No... Turning off Aero won't do it either. Why in the name of all that's digital did MS force these thumbnails upon unsuspecting users? They consume resources and are an utter nuisance. Sigh... So much for property -- I don't own my own computer. Didn't get media. Can't control which unnecessary features consume *my* memory and *my* processing resources. Can't buy the computer I want without loads of cr*pware. Is this the free market, or what?
Sorry -- just venting a little.
The thumbnail previews, while annoying to some, are helpful to most. I personally appreciate them greatly.
As for the performance decrease, Aero will not run if it determines the hardware is not powerful enough. Even on my desktop, 4GB RAM, dual core processor, when I run programs that use a lot of resources, it will turn off Aero.
Bottom line is that you should never see a performance decrease from having Aero on. It will turn off before then.
Thanks all... I'm trying to calm down now. I've spent far more than the price of the OS trying to reduce the OS to something I can use for useful work. Now I have to get to work...
This forum looks very useful -- just Googling lands me on answers like use regedit to find out my Windows version.
If I can figure out how to add rep points on this forum, will do.
cudspan,
Download this tiny utility 7 Taskbar Tweaker - RaMMicHaeL's home page. It comes in a 32-bit and 64-bit version, so make sure you download the right one.
Open it, then simply check the Disable box at the bottom right under Thumbnail preview.
A final wrapup I found out for this issue. Indeed, if you turn off Aero, you can get rid of the thumbnails. But Aero has at least two ways to be turned on/off (that I know of) -- there's the Aero control at the bottom right of the desktop -- you can turn Aero for that feature on or off. But also, by default Win 7 gives you Aero as your overall desktop style. You need to personalize your windows, and choose Basic Windows or something similar. When I did that, thumbnails finally went away.
Yes, I'm struggling with the new Win version. No, I'm not a computer novice. I use the computer for work, and want to strip down all but the essentials. I'm sure there are lots of nice things in Win 7. I want to know what's essential, and the choice to strip away what is not. Is that to much to ask? Probably...
But thanks all for helping me out. This is a very useful forum.
BTW, Bill...
I appreciate the pointer to Taskbar Tweaker, but I think I'll pass. First, turning off all of Aero is more like what I want. Second, I'm not anxious to use 3rd-party utilities at the OS level. I'd rather know what's happening down there, and a utility that magically makes changes isn't appealing to me. If Windows doesn't give me the controls to do it, then how does the utility do it? (Probably many registry settings... Which ones?) I try to avoid faith-based computing.
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