I have just installed cad 2010 on my office computer and when i opened my first project i noticed the xreferences were all darkened. I was wondering if there is a setting to return the xrefs to normal color?

It's a setting so you can adjust the level of "fading". It's there so you can tell what is an XREF and what isn't, if you so desire. It can be set back to 100%. Just browse through your help menu and you'll find it. Another way is to review the new features workshop...