Create a new c# windows application in main add Application.EnableVisualStyles(); before Application.Run(new Form1()); Then add a checkbox to the form, and set FlatStyle to "System" compile the program and the checkbox will have windows xp themes, if you set the checkbox to be checked by default, then compile the xp theme is removed... Do other people get the same problem? The way i have got around it is to set the checkbox defaults when Form1 loads (Load event), but i would be interested in knowing what causes this problem. Cheers