I have installed a fresh copy of Windows Server 2012 and when I go to
Control Panel > Appearance > Display > Color and Appearance
it states 'This page is not available in this edition of Windows'. The version I installed is the latest from MSDN subscriber downloads and is listed under Computer Properties as 'Windows Server 2012 Standard'. I can change the desktop background color, but not the colors of the window borders. The only 'schemes' available are 'Windows Basic' and then 4 even uglier 'High Contrast' schemes.
It's not a huge deal, but looking at the ugly baby blue window borders all the time is giving me a headache. Why would such a simple setting 'not be available'?
bigmacbigmacI'd like to reinstall the S.O., Windows Server 2012 Foundation ROK the client dont have the instalation CD. Where i can download ISO to reinstall the Operating system. I have the serial number of the server, and the key of the operating system. Nov 26, 2014 Windows Server 2012 Setup https. So if you have a WSUS server set up, make an exeption or disable that GPO for that server otherwise DISM will not be able to download required files with the /online switch.
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8 Answers
You'll need to enable the 'Desktop Experience' feature to get the desktop parts (color schemes, 3d graphics, windows media player etc). We do this on our terminal servers. You might have to force users into using a defined style - this can be done via the local group policy or in a regular domain based GPO.
Below screenshot comes from here.
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pauskapauska18.2k44 gold badges5050 silver badges7575 bronze badges
In case you don't want to install 'Desktop Experience', you can change the color scheme with registry entries in
You cannot modify specific colors there, but change overall scheme like the windows GUI allows you to do.
ColorizationColor
ColorizationAfterglow
(not sure about this one)
Colors are set in HEX-format including alpha channel. The initial (blue) value is
0xc055c9ed
where c0
is for alpha.For example, change the color (leave the alpha channel alone) to
0xc0eac754
(orange), and after a reboot you'll see the following color scheme:Linus CaldwellLinus Caldwell
If you don't want to install the Desktop Experience feature (and you should think twice about it, as it also installs a bunch of apps), there is another option that's a bit limited but might work: the High Contrast color schemes.
You see, the colors of the Basic scheme are actually customizable, but the controls to do so are only visible if you select one of the high-contrast color schemes.
Before:
After:
Unfortunately, in their infinite wisdom, Microsofties don't allow you to customize all of the colors, so this approach definitely involves some trade-offs. In particular, the taskbar color is not directly customizable. But I still seem to prefer a tweaked high contrast scheme to the default, without the risks of installing Windows Media Player and AVI codecs on my servers.
RomanStRomanSt
I have searched the Web for a simple utility and found, Aero 8 Tuner.
It seemed to have one simple function, to customise the colour. I tried to download it but the page said the program was superseded by Winaero Tweaker, so I downloaded it instead.
It did not have any installer so I could just click to run it. It showed an exception dialogue about the absence of Windows SAT, but I could just ignore it by clicking continue.
![Windows server software Windows server software](http://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/images/fotolife/y/yoshiyoshifujii/20130902/20130902170633.png)
I navigated to Appearance -> Sync Metro/Aero Color, and then clicked Change both colors at once. And voilà, the awful colour was gone instantly, without the need of installing thousands of the Desktop Experience components and system restart. And I can do it again, if I come to hate the colour in the future.
Damn VegetablesDamn Vegetables
Colors can be changed via PowerShell without installing Desktop Experience or messing around manually with regedit.exe. For example I chose the following three color schemes for my servers:
Colors have to be set as integers. You can convert RGB hex color value to integer using PowerShell:
Ville SalonenVille Salonen
You need to install Desktop Experience . Just open your Powershell and execute these commands to install ::
To install the Server Graphical Shell with Windows PowerShell, use the following commands:
To install Desktop Experience with Windows PowerShell, use the following commands:
To install Media Foundation with Windows PowerShell, use the following commands:
To uninstall the Server Graphical Shell with Windows PowerShell, use the following commands:
Thats it! After executing restart. You will find 'Personalize' after click on Desktop and you can also enable Audio. Cheers!!!!
user3479901user3479901
in server 2012 R2 after installing desktop experience You can change colors of windows
integratorITintegratorIT
It's a server. You actually already gave the answer yourself with this line:
'This page is not available in this edition of Windows'
Servers are ment for remote administration, so therefore it makes no sense to actually program those features into the core of the OS.
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