Washed Out Screens and Taskbar, etc...

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  1. Posts : 21
    Windows 7 Ultiimate x64 bit
       #1

    Washed Out Screens and Taskbar, etc...


    My niece has a laptop that started giving her washed out areas of the browsers, desktop, taskbar, etc... I had her go back and restore as far back as she could incase she got a virus or something weird happened with drivers etc... but it didn't fix anything. She has checked the settings in the control panel for screen settings, themes, etc... and nothing fixes it.

    Please see attached images to see what I am talking about!

    Any ideas? Would a complete restore help? Has someone clicked on the wrong settings somehow? She does have a 3 year old :)

    Thanks for your help!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Washed Out Screens and Taskbar, etc...-capture.png   Washed Out Screens and Taskbar, etc...-capture_2.png  
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 10,200
    MS Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
       #2

    This can be caused by a display that's worn out. I'm not saying it is. Let's try some other things.


    WIN + X key combo | drag the slider in the Brightness section to the left

    WIN is the key with the Microsoft flag on top.

    =========================
    CONTROL PANEL | make sure that Small Icons is selected | DISPLAY
    You check the Calibrate Display to see if that will help.

    ======================================
    CONTROL PANEL | TROUBLESHOOTING | APPEARANCE AND PERSONALIZATION | Display Quality

    =========================================
    General


    Fix it Center Online
    FixIt Solution Center
    Open the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter
    Win 7 Problems Solutions Troubleshooting
    Windows 7_ top solutions - Help & How-to - Microsoft Windows
    Last edited by karlsnooks; 25 Jul 2011 at 01:41. Reason: add crlf
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 21
    Windows 7 Ultiimate x64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Well none of those options appear to be helping. Will a complete restore back to factory default help at all, or is this possibly a hardware problem with the display?

    Thanks for your help everyone!
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 10,200
    MS Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
       #4

    As a last restort, you can try the factory restore.

    My money is on you having a hardware problem since all of the troubleshooters and fixits came up empty.

    Let's hope that I'm wrong.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 2,528
    Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
       #5

    Well there are several possibilities there that are not hardware related.

    1) Your running in a "Basic" theme which looks "washed out" by itself. No trnasparency and plain UI. To get the Aero look back, try right clicking the desktop and selecting Personalize and select an Aero theme. I know you mentioned themes but specifically try that.

    2) Your IE sample there has the browser "not responding". Any time a program locks up on windows it fades out a bit. If this is the problem, and you say it happens to the task bar, does that mean the task bar does not accept mouse clicks any more? Same with firefox or other programs? (Most programs will say "Not responding" at the top but some without title bars won't).

    3) That AT&T page sample is just odd in several ways. Like a browser problem. Or a virus causing browser problems.

    It's possible that a virus would be causing all of this unfortunately. Or something else causing programs to crash. A bit more investigation is needed. Doubt it's a display problem but could be Virus or memory or driver issue.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 12,120
    Win 7 Pro x64 / Win 10 Pro
       #6

    I see it is using Windows Classic theme look at this Window Color and Appearance - Change steps 7, 8 will show how to adjust the colors.

    If the aero themes are not working try this
    Click on start button in the search box type Aero and look for Find and fix problems with transparency and check for problems
    Washed Out Screens and Taskbar, etc...-s.pngWashed Out Screens and Taskbar, etc...-aero.png
    Jerry
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 10,200
    MS Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
       #7

    in2tech said:
    Well none of those options appear to be helping. Will a complete restore back to factory default help at all, or is this possibly a hardware problem with the display?

    Thanks for your help everyone!
    One of those troubleshooters:

    control panel | Traoubleshooting | Appearance and Personalization | Display Quality


    You indicated that you had processed the links. Did you run that troubleshooter?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 21
    Windows 7 Ultiimate x64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    fseal said:
    Well there are several possibilities there that are not hardware related.

    1) Your running in a "Basic" theme which looks "washed out" by itself. No trnasparency and plain UI. To get the Aero look back, try right clicking the desktop and selecting Personalize and select an Aero theme. I know you mentioned themes but specifically try that.
    Your the bomb fseal it was your number one suggestion. Such a simple thing causing such headaches to people. She was about to take it to Best Buy and I was begging her not too that most likely this great community would figure it out!

    Here is a virtual $50.00 bill, that Best Buy would have charged if not more. :)

    Thanks again everyone!
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 2,528
    Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
       #9

    Woot!

    Hopefully those other browser issues are not too serious
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 21
    Windows 7 Ultiimate x64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #10

    fseal said:
    Woot!

    Hopefully those other browser issues are not too serious
    She does still have the problem with IE 8 or 9 locking up but she is using FireFox right now with no issues at all. If I remember correctly it's a pain to remove IE 8 and reinstall it, but I will at sometime do this for her! For the time being we are at different households and I might try to remote connect in to her and remove and reinstall IE for her! I just can't remember off the top of my head how to remove it. I do know it's not in the Uninstall area of the Control Panel :) Which really kind of makes me slightly angry. It should be really easy to uninstall any browser, including Internet Explorer!

    Thanks so much for the help everyone!
      My Computer


 
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