How to install Windows 7 theme in Ubuntu Linux ?

Many of the Ubuntu users like to change the default Ubuntu themes eventhough it has an awesome theming system. Try to visualize Windows 7 on your Ubuntu system. Yeah, It looks pretty awesome with its transparency. Win 7, It will not deliver you an exact look of Windows 7 but it will be closer enough.

How to install Win 7 theme ?

Open your terminal window and paste the below commands

cd ~/

sudo wget http://web.lib.sun.ac.za/ubuntu/files/help/theme/gnome/win7-setup.sh

sudo chmod 0755 ~/win7-setup.sh

~/win7-setup.sh

These commands will download the theme file and prompt you to start the installation process. Click on ‘OK’ button to continue.

After that a pop up window will get opened and ask you to press ‘Yes’ if you want to continue the process. Installation process will depend on your internet connection speed. Be patient for some time. A new window will be shown.

Click ‘OK’ and open the terminal window again and paste the below text.

setup-win7-theme

Win 7 theme starts running on your system. A few seconds later you will be asked to log out and login to complete the set up process. Do it. You are done. Enjoy Win 7 theme.

How to uninstall Win 7 theme ?

If you are not satisfied with this Win 7 theme you can restore your old theme in simple steps. There is no automatic uninstallation for win 7 theme. Open the home folder. You can see a file named ‘win7-uninstall.tar.gz’. Open that file using your archive manager and there you can find your home folder. Double click on it. There is a file named ‘.gconf’. Extract that file to your home folder. Logout and login for completing the process.

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Comments

Tassadar says:

April 24, 2011 at 11:12 pm

After running win7-setup.sh it comes up with:

[: 48: 1: unexpected operator
[: 74: =: unexpected operator

and says “Please use the Gnome desktop for the Win7 theme installation”

Recommendations?

Reply
- Zxeen says:
  
  April 25, 2011 at 2:28 pm
  
  Are you tried this installation on Ubuntu ?
  
  Reply
SteveHolt says:

May 1, 2011 at 8:48 pm

I got this same error. I logged into Ubuntu classic and ran the script.

Reply
Zxeen says:

May 2, 2011 at 1:34 am

@SteveHolt
Try this

mkdir -p $HOME/Downloads/win7
wget http://web.lib.sun.ac.za/ubuntu/files/help/theme/gnome/win7.tar.gz -O $HOME/Downloads/win7/win7.tar.gz
tar -xzvf $HOME/Downloads/win7/win7.tar.gz
echo “Downloaded and extracted theme tarball: `date`.” >> $LOG

And if you already have the downloaded tar.gz file, Move it to the home directory and try this

# Action 1 – Get the theme tarball downloaded and extracted
mv /home/**Yours**/Downloads/win7/win7.tar.gz $HOME
tar -xzvf $HOME/win7.tar.gz
echo “Downloaded and extracted theme tarball: `date`.” >> $LOG

(Update: I wrote ‘mv’ twice. Corrected already.)

Reply
SteveHolt says:

May 2, 2011 at 5:39 pm

@Zxeen

That gets the theme tarball but it doesn’t fully install the theme like the other script did.

Reply
SteveHolt says:

May 2, 2011 at 6:06 pm

@Zxeen

Now I get these errors:

Setup gtk theme.
I/O warning : failed to load external entity “/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/desktop-gnome-interface.xml”
Failed to open `/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/desktop-gnome-interface.xml’: No such file or directory
Error setting attribute: Setting attribute metadata::custom-icon not supported

Setup desktop background.
I/O warning : failed to load external entity “/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/desktop-gnome-background.xml”
Failed to open `/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/desktop-gnome-background.xml’: No such file or directory

Setup Nautilus.
I/O warning : failed to load external entity “/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/apps-nautilus.xml”
Failed to open `/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/apps-nautilus.xml’: No such file or directory

Setup mouse.
I/O warning : failed to load external entity “/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/desktop-gnome-peripherals.xml”
Failed to open `/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/desktop-gnome-peripherals.xml’: No such file or directory

Setup sounds.
I/O warning : failed to load external entity “/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/desktop-gnome-sound.xml”
Failed to open `/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/desktop-gnome-sound.xml’: No such file or directory

Setup the bottom panel.
I/O warning : failed to load external entity “/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/apps-panel.xml”
Failed to open `/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/apps-panel.xml’: No such file or directory

