desktop composition off. change the titlebar color!

bjcryss · 14 Jan 2010

i have disabled desktop composition(and all other options form "performance options", except the "use visual styles in windows and buttons" for power consumption reasons :) ) and i can't seem to be able to change the titlebar and taskbar color...
i tried to change it in "window color and appearance", but any color i set the titlebar to be, it just stays as a pale blue
Is this normal?
if i enable the "desktop composition" then i can change the color
Is there any way around this?

WalkerA WinTeam · 15 Jan 2010

Yes, that's normal. Disabling desktop composition is a way to enhance the performance of your computer... it's designed to temporarily disable the Aero-specific features of your theme (such as window glass color), while keeping everything else the same.

Just curious, but why did you want to disable all your performance options settings in the first place?

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team

bjcryss · 15 Jan 2010

I need my computer to use as little power as possible because it consumes approximately 190-200 W/h in normal load(and the power bill is to high :) ), so i made all sorts of changes, from processes that run, to lowering the cpu frequency, minimizing HDD usage, etc. this includes making the video card consume less, but still keeping the win7 feel. I managed to get the computer to use 120-130 W/h in normal load

WalkerA WinTeam · 15 Jan 2010

Oh wow, haha that's pretty impressive. I'll have to try that at my house... but yeah it's more performance-efficient to turn off Aero, so probably more power-efficient too.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team

papiroule · 05 Jan 2011

Hello, But this doesn't really answer the question

I've also disabled Desktop Composition to free up ressources and speedup the system.
Now how do I changed titlebar and windows border colors? This babyblue is really sad and uninspiring....
thanks,

dunderhead · 07 Sep 2011

I really hate Aero, but I also really hate that annoying Fischer-Price baby blue that Microsoft forces on us if you turn it off. Before I move to a properly customisable operating system like Ubuntu Linux, can anyone tell us how to change the window border and title bar colours?

Layback Bear · 07 Sep 2011

My 2 cents. I wouldn't fool with all that stuff. Let Windows 7 be Windows 7. You could turn off one lamp and save about the same electricity. You won't notice it on your electric bill. Going by my memory a desktop uses about 1 or 2 dollars a month. It all depends where you live.

Bongo · 07 Sep 2011

dunderhead said:

I really hate Aero, but I also really hate that annoying Fischer-Price baby blue that Microsoft forces on us if you turn it off. Before I move to a properly customisable operating system like Ubuntu Linux, can anyone tell us how to change the window border and title bar colours?

You will need to find a custom theme where the basic part of the theme was customized and use it.
Jerry