Solved Can't turn off transparency.The usual settings to change it don't work

[Sembel]

Hi. I've read lots and used lots from this forum - thanks! - but first time posting here. I've searched, but haven't found a similar issue to this.

My issue:

I was using Aero with no problem. I had customized it a little, but only basic things through the Personalize section of Control Panel. I turned off transparency, and it worked perfectly.

I downloaded some themes from different sources (deviantart, etc). They were full themes that changed dlls. I tried them for a while.

Recently I switched back to my normal slightly-customized Aero theme. Everything from my theme is back and working correctly.... except opaque window tops.

Now when using my customized aero-theme, I can't turn off the transparency of the top bar of open windows. It affects all applications: Explorer, Firefox, Skype, etc...

Here's a snapshot of how it looks:


In this example above, the Control Panel is on top, but through it you can see Firefox... and through Firefox, you can see the desktop. It's a mess to figure out where one window ends and another beings, so clicking, dragging, sizing, even reading it are all a hassle.

I want to disable that so the tops of the windows are solid, but I can't make it solid and still keep aero peek.

Steps I've tried:
- in Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization, I unchecked "enable transparency."

- in Performance Options, I turned off everything that could be causing it. Here's a shot of my current settings:


- in the registry, I confirmed that Colorization Opaque Blend is set to 1 (=disabled). Here's a copy of the DWN settings in the registry:



None of this works. I tested the theme "Windows 7 Basic". It successfully made the tops of the windows opaque. However, it doesn't have aero peek, etc, which I want.

Any suggestions on what I must change to make my customized-aero theme disable transparency again and have opaque window tops?

Thanks!

 

[Bongo]

Welcome to the Seven Forums
Did you change the .dll your self or did the theme do it?
What did you use to patch the system files to use custom themes?
Post a link to one of the themes that changed the .dll.

Do Option 2 in this tutorial it will not harm any data or programs you have installed. If you used universal theme patcher this will disable it and you will need to re-patch http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html
Jerry

 

[Sembel]

Hi Bongo. Thanks for the suggestion to run the system file checker. It worked. I ran it first to verify. The log file was enormous and I couldn't make heads or tails of it, so I just closed my eyes and ran the sfc. Restarted.. and my windows are no longer transparent. If I click on the transparent checkbox in Personalize, they become transparent, and if I uncheck that box, then my windows are opaque as they should be. No idea what it actually did... but problem solved. Thanks!

 

[Bongo]

You're Welcome