Setup misc

Setup Gnomenu.
I/O warning : failed to load external entity “/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/apps-gnomenu.xml”
Failed to open `/usr/local/etc/win7-theme/apps-gnomenu.xml’: No such file or directory

Reply
- Zxeen says:
  
  May 3, 2011 at 2:28 am
  
  I would be more specific, It is a small part of the script. You need to replace that code in the main script. No problem leave that all. Remove all the previous ones and start from the beginning. Here is the whole script.
  Before using the below one make sure you have the tar.gz file in your home directory(/home/**yours**/Downloads/win7/win7.tar.gz.). In this script i wrote **yours** in #Action 1, change it your your local folder name.Post If there is something wrong happened.
  
  #!/bin/bash
  # After a clean Ubuntu installation this script installs the Win7 theme.
  # It installs all the Windows 7 theme files globally so that they are available to all users.
  # It sets up a Gnome Windows 7 theme script.
  # It installs software to make Ubuntu on campus “fully loaded”.
  
  # Setup variables
  RELEASE=`lsb_release -cs`
  LOG=”$HOME/.win7-setup.log”
  OFF_CAMPUS=”Y”
  ARCH=`uname -m`
  
  # Prep 1 – Remove previous theme tarball and folder
  if [ -d $HOME/win7 ] ; then
  rm -rf $HOME/win7
  fi
  
  # Prep 2 – Backup gconf settings
  tar -f win7-uninstall.tar.gz -cvz $HOME/.gconf
  clear
  
  # Check 1 – Is Zenity installed ?
  if [ -x /usr/bin/zenity ] ; then
  echo “Zenity installed: `date`.” >> $LOG
  zenity –info \
  –width=600 \
  –no-wrap \
  –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” \
  –text=”The win7 theme installation will start now.\n\nPlease maxmise and watch the terminal in case you are needed to answer questions.”
  else
  clear
  echo “Please install zenity.”
  sleep 2
  exit 1
  fi
  
  # Check 2 – Is the system on the campus network ?
  sudo ifconfig | grep “146.232″
  if [ $? == 0 ] ; then
  OFF_CAMPUS=”N”
  echo “System is on campus: `date`.” >> $LOG
  else
  OFF_CAMPUS=”Y”
  echo “System is off campus: `date`.” >> $LOG
  fi
  
  # Check 3 – If on campus can we ping http://ftp.sun.ac.za
  if [ $OFF_CAMPUS = "N" ] ; then
  echo “Checking network connection to campus ftp server.”
  sleep 1
  ping -c 2 http://ftp.sun.ac.za
  if [ $? == 0 ] ; then
  echo “ftp.sun.ac.za ping OK: `date`.” >> $LOG
  else
  echo “ftp.sun.ac.za ping failed: `date`.” >> $LOG
  zenity –error –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” –text=”Network error.\n\nPlease check network connection and proxy settings.\n\nAborting installation.”
  exit 1
  fi
  else
  echo “No need to check campus ftp ping. The system is off campus.” >> $LOG
  fi
  
  # Check 4 – Ubuntu release version
  if [ ! $RELEASE == "lucid" ] ; then
  zenity –info –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” –text=”This theme only works with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.”
  echo “Unsupported $RELEASE: `date`.” >> $LOG
  exit 1
  else
  echo “$RELEASE Ok: `date`.” >> $LOG
  fi
  
  # Check 5 – Desktop session
  if [ $DESKTOP_SESSION = "gnome" ] ; then
  echo “Gnome desktop OK: `date`.” >> $LOG
  else
  zenity –info –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” –text=”Please use the Gnome desktop for the Win7 theme installation.”
  echo “Gnome desktop not OK: `date`.” >> $LOG
  sleep 2
  exit 1
  fi
  
  # Check 6 – Get installation permission
  zenity –width=600 –no-wrap –question –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” –text=”All Win 7 theme checks are complete.\n\nAre you sure you want to continue ?\n\nClick No to cancel or Yes to continue.”
  if [ $? == 0 ] ; then
  echo “Win7 installation accepted by $USER: `date`.” >> $LOG
  else
  echo “Win7 installation refused by $USER: `date`.” >> $LOG
  clear
  exit 1
  fi
  
