How to change Office 2003 colors in Vista Ultimate?

[MoosieAZ]

I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and moved my Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to be using the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office 2003 color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

I'm not sure what you're saying. I use Word 2003 in Vista Ultimate, and it
uses the system scheme. The title bar is "glass" (except when maximized, but
that's true of Office 2007 and other applications, as well).

What is it that you're not seeing that you expect to be seeing?

Open WordPad, Notepad, and Word 2003, and contrast their colors. Here, they
all use the identical scheme -- as do all other applications I run in Vista.
What differences do you see?

 

[MoosieAZ]

Thanks for your reply Herb. When I open any Office 2003 application, the
basic window colors are the ugly Windows XP blue that is set by default to
the Windows XP color scheme. In my old XP Pro system I had changed the color
scheme to Silver and all the Office apps followed suit, as the help files
indicate.

In my new Vista Ultimate system the machine color scheme is set to Windows
Aero, yet the Office apps maintain the ugly Microsoft Blue. Notepad and
Wordpad both are using the Aero scheme. I'm hoping someone comes up with a
registry change for Office 2003 to alter the base color set used in Vista.

I'm not sure what you're saying. I use Word 2003 in Vista Ultimate, and it
uses the system scheme. The title bar is "glass" (except when maximized, but
that's true of Office 2007 and other applications, as well).

What is it that you're not seeing that you expect to be seeing?

Open WordPad, Notepad, and Word 2003, and contrast their colors. Here, they
all use the identical scheme -- as do all other applications I run in Vista.
What differences do you see?

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and moved my
Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to be using
the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office 2003 color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

I stuck a couple of demonstration screen shots showing Word 2003, WordPad,
and Notepad... here:

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2007/08/11/demonstration-for-moosieaz/

Notice that all use the aero glass display.

So... what you want is what you should be getting by default... if I'm
understanding you correctly.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Thanks for your reply Herb. When I open any Office 2003 application, the
basic window colors are the ugly Windows XP blue that is set by default to
the Windows XP color scheme. In my old XP Pro system I had changed the
color
scheme to Silver and all the Office apps followed suit, as the help files
indicate.

In my new Vista Ultimate system the machine color scheme is set to Windows
Aero, yet the Office apps maintain the ugly Microsoft Blue. Notepad and
Wordpad both are using the Aero scheme. I'm hoping someone comes up with
a
registry change for Office 2003 to alter the base color set used in Vista.

I'm not sure what you're saying. I use Word 2003 in Vista Ultimate, and
it
uses the system scheme. The title bar is "glass" (except when maximized,
but
that's true of Office 2007 and other applications, as well).

What is it that you're not seeing that you expect to be seeing?

Open WordPad, Notepad, and Word 2003, and contrast their colors. Here,
they
all use the identical scheme -- as do all other applications I run in
Vista.
What differences do you see?

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and moved my
Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to be
using
the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office 2003
color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[MoosieAZ]

Bingo. Yes, that is exactly what I want, but do not currently have. As
mentioned, Notepad/Wordpad are fine; all the Office 2003 apps do not use the
Aero scheme.

I stuck a couple of demonstration screen shots showing Word 2003, WordPad,
and Notepad... here:

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2007/08/11/demonstration-for-moosieaz/

Notice that all use the aero glass display.

So... what you want is what you should be getting by default... if I'm
understanding you correctly.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Thanks for your reply Herb. When I open any Office 2003 application, the
basic window colors are the ugly Windows XP blue that is set by default to
the Windows XP color scheme. In my old XP Pro system I had changed the
color
scheme to Silver and all the Office apps followed suit, as the help files
indicate.

In my new Vista Ultimate system the machine color scheme is set to Windows
Aero, yet the Office apps maintain the ugly Microsoft Blue. Notepad and
Wordpad both are using the Aero scheme. I'm hoping someone comes up with
a
registry change for Office 2003 to alter the base color set used in Vista.

I'm not sure what you're saying. I use Word 2003 in Vista Ultimate, and
it
uses the system scheme. The title bar is "glass" (except when maximized,
but
that's true of Office 2007 and other applications, as well).

What is it that you're not seeing that you expect to be seeing?

Open WordPad, Notepad, and Word 2003, and contrast their colors. Here,
they
all use the identical scheme -- as do all other applications I run in
Vista.
What differences do you see?

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and moved my
Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to be
using
the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office 2003
color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

In the dark deep recesses of my mind, I vaguely recall a registry setting
that shows up only if enabled (so I can't see it here offhand), which
affects how Office 2003 is displayed.

Just for kicks... try setting up a new Windows user login, and see if Office
2003 displays correctly for the new user. If so, then comparing the Office
2003 registry settings for the two users might provide the answer.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Bingo. Yes, that is exactly what I want, but do not currently have. As
mentioned, Notepad/Wordpad are fine; all the Office 2003 apps do not use
the
Aero scheme.

I stuck a couple of demonstration screen shots showing Word 2003,
WordPad,
and Notepad... here:

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2007/08/11/demonstration-for-moosieaz/

Notice that all use the aero glass display.

