Themes Service Defaults in Windows 7

Provides user experience theme management.

Default Settings

Startup type: Automatic
Display name:Themes
Service name:Themes
Service type:share
Error control:normal
Group:ProfSvc_Group
Object:LocalSystem
Path:%SystemRoot%\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs
File:%SystemRoot%\system32\themeservice.dll
Registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Themes
Privileges:
  • SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege
  • SeDebugPrivilege
  • SeImpersonatePrivilege

Default Behavior

Themes is a Win32 service. In Windows 7 it is starting automatically on the operating system startup. Then the Themes service is running as LocalSystem in a shared process of svchost.exe. Other system components, such as drivers and services, may run in the same process. If Themes fails to start, Windows 7 attempts to write the failure details into Event Log. Then Windows 7 startup should proceed and the user should be notified that the Themes service is not running because of the error.

Restore Default Startup Configuration of Themes

1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.

2. Copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER:

sc config Themes start= auto
sc start Themes

3. Close the command window and restart the computer.

The Themes service is using the themeservice.dll file that is located in the C:\Windows\system32 directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 7 installation media.