Modifying shell32.dll on windows 10 - impossible?

[Ruppidx]

Hello, I would love to know if there is a way to permanently disable system file protection on windows 10 so shell32.dll can be replaced with the modified one. What I did is set SFCDisable to 1 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon but that did not work, and I was unable to boot the system after replacing shell32.dll. Which means that turning off file protection via registry is not an option while replacing a system protected file on windows 10. Disabling driver signature enforcement did not work either, I tried both via command prompt and from windows recovery environment. It seems like its official now that modding shell32.dll is not possible in latest versions of windows.

Is there any solution to replacing shell32.dll on windows 10? Or can anybody else confirm that its not possible? Just to get things clarified once and for all.

[Hadden]

Why do you want replace shell32?
It's usually not a good idea as windows will revert to the original with the updates (and break the SFC). It could also prevent windows UI to start at all.
If you do for themes, the best way is to use an uxtheme patch and modify the shellstyle in theme (will change the layout only with the applied theme).
Probably can be done in safe mode taking the ownership and replacing the file, both in system32 and syswow64 but it's risky.

[Nimbi]

I agree with Hadden. Replacing Shell32 is likely very dangerous. I would try the UxThemeSignatureBypass tool installer Mr.GRiM posted in the AeroGlass for Windows 10 RS1 thread. All you need for that to work is to disable Secure Boot in you system BIOS.

It's likely the best method atm as it doesn't require you to modify system files. It simply injects the UxThemeSignatureBypass.DLL into your registry to disable theme signature requirements [allowing custom .msstyle themes to work].