How to Customize the Windows 7 Taskbar Skin

   Information

Here’s something for those, who are stuck with the Basic skin, and don’t like the default Taskbar appearance...

...but would rather have it look different:

Unfortunately, the Basic Taskbar appearance can't be changed thru settings, but requires you to alter the image files it's based on. This said, as the images are only a few pixels big, it's not difficult at all.

STEP ONE

Preparation

1. Download the Uxtheme patch in order to use these modifications.
WARNING: Make sure you download the right files! As always, make backups of the files you alter, as there’s always a chance to break something. Especially when messing around with system files.

2. In there you’ll need the 829.png to 832.png and 990.png to 993.png files. For build 7229, you'll need the 841.png to 844.png and 1010.png to 1013.png files instead.
NOTE: I created a little overview. Here you can see, where the images are used.

3. Apply the Uxtheme patch (If not already done before).

4. Take ownership of aero.msstyles (so you can overwrite it).

5. Create a backup of aero.msstyles.

STEP TWO

How to Edit

1. Open your aero.msstyles backup with Resource Tuner (or a comparable tool)

2. Extract the image files.

3. Modify the file(s) to your liking.

4. In Resource Tuner select Edit Resource to add the edited image.
NOTE: The file name has to be the same as the original file.

5. Select Save File as and create a copy of aero.msstyles somewhere

6. Replace the old file with the newly created one

7. Change to a different Scheme and back to apply your settings

Enjoy!

   Tip

I have attached the plain black bar in a ZIP file below for those who want to see what it looks like without having to edit something. Click on the Download button below to download the ZIP file.

Download