Solved Transparency and Aero effects options missing

[rick146]

A few days ago I had Aero and transparency options. I noticed a difference while running a game that had locked up, I had to Ctrl Alt Del to shut the game down. Then noticed screen resolution went to 800 x 600 at the desktop. I changed back to 1920 x 1080 default but cannot get Aero effects back. I've tried many of the fixes to stop and start service, using troubleshooter program says it's fine. But it seems that some of the software is now missing that would provide Transparency Aero options. It looks like under personalization screen that Windows color option reverted back to Windows 7 Basic. I have Windows 7 - 64 bit professional version. I have attached several screen shots from my system of particular interest regarding this issue.
Is there a way to re-install that Aero effects option ?

see systems specs.

 

[wither 2]

Everything looks the same as on my system. One has to choose a Win 7 theme to get the aero, as noted in one of your screen shots.

 

[rick146]

Thanks,
I selected one of the Aero themes but when the window color is selected, it still shows the Windows 7 Basic options only. Not the Aero color effects .

 

[wither 2]

I think you have Aero since you're seeing the Aero themes and you can select one and modify it. The message about what you select simply says that some of the choices might not be usable. Windows doesn't specify which choices are and are not available, depending on the type of theme.

For instance, in Vista, the Appearance window allows me to select Windows Aero. It doesn't provide specific Aero themes as in Win 7. None the less, the Appearance screen looks exactly like the one you show when I select Advanced and has a similar message but talks about choosing other types of themes.

 

[rick146]

I think you have Aero since you're seeing the Aero themes and you can select one and modify it. The message about what you select simply says that some of the choices might not be usable. Windows doesn't specify which choices are and are not available, depending on the type of theme.

Hello, thanks Wither 2 for taking the time to help me.

That's the thing, I seem to have a portion of Aero , not all of it. Below are some screen shots from a PC with Win 7 Professional 64 bit that I am building for a friend. I have his as a comparison to see what I no longer have.
When I click on Personalization and then Window color. I see this
( first image )

When I click on Advanced appearance settings then that would show
( second Image )

When I go System>Advanced system settings>Advanced>Settings The circled 3 entries are not available as an option to me on my system. But is is on the one that I am building.

Enable Aero Peek
Enable Desktop Composition
Enable Transparent Glass

Also when I go to taskbar on my computer, right click>properties , the "use aero peek to preview the desktop" is greyed out. (last image)

So I'm thinking if I can get those options back, that would solve my problem.
I tried system restore but have no backups available. Do these options depend or have any connection to a graphics card driver software.?
If so, I could try to rollback the driver to previous version but if that works that means I will never be able to update the graphics driver going forward.
Is there a way without re-installing windows to just get that part of windows re-installed ?

 

[Belgarionbg]

The fix is simple.

On the second screenshot from your first post in the middle portion below the base score - just click "Re-run the assessment". It will fix the aero in the middle of the procedure (while testing direct x and stuff) but wait until it is finished entirely which will took few minutes.

 

[wither 2]

In regards to Aero Peek, take a look at this-

Aero Peek - Turn On or Off

 

[rick146]

Belgarionbg, thanks for your reply. I did that on 3/20 , but for the hell of it I did it again. No change.
wither 2, I thought option 4 was going to work, but it did not. After changing the registry with the reg file, after a while my screen would flash, flicker and eventually turn black. I disabled it again using the disable .reg and so far no flickering and flashing. Not sure if it had anything to do with changing the registry, who knows. After that I did a clean install of the latest graphics card driver. No flickering screen so far but also no Aero. It's just not showing up as an option in System>Advanced system settings>Settings>Visual effects. Enable Aero Peek, Enable Desktop Composition, Enable Transparent Glass are not listed.
Probably the only way to get it back is re-install Windows, but it's not worth it, I will just have to live with it.

 

[wither 2]

Do you have your monitor set to True Colors (32 bit)?

 

[rick146]

Do you have your monitor set to True Colors (32 bit)?

DUDE , winner winner chicken dinner. You nailed it

It was set to 16 bit color. I was wondering why the graphics looked terrible.

EVERYTHING is back to normal. Thank you for sticking with it even though I about given up.

Solved !

Thanks again wither 2

 

[wither 2]

I'm glad we finally found the problem.

Enjoy!