  # Action 1 – Get the theme tarball downloaded and extracted
  mkdir -p $HOME/Downloads/win7
  mv /home/**yours**/Downloads/win7/win7.tar.gz $HOME/Downloads/win7
  tar -xzvf $HOME/Downloads/win7/win7.tar.gz
  echo “Downloaded and extracted theme tarball: `date`.” >> $LOG
  
  # Action 2 – Setup software sources
  sudo rm -f /var/lib/dpkg/lock
  sudo rm -f /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
  sudo dpkg –configure -a
  if [ $OFF_CAMPUS = "N" ] ; then
  ## On campus sofware update
  wget http://web.lib.sun.ac.za/ubuntu/files/deb/ubuntu-za-maties-$RELEASE.deb
  sudo dpkg -i ubuntu-za-maties-$RELEASE.deb
  sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list /tmp/
  sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list
  zenity –info –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” –text=”Your system software will be updated first, press Ok to continue.”
  gconftool-2 -s /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch –type bool false
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo update-manager
  gconftool-2 -s /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch –type bool true
  gconftool-2 -s /apps/update-notifier/regular_auto_launch_interval –type int 0
  sudo cp /tmp/*.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
  echo “Maties Ubuntu software sources installed: `date`.” >> $LOG
  else
  ## Off campus sofware update
  zenity –info –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” –text=”Your system software will be updated first, press Ok to continue.”
  gconftool-2 -s /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch –type bool false
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo update-manager
  gconftool-2 -s /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch –type bool true
  gconftool-2 -s /apps/update-notifier/regular_auto_launch_interval –type int 0
  echo “Using original installed Ubuntu software sources: `date`.” >> $LOG
  fi
  
  # Action 3 – Install required software
  if [ $ARCH = "x86_64" ] ; then
  sudo aptitude install libc6-i386 ia32-libs
  echo “Installed 32 bit libraries for 64 bit system: `date`.” >> $LOG
  fi
  
  sudo apt-get –yes install \
  davmail \
  emerald \
  evolution-mapi \
  lightning-extension \
  ntp \
  python \
  python-software-properties \
  python-xdg \
  python-cairo \
  python-gconf \
  python-xlib \
  thunderbird
  echo “Installed required win7 theme software: `date`.” >> $LOG
  
  # Action 4 – Install theme software
  
  ## Install Gnomenu
  sudo apt-get –yes –force-yes remove gnomenu
  sudo dpkg -i $HOME/win7/debs/gnomenu_all.deb
  echo “Installed Gnomenu software: `date`.” >> $LOG
  
  ## Install Talika
  if [ $ARCH = "x86_64" ] ; then
  sudo apt-get –yes –force-yes remove talika
  sudo dpkg -i $HOME/win7/debs/talika_amd64.deb
  echo “Installed 64 bit Talika software: `date`.” >> $LOG
  else
  sudo apt-get –yes –force-yes remove talika
  sudo dpkg -i $HOME/win7/debs/talika_i386.deb
  echo “Installed 32 bit Talika software: `date`.” >> $LOG
  fi
  
  ## Install gtk2-oria engine
  if [ $ARCH = "x86_64" ] ; then
  sudo apt-get –yes –force-yes remove gtk2-engine-oria-amd64
  sudo dpkg -i $HOME/win7/debs/gtk2-engine-oria_amd64.deb
  echo “Installed 64 bit gtk2-engine-oria software: `date`.” >> $LOG
  else
  sudo apt-get –yes –force-yes remove gtk2-engine-oria-i386
  sudo dpkg -i $HOME/win7/debs/gtk2-engine-oria_i386.deb
  echo “Installed 32 bit gtk2-engine-oria software: `date`.” >> $LOG
  fi
  
