Fix for Themes Service Startup Problems in Windows 7

When you start your Windows 7 computer, the Themes service may not automatically start although its Startup Type is set to Automatic. And when you attempt to start the service manually using Services MMC, one of the following errors may occur.

Windows could not start the Themes service on Local Computer.

Error 126: The specified module could not be found.

Error 1313: A specified privilege does not exist.
Error 2: The system cannot find the file specified.

As a result, Aero features do not work on the computer. Here is how to fix the Themes Service in Windows 7.

Fix the Themes Service

Themes Registry Fix

Copy the following contents to Notepad, and save the file as “themesvc.reg”. Then, double-click the .reg file to apply the contents to the registry.



Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Themes]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Themes]
"Start"=dword:00000002
"DisplayName"="@%SystemRoot%\\System32\\themeservice.dll,-8192"
"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
"Group"="ProfSvc_Group"
"ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\
74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\
00,76,00,63,00,68,00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2d,00,\
6b,00,20,00,6e,00,65,00,74,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,73,00,00,00
"Type"=dword:00000020
"Description"="@%SystemRoot%\\System32\\themeservice.dll,-8193"
"ObjectName"="LocalSystem"
"RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,41,00,73,00,73,00,69,00,67,00,6e,00,50,\
00,72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,79,00,54,00,6f,00,6b,00,65,00,6e,00,50,00,\
72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,44,00,65,\
00,62,00,75,00,67,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,\
00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,6f,00,6e,00,61,00,74,\
00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00
"FailureActions"=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\
00,01,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,01,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Themes\Parameters]
"ServiceDllUnloadOnStop"=dword:00000001
"ServiceMain"="ThemeServiceMain"
"ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,\
00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\
74,00,68,00,65,00,6d,00,65,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,2e,\
00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00

Restart Windows and see if the Themes service starts correctly. If that does not help, try to start the Themes service manually and note down the error code/message. Meanwhile, see if running the System File Checker helps.

Running the System File Checker

System File Checker merely makes sure that all system files are where they should be. The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

Open an elevated Command Prompt window. To do so, click Start, then type cmd in the Start Search box. In the results area, right-click cmd.exe, and then click Run as administrator. You will be prompted to type the password for an administrator account. Click Continue if you are the administrator or type the administrator password. Then, click Continue.

At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER.

sfc /scannow

The scan may take some time to complete. Windows will repair any corrupted or missing files that it finds. If required, Windows may prompt you to insert the Operating System CD.


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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

10 thoughts on “Fix for Themes Service Startup Problems in Windows 7”

  1. didn’t work for me; surely I’m not the only one; however you are not showing others that this didn’t help…how one-way is this?

    Reply

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