Aero disabled and troubleshooter no help

[emintz]

I'm having a problem with Windows aero. The taskbar at the bottom of my screen is gray and this can not be altered. If I right click on the desktop and click on "Personalize", I can choose an Aero theme and the background image changes accordingly, but Aero features such as Peek are not functioning. Clicking on the Window Color option brings up the Window Color and Appearance Box which is what it does for non-Aero themes. I am running 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium (and have been for a long time), but the Aero troubleshooter gives me the message "Upgrade to a Windows edition that includes the Aero desktop experience."

I have tried uninstalling my ATI video drivers and all ATI/AMD software, then reinstalling, but that did not work. I created a new user account but the problem was still there in the new account. I tried the registry work-around to force Aero but that also did not work. My Windows Experience Index subscore for Graphics is 7.7, so that is not the problem. Any suggestions?

Eric

 

[fimble]

Have you made sure Enable Transparency at Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Personalization > Window Color and Appearance (Under Window Color) is enabled?

Are you running Stardock? This has caused issues for some people.

 

[JDobbsy1987]

Make sure your system has been indexed (Windows Experience Index)

This guide will help you
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/263-windows-experience-index-update-refresh-score.html

You have to have a minimum of 2.0 in both Graphics & Gaming graphics in order to have the Aero features enabled.

Regards,
JDobbsy1987

 

[emintz]

Have you made sure Enable Transparency at Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Personalization > Window Color and Appearance (Under Window Color) is enabled?

Are you running Stardock? This has caused issues for some people.

Thanks for the response. That option isn't even there under Window Color and Appearance. The screen that normally appears (with the colored boxes) does not come up.

I am running Stardock's Impulse, but nothing else. And Aero worked fine previously. I haven't changed configurations lately.

 

[emintz]

Make sure your system has been indexed (Windows Experience Index)

This guide will help you
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/263-windows-experience-index-update-refresh-score.html

You have to have a minimum of 2.0 in both Graphics & Gaming graphics in order to have the Aero features enabled.

Thanks for the response. As I mentioned in my post, however, my graphics scores are 7.7 and I have refreshed them.

 

[JDobbsy1987]

In the start menu, search for 'Check The Windows Experience Index' and you should see it in the search results >> Click it

now click the 'Re-run the assessment'

Regards,
JDobbsy1987

 

[JDobbsy1987]

This may sound like a stupid question but this on your personal PC? not a works PC?

 

[emintz]

In the start menu, search for 'Check The Windows Experience Index' and you should see it in the search results >> Click it

now click the 'Re-run the assessment'

Regards,
JDobbsy1987

I'm confused by your suggestion. I have no problem finding how to run the Windows Experience Index. I've done so many times, and refreshed it since the problem started. Overall index is 6.8 and the graphics subscores are both 7.7. This is not the problem. The Aero troubleshooter seems to think I'm using a version of Windows that doesn't support Aero, but I am.

 

[emintz]

This may sound like a stupid question but this on your personal PC? not a works PC?

Yes. Personal PC.

Eric

 

[A Guy]

Welcome to Seven Forums emintz. Suggest you run the System File Checker

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

If you have patched your system to use 3rd party themes, or changed any other system files, you will need to change them again after. As this will restore the original system files.

A Guy

 

[emintz]

Welcome to Seven Forums emintz. Suggest you run the System File Checker

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

If you have patched your system to use 3rd party themes, or changed any other system files, you will need to change them again after. As this will restore the original system files.

A Guy

Thanks. I have not used 3rd party themes and I have to manually changed any system files. I have run SFC /SCANNOW. It reports no errors:

2011-05-16 06:51:01, Info CSI 00000009 [SR] Verifying 1 components
2011-05-16 06:51:01, Info CSI 0000000a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction
2011-05-16 06:51:01, Info CSI 0000000c [SR] Verify complete
2011-05-16 06:51:01, Info CSI 0000000d [SR] Repairing 0 components
2011-05-16 06:51:01, Info CSI 0000000e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction
2011-05-16 06:51:01, Info CSI 00000010 [SR] Repair complete

 

[Mark Phelps]

When I was using Stardock's Impulse a while back, it started out by forcing my PC into a non-Aero Classic desktop mode. And it required staying in that mode in order to work. Now, while that was an OLD version, and they may have changed that, you might have to remove Impulse to get Aero back working.

 

[emintz]

When I was using Stardock's Impulse a while back, it started out by forcing my PC into a non-Aero Classic desktop mode. And it required staying in that mode in order to work. Now, while that was an OLD version, and they may have changed that, you might have to remove Impulse to get Aero back working.

Thanks for the suggestion... I uninstalled Impulse but that is not the problem either.

 

[A Guy]

1st thing to do is perform a clean start to see if something is preventing Aero from running:

How to Troubleshoot a Problem by Performing a Clean Startup in Windows 7 or Vista

Then I'd try this MS Fixit

Windows Aero Glass visual effects are not working or displayed


You could try to force Aero, make a backup or registry and a System Restore point before proceeding.

Open RegEdit> Win Key+R> Type

regedit

Press enter

Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM

In the right details pane, create a new DWORD (32-bit value) named UseMachineCheck, and set its value to 0.

Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named Blur, and set its value to 0.

Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named Animations, and set its value to 0.

Start> In search box type

services.msc

Press enter

Right click Desktop Window Manager Session Manager> Restart

If the DWM registry key is not found, right click on Windows in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows> Select New> Key> And name it as DWM.

A Guy

 

[emintz]

A Guy:

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, I've already done all of these things (and just tried them again). In particular, the Microsoft Fixit you recommend just tells me to upgrade to a version of Windows that supports Aero. But I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and Aero previously worked for me.

 

[A Guy]

emintz, assuming you have a legit copy of Windows, then there is a deeper issue then no Aero if MS even detects the wrong version. At this time I'm going to suggest a Repair Install

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

It will save all your files and programs. Since you have already reset your system files, then the repair install will hopefully just restore proper operation. It is actually quite easy, and straight forward as you'll see.

A Guy

 

[emintz]

That did the trick, thanks!

emintz, assuming you have a legit copy of Windows, then there is a deeper issue then no Aero if MS even detects the wrong version. At this time I'm going to suggest a Repair Install

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

It will save all your files and programs. Since you have already reset your system files, then the repair install will hopefully just restore proper operation. It is actually quite easy, and straight forward as you'll see.

A Guy

 

[A Guy]

You're welcome emintz, glad we could help

A Guy