  # Action 5 – Install theme files
  cd $HOME/win7
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/share/icons/ -xzvf win7-icons.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/icons/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/icons/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/share/fonts/truetype -xzvf win7-fonts.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/fonts/truetype/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/fonts/truetype/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/share/sounds/ -xzvf win7-sounds.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/sounds/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/sounds/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Menu/ -xzvf gnomenu/menu/win7.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Menu/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Menu/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Button/ -xzvf gnomenu/button/win7.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Button/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Button/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Icon/ -xzvf gnomenu/icon/win7.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Icon/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Icon/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Sound/ -xzvf gnomenu/sound/win7.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Sound/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/gnomenu/Themes/Sound/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/share/themes/ -xzvf win7-gtk.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/themes/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/themes/
  
  sudo cp backgrounds/* /usr/share/backgrounds
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/backgrounds/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/backgrounds/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/local/etc/ -xzvf win7-emerald.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/local/etc/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/local/etc/
  
  sudo cp -R /usr/local/etc/win7-emerald/win7/ /usr/share/emerald/theme/
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/share/emerald/theme/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/share/emerald/theme/
  
  sudo tar -C /usr/local/etc/ -xzvf win7-theme.tar.gz
  sudo chown -R root.root /usr/local/etc/
  sudo chmod -R 0777 /usr/local/etc/
  
  sudo cp $HOME/win7/setup-win7-theme.sh /usr/local/bin/setup-win7-theme
  sudo chmod 0755 /usr/local/bin/setup-win7-theme
  sudo chown root.root /usr/local/bin/setup-win7-theme
  echo “Installed win7 theme files: `date`.” >> $LOG
  
  # Action 6 – Inform user of win7 setup readme file
  cp $HOME/win7/win7-read-me.html $HOME/Desktop/
  zenity –info \
  –width=450 \
  –no-wrap \
  –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” \
  –text=”The Windows 7 theme files have been installed.\n\nAn instruction web page has been copied to your desktop folder.\n\nDouble click on it to find out how to setup the Windows 7 theme for your Ubuntu desktop.”
  
  ## Ask the user about installing extra software ##
  zenity –question \
  –width=600 \
  –no-wrap \
  –title=”Windows 7 Theme Setup” \
  –text=”The installation can continue to install extra software to make Ubuntu fully loaded.\n\nThis is not essential for the Windows 7 theme setup.\n\nClick No to cancel or Yes to continue.”
  if [ $? == 0 ] ; then
  echo “Extra software installation accepted: `date`.” >> $LOG
  rm -f $HOME/win7-setup.sh
  sudo chmod 0755 $HOME/win7/install-extra-software.sh
  sudo $HOME/win7/install-extra-software.sh
  exit 0
  else
  echo “Extra software installation refused: `date`.” >> $LOG
  rm -f $HOME/win7-setup.sh
  exit 0
  fi
  
  Reply
Maverickz says:

June 20, 2011 at 3:37 am

The cause of the problem is that the desktop session is not being reported as Gnome. The simple fix is to edit the win7-setup.sh file and search for the following line:

[ $DESKTOP_SESSION = "gnome" ]

and change it to:

[ $DESKTOP_SESSION = "gnome-classic" ]

Reply
Indy says:

June 27, 2011 at 2:55 pm

Does this work in ubuntu 11.04? I tried it and it seems to get stuck when it tries to display the Taskbar, the mouse pointer just stays “busy”. I’m trying it in Virtualbox.

Thanks

Reply
Shaharyar says:

July 1, 2011 at 10:55 am

100% tested

This does really work on a newly installed ubuntu 11.04….. You gotta follow the step told in this website….. For an hour you will have to wait, ubuntu will give you errors again and again…….. restart your computer and wait for almost an hour (this depends on speed of your machine), until the windows 7 taskbar loads……..

At start you will be embraced but waiting is the key……

right-click and select “add to panel” first select “window list” then select ” Main Menu”……. remember all these have to be selected from “add to panel”

From the main menu click on terminal and paste this in it:

tar -xzvf $HOME/win7-uninstall.tar.gz

login and log-out by this method ubuntu the Win 7 theme adujst somehow in ubuntu…..

then go on desktop and right-click select change background and select Theme
and the then select custom and your done………

Although this will not be exactly as same as Win 7 theme it becomes a beautiful theme

here is how my ubuntu now looks like:

http://www.mediafire.com/i/?v39t3v78ircgq1e

Reply
Shaharyar says:

July 1, 2011 at 12:02 pm

100% tested

This does really work on a newly installed ubuntu 11.04….. You gotta follow the step told in this website….. For an hour you will have to wait, ubuntu will give you errors again and again, the taskbar won’t load…….. restart your computer and wait for almost an hour (this depends on speed of your machine), until the windows 7 taskbar loads……..

