing this out.

More information:
- Microsoft KB933928
- AeroXP forum post