I was trying to get rid of the shadows under all my programs in vista. (one more reason i miss xp) and I was in sytem advanced settings and i just unticked enable desktop composition and it got rid of the shadows and transparency but it also got eid of the preview boxes that appear when you hover a program. So i turned it on this morning and re ticked it but it stayed the same!
How can I put it back to how it was before? And how can i get rid of the shadows!
even if it means just using the other vista theme i have seen that looks basic and plain. Like my current one does...
I dont know if that made sense but heres a screenshot.

I'd change it to adjust for best appearance, and then re-customize it from there.

Hopefully Vista later on down the road will give users more options to "customize" every aspect of Vista OS... otherwise it's still gonna fail in that sector.

I did!
Its on adjust for best appearance right now.
But its not going back.
maybe i need to restart it.
Cause composition stuff has to do with...ummm...stuff that needs to be restarted.
If it works when i restart then vista needs to warn you that you need to restart for changes to take place!

lol @ restarting. Ughhh I love Linux :(

Haha. Thats what i was going to say! haha.
An operating system so bad it has to restart to make a change.
but actually i laugh @ linux compareds to mac os 10.
O and restarting didnt work! WHAT TO DO!

Anyone know how t fix it?

i switch back from aero to basic to aero all the time.

i happen to prefer basic. what's wrong with it? i don't understand what it is you want. do you want the transparency or no?

Nothing is wrong with it?
Its just taht i cant go back to aero from basic!
Sorry thomas! I hope i didnt mess up your computer. haha

I would if I could but I refuse to learn about Vista, thoroughly. Start googling.

thomas, the pics don't work unless you actually visit the site.

josephcohen:
http://www.vistaknowledge.com/vista-how-to...n-windows-vista

go to your settings under window color and appearance and enable transparency. if it's already enabled and your aero still looks like basic, then i don't know why your vista sucks 'cause mine doesn't.

I cant see a picture?
*looks back*
They werent coming up so i clicked quote and saw them.
For some reason pictures almost never come up for me. Unless they are thumbed.
O wait...
Unless they dont allow hotlinking.

O! Ok...
doesnt work.
When i click color and appearence it doesnt show what the image shows.
It goes to a little box with like theme options.

that means you're not in your aero theme; you're in basic. click on aero, then go back to windows and appearance and it should show up -_-

But the only theme options i have are vista and classic!

Exactly. Why try to give an answer if you don't know for a fact what the answer is?

it wouldn't be under "theme", it would be under "windows color and appearance"

Because sometimes a lot of good comes out when people discuss certain possiblities and potential solutions. People learn. I know you hate Vista, power to you. Others just have it for the sake of having an operating system they do not have to think much about. I know, not the best thing ever, but it happens a lot.

Hope you figure this out. I haven't changed any themes with my Vista laptop because I quite frankly don't have enough time to play around when I'm using it (I usually work off of it xD)

Alright I logged onto Vista, changed the appearance and then followed these steps, this should work. But also I have Windows Vista Ultimate w/SP1

Ok i put that into run and it went through and opened a box.
And then i hit cancel and when i went to colors and appearance or whatever ti did the same thing...

can you post screenshots of what it is you're doing. i don't understand these "boxes" that apparently keep popping up on your screen.

I did those instructions too but when I click color and appearence it goess straight to the settings and i dont see the 8 rows any more! And then when i click windows aero and hit ok it looks like vista basic!

Hm... go into safe mode and try it. Do you have Service Pack 1 installed? Apparently prior to SP1 there's a bug that prevents you from changing the settings to default on a few things including appearance.

What operating system is your favorite?
O and here are some screenshots.

that's another thing i don't understand. why wouldn't you update to SP1. who the hell still doesn't have SP1. UPDATE ;|

Because he's stuck in Windows Classic mode lol...

Cause i like it better than basic.
Ill leave it till i get aero back...
I checked for any updates...do i need silverlight?
Im gonna log in in safe mode.

^earlier he said he did that.

when you're in classic mode, then you click on aero, then you click ok and it looks like vista basic. after that did you go back to windows color and appearance?

Ya ive done that... ive tried everything...
whenever i click aero when i go back its on basic.
Maybe my computer cant support it?
but i now it can?!
Cause it did for the longest time!
Well if nothing works its an excuse for me to get my money back and buy a mac.

a theme can't just disappear from a computer (assuming you didn't delete it somehow), especially if you had it to begin with. even my old vaio, that can't support the aero theme on vista, has it. you're most likely missing something, and you'll just have to go back and cover all your bases.

Well i went into safe mode and couldnt fix it but when i came back it was fixed!
So im just not gonna touch it.

What service pack? Have you been googling for some assistance?

^look above you

Good job! Sometimes when you can't fix something in normal mode, it's always best to try it in Safe Mode. In safe mode there isn't any sort of programs / scripts / commands that prevent you from taking full ownership/control of your operating system.

Only a bug? :P