At start you will be embraced but waiting is the key……,

right-click and select “add to panel” first select “window list” then select ” Main Menu”……. remember all these have to be selected from “add to panel”

From the main menu click on terminal and paste this in it:

tar -xzvf $HOME/win7-uninstall.tar.gz

login and log-out by this method ubuntu the Win 7 theme adujst somehow in ubuntu…..

then go on desktop and right-click select change background and select Theme
and the then select custom…. afterwards click on customize and select icons… from icons select “win7″ and your done

Although this will not be exactly as same as Win 7 theme it becomes a beautiful theme

here is how my ubuntu now looks like:

link 1:
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?v39t3v78ircgq1e

link 2:
(different view)
http://www.mediafire.com/?bbcs111omlnw609

and here is how the browser looks:

http://www.mediafire.com/i/?blc9xb6ub2crada

Reply
Shaharyar says:

July 1, 2011 at 12:03 pm

@Shaharyar

this works 100%
the above comment was incomplete so i wrote again

Reply
rashid says:

July 29, 2011 at 3:09 pm

this works 100%
i like this thank you

Reply
hamslaai says:

August 7, 2011 at 5:45 pm

http://www.ubuntu.sun.ac.za/wiki/index.php/W7_Theme

Reply
Thomas Plura says:

August 13, 2011 at 8:22 am

This doesn’t work, it crashed my OS. Now I don’t have the Taskbar or anything else except the desktop and a error messages looping all the time…
And I can’t uninstall this theme, I tried from the GUI and from the Terminal with CTRL+ALT+F1…

Reply
Fahddubish says:

October 19, 2011 at 12:36 pm

How ti install it as a local user ? Thanks.

Fahd
111019

Reply
Uffe says:

November 21, 2011 at 8:31 pm

i can’t get it to work on a 11.10?
any one have the sorcerer stone ?

Reply
umesh_chintech says:

March 19, 2012 at 10:02 am

how can i uninstall this skin theme??

Reply
rkr911 says:

September 7, 2012 at 1:03 am

Uninstall Theme-
Type below Command on Terminal-

rm -rf .gnome .gnome2 .gconf .gconfd .metacity

and restart your linux(Tested on Ubuntu 9.10)

Reply
e-man says:

September 30, 2012 at 5:09 pm

Hi,
I have met some difficulties with installation of W7 look in ubuntu 12.04 or latest. I did try as mentioned on the start:
cd ~/
sudo wget http://web.lib.sun.ac.za/ubuntu/files/help/theme/gnome/win7-setup.sh
sudo chmod 0755 ~/win7-setup.sh
~/win7-setup.sh

Almost all look well till click on “OK” at window “windows 7 theme setup…”
Than I have got message I am not in gnome…
Can somebody explain, what gnome is there else?
I would suppose UBUNTU has GNOME (easy and full installation without changes by installation).
What a hell it does mean? Ufff…
A bit curious behaviour of UBUNTU by embarrasingly simple situation..
Help me please..
Eman

Reply
Ubuntu 12.4.1. LTD says:

October 20, 2012 at 4:02 pm

Hi,
this does not work in Ubuntu Ubuntu 12.4.1. LTD (ubuntu-12.04.1-desktop-i386.iso)
Tried it on virtual machine V-BOX

You have to edit the downloaded file: win7-setup.sh
find in the text:
[ $DESKTOP_SESSION = "gnome" ]
and change it to:
[ $DESKTOP_SESSION = "gnome-classic" ]

Howerver, after “successfull installation” nothing happened
No win7 themes installed….

In Termnal I got a error message: Metadata not found

Any advice?

Reply
- wellu says:
  
  November 17, 2012 at 12:36 pm
  
  Having the same problems with 12.4.1 LTS
  Installed olf Gnome sessions “sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback”
  
  I did edit the win7-setup.sh
  find in the text:
  [ $DESKTOP_SESSION = "gnome" ]
  and change it to:
  [ $DESKTOP_SESSION = "gnome-classic" ]
  
  I get the succesfull installation message, logout and back in and nothing is changed!?! There is no win7 theme if I check the Dekstop Appearance
  
  Reply
  - alivallo says:
    
    November 20, 2012 at 6:13 pm
    
    Same here. No change after install.
    
    Reply
linneighborhood says:

December 5, 2012 at 8:25 pm

I am also getting the same on 12.04……… anyone has success to install it.
but it sayd installation successful.

Reply