So... what you want is what you should be getting by default... if I'm
understanding you correctly.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Thanks for your reply Herb. When I open any Office 2003 application,
the
basic window colors are the ugly Windows XP blue that is set by default
to
the Windows XP color scheme. In my old XP Pro system I had changed the
color
scheme to Silver and all the Office apps followed suit, as the help
files
indicate.

In my new Vista Ultimate system the machine color scheme is set to
Windows
Aero, yet the Office apps maintain the ugly Microsoft Blue. Notepad
and
Wordpad both are using the Aero scheme. I'm hoping someone comes up
with
a
registry change for Office 2003 to alter the base color set used in
Vista.

:

I'm not sure what you're saying. I use Word 2003 in Vista Ultimate,
and
it
uses the system scheme. The title bar is "glass" (except when
maximized,
but
that's true of Office 2007 and other applications, as well).

What is it that you're not seeing that you expect to be seeing?

Open WordPad, Notepad, and Word 2003, and contrast their colors. Here,
they
all use the identical scheme -- as do all other applications I run in
Vista.
What differences do you see?

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and moved
my
Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to be
using
the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help
files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my
color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office 2003
color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[MoosieAZ]

I'll try that, thanks.

In the dark deep recesses of my mind, I vaguely recall a registry setting
that shows up only if enabled (so I can't see it here offhand), which
affects how Office 2003 is displayed.

Just for kicks... try setting up a new Windows user login, and see if Office
2003 displays correctly for the new user. If so, then comparing the Office
2003 registry settings for the two users might provide the answer.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Bingo. Yes, that is exactly what I want, but do not currently have. As
mentioned, Notepad/Wordpad are fine; all the Office 2003 apps do not use
the
Aero scheme.

I stuck a couple of demonstration screen shots showing Word 2003,
WordPad,
and Notepad... here:

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2007/08/11/demonstration-for-moosieaz/

Notice that all use the aero glass display.

So... what you want is what you should be getting by default... if I'm
understanding you correctly.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


Thanks for your reply Herb. When I open any Office 2003 application,
the
basic window colors are the ugly Windows XP blue that is set by default
to
the Windows XP color scheme. In my old XP Pro system I had changed the
color
scheme to Silver and all the Office apps followed suit, as the help
files
indicate.

In my new Vista Ultimate system the machine color scheme is set to
Windows
Aero, yet the Office apps maintain the ugly Microsoft Blue. Notepad
and
Wordpad both are using the Aero scheme. I'm hoping someone comes up
with
a
registry change for Office 2003 to alter the base color set used in
Vista.

:

I'm not sure what you're saying. I use Word 2003 in Vista Ultimate,
and
it
uses the system scheme. The title bar is "glass" (except when
maximized,
but
that's true of Office 2007 and other applications, as well).

What is it that you're not seeing that you expect to be seeing?

Open WordPad, Notepad, and Word 2003, and contrast their colors. Here,
they
all use the identical scheme -- as do all other applications I run in
Vista.
What differences do you see?

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and moved
my
Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to be
using
the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help
files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my
color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office 2003
color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[MoosieAZ]

Well I did finally get to try your suggestion, but had no luck - same
situation with the newly created user. The reason it took me so long was
that when I tried to go into Control Panel, User Accounts, Windows Explorer
kept blowing out and restarting. So, almost a full day of research on that
[there are hundreds of posts], and Vista is finally stable enough again to
pursue my original issues.

It just blows my mind that the main screen for each Office 2003 app has that
ugly, in your face, blue color scheme, yet boxes that open under them have
the Aero scheme. I poured through the registry and app files under my user
name but found nothing that appeared to be connected to this color scheme
situation. I even renamed the outcmd.dat configuration file so Outlook would
start clean, to no avail.

In the dark deep recesses of my mind, I vaguely recall a registry setting
that shows up only if enabled (so I can't see it here offhand), which
affects how Office 2003 is displayed.

Just for kicks... try setting up a new Windows user login, and see if Office
2003 displays correctly for the new user. If so, then comparing the Office
2003 registry settings for the two users might provide the answer.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Bingo. Yes, that is exactly what I want, but do not currently have. As
mentioned, Notepad/Wordpad are fine; all the Office 2003 apps do not use
the
Aero scheme.

I stuck a couple of demonstration screen shots showing Word 2003,
WordPad,
and Notepad... here:

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2007/08/11/demonstration-for-moosieaz/

Notice that all use the aero glass display.

So... what you want is what you should be getting by default... if I'm
understanding you correctly.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


Thanks for your reply Herb. When I open any Office 2003 application,
the
basic window colors are the ugly Windows XP blue that is set by default
to
the Windows XP color scheme. In my old XP Pro system I had changed the
color
scheme to Silver and all the Office apps followed suit, as the help
files
indicate.

In my new Vista Ultimate system the machine color scheme is set to
Windows
Aero, yet the Office apps maintain the ugly Microsoft Blue. Notepad
and
Wordpad both are using the Aero scheme. I'm hoping someone comes up
with
a
registry change for Office 2003 to alter the base color set used in
Vista.

