Changing the "Window Glass Colour" in Windows 7 Home Premium

sammd3

Posts: 9   +0
I'm trying to change the colour of my toolbar and the headers of other windows that I open. But when I type "change window glass colour" into the start menu I don't get the option to do that. I know that there must be an option to do this in Windows 7 because my laptop has the same OS and I have changed it several times on that. I have read in another thread that it might be to do with Windows Aero. But the troubleshooter is bringing up nothing and changing the Theme from "Basic" to "Aero" and back has no effect on being able to change the window glass colour.

I can send screenshots to any replies if that will help. Any replies greatly appreciated as this is bugging me.

Thanks,
Sam.
 
You need aero active to do what you want. Whether or not win7 aero works or not also has a lot to do with your video driver. You should check with the video card (or motherboard if applicable) manufacturer's website for the latest driver version that is applicable. Also try googling to see if there is a way to determine whether aero is active or not.

Here is one example
There is a corresponding service UxSms (Desktop Window Manager Session Manager- Provides Desktop Window Manager startup and maintenance services).

This starts a process dwm.exe. With this started, AERO is enabled (if stopped AERO is disabled). So basically if the process dwm.exe runs, AERO is enabled (read the comments, this means that AERO themes might, but not necessarily have be used. However, without DWM no AERO).
 
You need aero active to do what you want. Whether or not win7 aero works or not also has a lot to do with your video driver. You should check with the video card (or motherboard if applicable) manufacturer's website for the latest driver version that is applicable. Also try googling to see if there is a way to determine whether aero is active or not.

Thanks for the reply. Is there any chance you could help out with finding the appropriate latest drivers? My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PV.
 
http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4091#dl then choose 'driver' and your exact OS. You also might need to know what processor is on the motherboard, to choose Ivy bridge or Sandy bridge for the video driver (unless you have an additional video card of course).
If you dont know the answer to that, download speccy https://www.piriform.com/speccy

I've downloaded Speccy now. I have an Intel Core i3-2120. I don't think I have an additional video card. All I have is a Nvidia GeForce GT430 Graphics Card.
Which one do I choose to download? Ivy or Sandy bridge?
 
http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4091#dl then choose 'driver' and your exact OS. You also might need to know what processor is on the motherboard, to choose Ivy bridge or Sandy bridge for the video driver (unless you have an additional video card of course).
If you dont know the answer to that, download speccy https://www.piriform.com/speccy

Ok, I've had a look and I think my processor is Sandy Bridge. Shall I download the video driver for that from the link you sent me?
 
FYI, sammd3, it's not necessary to quote the previous post when you respond to it.
 
Oh ok, sorry, I am new to this site and it automatically quotes the person I am replying to so though that was what I was meant to be doing! :)
 
No harm done. :) Sometimes quoting is appropriate, especially if you are only responding to part of a long post. Then you may quote that portion.

If you don't need to quote anything, you can use the "Post Reply" box at the bottom of the thread.
 
The answer to your question is yes, download the Sandy Bridge driver.
  • The 2000 series is Sandy Bridge.
  • The 3000 series is Ivy Bridge.
I currently have the i7-2600, which is also Sandy Bridge.

All I have is a Nvidia GeForce GT430 Graphics Card.
If you are using the GT430, you will need nVidia drivers instead.
 
I didn't ask which bit version you Windows was and didn't see it mentioned above. I'll link to both versions. Download the correct version for your machine.

GeForce 340.52:
Or you can use GeForce Experience that @Cobalt006 linked you to. To be honest that has been the way I have been updating lately.
 
Geforce Experience is an application that will help you keep your driver updated. It will also help optimize some of the newest game settings. The number of supported games are continuing to grow.

If you choose to download drivers manually, choose the drivers that have the highest version. The larger the version number the newer the driver.
 
And on the off-chance that it's you messing around rather than a driver issue, just right-click the taskbar at the foot (normally) of the screen, select properties and on the screen that pops up, first panel 'taskbar', do you or do you not have a tick for 'Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop'? If it is grayed out, aero is not working.

Aero Requirements to be Enabled in Windows 7


NOTE: If Aero is not enabled, then Aero Peek will not work even when turned on.
  • Aero is not included in Windows 7 Home Basic or Windows 7 Starter editions.
  • 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
  • 1 GB of system memory
  • Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (in order to enable Aero theme)
  • You must be have True Color (32 bit) set instead of High Color (16 bit).
  • The Desktop Window Manager Session Manager and Themes Services need to be set as Started and Automatic.
  • Refresh or update your WEI score. You will need an WEI score minimum of 2.0 in both Graphics & Gaming graphics in order for Aero to be activated.
  • The desktop composition and Animate controls and elements inside windows options need to be enabled in Visual Effects.
 
Ok, so I have managed to fix this issue by accident by trying to fix my Origin. I have recently downloaded Origin but it has not been opening for me. So I looked online and it asked me to go to control panel>appearance and personalisation>adjust screen resolution>advanced settings>moitor> then change the setting from 16bit high colour to 32 bit true colour and it has both fixed origin which is opening fine now and has enabled the windows glass colour to be changed.
Just want to say thanks to everyone who has helped me try to fix this issue and I hope my fix will help other people having the same issue.
 
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