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System & Translucency Mods

System & Translucency Mods

This guide covers Windhawk companion mods that operate at the desktop composition, resource injection, and shell utility levels to achieve system-wide visual cohesion.

1. Translucent Windows

Mod ID: translucent-windows
Target Processes: Global Win32 process hook (*, with configurable process inclusion/exclusion lists)
Scope: Desktop Window Manager (DWM) composition attributes (DwmSetWindowAttribute)

Overview

While Windhawk styler mods use WindhawkBlur inside XAML trees (WinUI 2, WinUI 3, and UWP), classic Win32 applications and standard dialogs do not expose XAML styling hooks. translucent-windows bridges this gap by intercepting window creation and applying modern DWM blur effects directly to Win32 window chrome:

  • Acrylic Blur: Multi-layer blurred backdrop with noise texture.
  • Mica & Mica Alt: Material effects that sample the desktop wallpaper directly behind the application window.
  • Classic BlurBehind: Aeroglass-style frosted blur for legacy applications.
  • Per-Process Rules: Include or exclude specific applications (e.g. notepad.exe, cmd.exe, Taskmgr.exe).
flowchart TD
    AppWin32["Classic Win32 Application Window"] --> Hook["translucent-windows Mod"]
    Hook --> DWM["DWM Composition API"]
    DWM --> Blur["Acrylic / Mica / Frosted Glass Material"]

Harmonizing with Styler Mods

When using translucent-windows in tandem with File Explorer or Settings stylers:

  • Avoid double-blurring XAML surfaces: Exclude StartMenuExperienceHost.exe and ShellExperienceHost.exe from translucent-windows, as styler mods already handle blur natively via WindhawkBlur in XAML.
  • Target legacy Win32 utility windows such as Run dialog (explorer.exe), Properties sheets, and classic dialogs.

2. Resource Redirect

Mod ID: resource-redirect
Target Processes: System-wide or selected executable targets (explorer.exe, shell32.dll, imageres.dll)
Scope: Win32 resource loading APIs (FindResource, LoadResource, LoadImage, etc.)

Overview

Traditionally, replacing system icons, shell branding images, cursors, or notification sounds required patching protected Windows system files (imageres.dll, shell32.dll) or running third-party patchers that break during Windows cumulative updates.

resource-redirect provides a completely non-destructive virtual replacement layer:

  1. Intercepts calls to Win32 resource extraction functions.
  2. If a redirected resource ID is requested, serves the replacement .ico, .png, .bmp, or .wav from a local user directory.
  3. If no replacement is specified, transparently forwards the request to the original system DLL.
flowchart LR
    Caller["explorer.exe"] -->|"LoadImage(imageres.dll, ID 100)"| Mod["resource-redirect Hook"]
    Mod -->|"Match found"| LocalFile["Custom Glass Icon (local file)"]
    Mod -->|"No match"| OrigDLL["Original imageres.dll"]

Application in Custom Themes

Use resource-redirect to replace:

  • Drive icons and folder glyphs in File Explorer.
  • Start orb bitmaps on legacy taskbars.
  • System error and notification audio clips.

3. File Operations Styler

Mod ID: file-operations-styler
Target Process: explorer.exe
Scope: Windows Copy, Move, and Delete progress dialogs

Overview

Re-styles the native Windows 11 file transfer and conflict resolution dialogs. Allows customizing:

  • Compact vs expanded transfer view defaults.
  • Progress bar accent colors and speed graph styling.
  • Font sizes, border radii, and background panel shading.

4. Enhanced Disk Usage

Mod ID: enhanced-disk-usage
Target Process: explorer.exe
Scope: Drive storage capacity bars in File Explorer “This PC”

Overview

Enhances standard drive usage progress bars in “This PC” by displaying granular metrics:

  • Exact free gigabytes / terabytes remaining directly on the bar label.
  • Configurable warning thresholds (e.g. dynamic color shifts from cyan to amber at 85% full, and red at 95% full).
  • Custom gradients and corner radii for drive capacity indicators.

5. Fully Customizable Winver

Mod ID: fully-customizable-winver
Target Process: winver.exe
Scope: Windows Version dialog

Overview

Enables complete visual theming of the winver.exe dialog:

  • Custom OS branding banner image (e.g., custom distro or suite logo).
  • Custom text fields for registered owner, organization, and build strings.
  • Modern dark mode backdrop and frosted glass window styling.