:

I'm not sure what you're saying. I use Word 2003 in Vista Ultimate,
and
it
uses the system scheme. The title bar is "glass" (except when
maximized,
but
that's true of Office 2007 and other applications, as well).

What is it that you're not seeing that you expect to be seeing?

Open WordPad, Notepad, and Word 2003, and contrast their colors. Here,
they
all use the identical scheme -- as do all other applications I run in
Vista.
What differences do you see?

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and moved
my
Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to be
using
the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help
files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my
color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office 2003
color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

This is really bizarre. It sounds like there is something missing, either
from Office 2003 or from Vista. From the Control Panel, click on Office
2003, then click the Repair option.

Does that fix it?

Note that I've never used *just* Office 2003 in Vista -- only a combination
of Office 2003 & 2007, or just Office 2007. So, I can't swear on a stack of
bibles that my Office 2003's aero-ness wasn't enabled by having Office 2007
also installed. But, that wouldn't make sense.

Here are some other things I would try if Repair doesn't change matters:

1. See if there are updated display drivers available for your display
adapters.

2. Right-click the Desktop and choose Personalize. Go into Display Settings
and try changing the resolution, so see if that will jar Vista/Office 2003
into using a different set of file resources.

3.Try "jiggling" the Theme (save your current theme first) and Window Color
and Appeaarance settings (by jiggling, I mean changing the settings to
something else, seeing if the problem is fixed, then chaning the settings
back).


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Well I did finally get to try your suggestion, but had no luck - same
situation with the newly created user. The reason it took me so long was
that when I tried to go into Control Panel, User Accounts, Windows
Explorer
kept blowing out and restarting. So, almost a full day of research on
that
[there are hundreds of posts], and Vista is finally stable enough again to
pursue my original issues.

It just blows my mind that the main screen for each Office 2003 app has
that
ugly, in your face, blue color scheme, yet boxes that open under them have
the Aero scheme. I poured through the registry and app files under my
user
name but found nothing that appeared to be connected to this color scheme
situation. I even renamed the outcmd.dat configuration file so Outlook
would
start clean, to no avail.

In the dark deep recesses of my mind, I vaguely recall a registry setting
that shows up only if enabled (so I can't see it here offhand), which
affects how Office 2003 is displayed.

Just for kicks... try setting up a new Windows user login, and see if
Office
2003 displays correctly for the new user. If so, then comparing the
Office
2003 registry settings for the two users might provide the answer.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Bingo. Yes, that is exactly what I want, but do not currently have.
As
mentioned, Notepad/Wordpad are fine; all the Office 2003 apps do not
use
the
Aero scheme.

:

I stuck a couple of demonstration screen shots showing Word 2003,
WordPad,
and Notepad... here:

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2007/08/11/demonstration-for-moosieaz/

Notice that all use the aero glass display.

So... what you want is what you should be getting by default... if I'm
understanding you correctly.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


Thanks for your reply Herb. When I open any Office 2003
application,
the
basic window colors are the ugly Windows XP blue that is set by
default
to
the Windows XP color scheme. In my old XP Pro system I had changed
the
color
scheme to Silver and all the Office apps followed suit, as the help
files
indicate.

In my new Vista Ultimate system the machine color scheme is set to
Windows
Aero, yet the Office apps maintain the ugly Microsoft Blue. Notepad
and
Wordpad both are using the Aero scheme. I'm hoping someone comes up
with
a
registry change for Office 2003 to alter the base color set used in
Vista.

:

I'm not sure what you're saying. I use Word 2003 in Vista Ultimate,
and
it
uses the system scheme. The title bar is "glass" (except when
maximized,
but
that's true of Office 2007 and other applications, as well).

What is it that you're not seeing that you expect to be seeing?

Open WordPad, Notepad, and Word 2003, and contrast their colors.
Here,
they
all use the identical scheme -- as do all other applications I run
in
Vista.
What differences do you see?

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and
moved
my
Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to
be
using
the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help
files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my
color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office
2003
color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Chris Morris]

Here is how I did what you are looking for:

1) Open Microsoft Outlook
2) Click on Tools, then Options
3) Click on Mail Format tab
4) Click on Editor Options button
5) Adjust "Color Scheme" field on "Popular" menu item to suit tastes.

This will change the scheme for all CORE office applications. Some office apps, such as InfoPath, do not follow suit.

EggHeadCafe - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com

 

[jgalt]

I just moved to Vista Ultimate from a solid XP Pro system and moved my Office
2003 Professional over with me. Problem is that Office seems to be using the
old Windows XP default color scheme, which stinks! All the help files
indicate that Office will follow the Windows color scheme, but my color
scheme is Windows Aero.

Does anyone know how to manually [registry?] change the Office 2003 color
scheme? Microsoft Office Support, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

MoosieAz,

Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I was doing a web
search for the same thing and found this thread.

Thanks,
John Galt