Make file explorer as close as possible to winxp explorer ?

SecureUXTheme ? I don't know if this qualifies as a theme patcher by the usual criteria. In fact, I don't quite understand why the desire not to use a theme patcher comes up so often. It's a system modification like any other, there are no specific risks.

Replying for people that asks "why someone dont want to use uxtheme". People dont want to use it because 1. after update you need to patch system again 2. you can brick the system (I`ve managed to do this) 3. its incompatible with tabbed windows 11 explorer

I think it's pretty junk too, but some people seem to like it.

The crash is therefore not linked to the replacement of Uxtheme.dll, but to an incompatible visual style. This can definitely happen with SecureUxTheme, which does not modify any system files. The responsibility lies with certain irresponsible visual style authors who do not precisely indicate compatible versions. If this happens you must start the system in safe mode, then change to a theme using aero or aerolite.
To prevent this from happening, it is best to test the visual style with msstyleeditor. If the style doesn't work, msstyleeditor will crash but not the system.
Finally, I think that there is theoretically a way to dynamically detect a possible problem (with a Windows service ?) and automatically switch to the classic theme.

Concerning the fact that some people are scared by the replacement of system files (in this case Explorerframe.dll, but it can also be Uxtheme.dll), I can't do anything for them, because it's simply stupid .
A method is dirty if it reduces system performance, requires large background processes to run, or overrides the system's permissions layout.
A method that replaces a system file, resulting in a well-functioning modification, is clean because it does not cause harm to the system. Except that people have the impression that it's the opposite. In this case, WindowsBlind is a dirty method because it consumes a lot of system resources; but as people pay, they have the impression that it can only be clean (well yes, when you have to pay, anyway...).
The only major problem caused by system file replacements is the lack of flexibility in configuring the changes. As a result, this method is only interesting for making a specific change per DLL, not a myriad of changes configurable by the user on the same DLL (typically, patching uxtheme). In this case, DLL injection is more suitable, even if it is a less clean method (because background process).