Windows 7: Aero Not Working - Graphics Card Does Not Support Aero - HELP

Ok so I built myself a new PC and everything was running fine. Then I decided to change the graphics card from an ASUS Radeon HD 6770 to an ASUS Radeon HD6850 1GB.

Upon restart and every restart since, the Aero effects do not work. At first I just figured I hadnt got the right drivers. Games were working fine so I left it alone. Now I've updated all the drivers to the latest ones from the ATI website, 12.4, but the Aero effects still do not work.

If anyone has any ideas, or has experienced this problem, please can you provide some help. Thanks.

Have you tried setting the desktop to use an Aero theme?

yeah, that's what I was thinking. That GPU is more than capable of running Aero. If Aero won't function from changing your theme, to an Aero theme, then it is more than likely something else.

Thanks for the reply, I have been using the Windows 7 Aero theme, and have tried several other Aero themes, but no change. Any other ideas? When I built the PC, I had installed Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit, and then upgraded to Home Premium 64 bit, could this have caused the problem?

Upgrading from Windows 7 Home Premium to Ultimate will not have any effect on your computer's ability to use an Aero theme.

Have you checked in Device Manager to see whether there is a problem with your graphics driver?

Have you selected and saved an Aero theme?

Have you made sure your graphics card is seated properly?

Of course, it is possible there is a problem with the new graphics card so you might want to get it exchanged as it should be under warranty.

It's supposed to be impossible to do an upgrade-in-place from 32 bit Windows to X64. The drivers that you had under X86 (32 bit) are irrelevant, as you'd need all new ones under X64.

Is your graphics adapter recognized properly in Device Manager? Do the ATI drivers appear in the Drivers tab for your graphics adapter?

Did you uninstall the Catalyst suite before upgrading your graphics card? (That's recommended, even though they were both AMD/ATI cards.)

I also have the same GPU but the Aero works perfectly on my PC.
open Services (Run -> Services.msc) and make sure Desktop Window Manager & Themes startup type is set to 'auto'.

You may need to run this utility from Microsoft
Windows Aero Glass visual effects are not working or displayed

a couple of utility programs like TuneUp Utilities also provides an option to turn off some of Aero effects based on your presets. If you have a similar program, check whether the effects is disabled from that or not.

Ok, Device Manager says that the GPU is recognized properly, and shows the correct up to date driver in the Drivers tab.

I did not try uninstalling Catalyst suite before the GPU upgrade, but have tried uninstalling and reinstalling since upgrading.

The graphics card is seated properly, I have removed it and dusted down the connection as well before reseating.

Both Desktop Window Manager and Themes startup type is set to auto in Services.msc.

I have run the Microsoft Aero utility and all I get is the same message saying my GPU does not support Aero.

If it helps, the Aero effects are displayed correctly on startup, but then the desktop goes blank for a second and restarts without the Aero effects. However, yesterday the Aero effects worked perfectly for around two hours whilst I used the PC. When I turned the PC on again several hours later, the Aero effects would not work.

Thanks for the help, I'm beginning to think that the GPU may be faulty

I agree with your conclusion.

Time to get the card replaced? It should be covered by the manufacturer's guarantee.

Bit annoying but I suppose these things happen. Do I contact the manufacturer or the store where I bought it for a replacement? Never had to return any PC bits before