Hi. I hope I am posting in the proper section. I do have lots of questions regarding customizing just about everything in my desktop. This site is wealthy with resources and knowledge of experienced users, so I hope someone would be able to give me a wise advice to ease my confusion.

I'm really not that new to patching system files. I've done this last year when I used a custom theme. It didn't go successfully as I expected though. Sadly, I wasn't able to detect what went wrong back then because I changed my failing hard drive that prompted me to reinstall Windows. Now I am back to square one. And I did my homework by researching a large amount of information regarding custom theming. I downloaded a lot of tools that were suggested by many. But most articles I found were just re-written descriptions and don't say much information that's benefecial to users who are new to dealing with custom themes. With that said, I have following inquiries:


1) Between Universal Theme Patcher and UxStyle Core, which one is safer to use? I know that these programs use different approach to patching. But on the event that I want to restore my system to the original unpatched version, which one will give me a good allowance? Does either of these automatically backup the original files and allow me to restore them later? Or do I have to backup those files manually? Maybe it's okay to just leave them patched? Also, how these patched files are going to be affected by Windows Updates? I know there are themes that don't work with Windows 7 SP1, so do I have to patch my files every time I installed a Windows Update?

2) Also there's this tool called "Theme Resource Changer" which eliminates the need to edit .dll files. Is this used for building themes or installing themes? The software description doesn't give me much clarity. Should I use this alongside the normal system patchers like UxStyle Core or Universal Theme Patcher?


3) What are the risk of patching system files? For example, if I already patched my computer using any of the aforementioned tools, should there be any precaution when using/installing themes that already include patched files? In this case, I would be double-patching my system files, but is it okay to do that?


4) If I may go a bit off-topic, some themes include icons that I do not want to use. I think I can disable it from installing, but I want to use a different set of icons instead (Faenza or iRob for Mac which I converted to .ico, I haven't decided yet). Is there a tool that would allow me to accomplish this? (I'm talking about changing every Windows 7 icons).


5) Since I haven't decided yet which theme I'll be using, I am fancying the thought of making my own. Do I have to use UxStyle Core or Universal Theme Patcher or Theme Resource Editor before I proceed making my own themes if I am going to modify, let's say, my explorer frame (I will be using Resource Hacker)? (PS: I'm also confused which software I should use for theme building. There's Windows Style Builder, Restorator, Resource Hacker. How different are they? Do they accomplish the same tasks?)

I am running Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit / Admin account / UAC disabled

Thank you to anyone who will give me a very good insight.
Here's hoping that I will lessen my confusion soon.
This is me now --->
LOL

-AJ
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