Windows 10: Activate Design Aero Lite

Windows 8 and 10 both include the Aero Lite theme, but you need to enable it first. We'll show you how it's done.

Step 1: Find Aero Lite Theme on Windows

With Aero Lite, among other things, the taskbar and window frames appear a little more prominently. The 3D effects are also eliminated. So Aero Lite is also a bit more resource-efficient.

1. Press the "Windows" and "E" keys simultaneously so that the Explorer opens.
2. Now navigate to the path "C: \ Windows \ Resources \ Themes". Here you will find the "aero.theme" file.
3. Copy the file "aero" (not the folder) and paste it on the desktop again.
4. Change the name here to "aerolite.theme".

Step 2: Get rights for the Aero Lite theme

1. Right-click on the "aero.theme" file on the desktop and select "Properties".
2. Switch to the "Security" tab above and click on the "Edit" button.
3. Now make sure that the rights of the users or groups listed above are set to "Allow".
4. Then close the two windows with the "OK" button.

Step 3: configure Aero Lite theme

1. Right-click on the "aero.theme" file and select "Editor" or "Notepad" under "Open with".
2. In the first paragraph, the third line begins with the command "DisplayName = ....". Change the line to "DisplayName = Aero Lite".
3. Below you will find the line "Path =% ResourceDir% \ Themes \ Aero \ Aero.msstyles". Change this to "Path =% ResourceDir% \ Themes \ Aero \ Aerolite.msstyles".
4. Save your changes and close the file.

Step 4: activate Aero Lite on Windows 8/10

1. Put the changed file "aerolite.theme" back in the original path "C: \ Windows \ Resources \ Themes".
2. If you execute the file with a double click, the Aero Lite design is activated.
3. Note: Right-click on the desktop and select the "Customize" option. Here you can go back to the old design.

In the next practical tip, we will show you how to open multiple desktops in Windows 10.