Theme errors

Trickydude · Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 2

I downloaded an 8E theme, put it in the right folder (Themes), went to Preferences on MWS, clicked it, then clicked OK. It then said "initializing" and shut off the program. No theme change.

Any way to fix this?

nshamas · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 83

Yeah, use a different theme and forget the 8E theme.

Trickydude · Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 2

Never mind, I solved it... turns out I had to edit a registry key for some reason. Thanks for replying, anyway. Very Happy

rallyrob · Joined: 23 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

How did you fix this what key did you edit? I am having the same problem I have downloaded about 4 different theme and all the same result.

Huggybaby2 · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 37

It makes sense to look at the official forums sometimes. From the FAQ at Magi-soft forums:

Why Does MWS Periodically Crash When I Change Themes?

"MWS will crash when changing themes sometimes, it's a MWS bug. The solution is to change themes from outside of MWS. You can do this by editing the theme entry in the registry." -- Huggybaby

How Do I Edit The Registry?

1. Make sure MWS is closed before continuing. If MWS is open when you make changes to the registry, MWS will need to be restarted for any of those changes to take affect.
2. Press Windows Key + R.
3. Type "regedit" and click OK.
4. The window that will pop up will look very familiar to Windows Explorer. Simply navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Magic Workstation
5. Double click on "Active Theme" and type in the name of the theme you want to use. Make sure the name you type is spelled exactly the same way as the theme file and be sure not to include the .mwTheme extension.
6. When your finished typing click OK and the change should take effect immediately

So Every Time I Want To Change Themes I Have To Edit The Registry?

Technically yes. However, with the use of .reg files you can make changes to the registry instantly simply by double clicking on a file. To make a .reg file:

1. Make sure MWS is closed before continuing. If MWS is open when you make changes to the registry, MWS will need to be restarted for any of those changes to take affect.
2. Press Windows Key + R.
3. Type "notepad" and click OK.
4. Copy the following two lines of text into notepad:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Magic Workstation]
"Active Theme"="THEME"
5. Change THEME to the name of the theme you want to be able to switch to.
6. Click on the File drop down menu and choose Save As...
7. Name the file whatever you want but be sure to give it a .reg extension. Example: TimeSpiral.reg
8. Now all you have to do is double click on the .reg file you created and the Active Theme key will be changed in the Registry.