eliminate darkening and shading in taskbar and start menu

The active titlebar here is the chosen color with the blur removed. I'd like to just eliminate whatever it is that makes the taskbar darker than the titlebar color, and likewise, the dark shading in the start menu. How to do this?

Thanks,
Ellen

Figured this out:

Taskbar shadow: Taskbar & SystemTray > Taskbar > Aero > Taskbar > 1
Start menu shadow: Start Menu > Panels > Aero > Top > Places list