Netbook Network

Windows Aero, with special transparency and 3d effects, is the best visual style Microsoft has given Windows yet. However, Windows Aero may not work on older machines or some netbooks. In some cases however, netbooks and older desktops support Windows Aero – with Windows incorrectly detecting your graphics card’s abilities. My netbook, an Asus Eee 1005HA, has an Intel GMA 950 integrated chipset that can fully run Windows Aero just fine. Using this registry hack, you can try to force enable Windows Aero on your computer.

First make sure your graphics card supports DirectX 9 – or you will result in a black screen and possibly have to fully reinstall Windows! Netbook Network is not responsible for any damage possibly caused by this hack. This guide only applies to Windows 7 Home Premium and higher.

Windows 7 has a tool built in to troubleshoot transparency and visual effects which will be able to help out most people who want to get Aero up and running. Go to your start menu and search for: “Find and fix problems with transparency”. The tool should be the first one listed. Run it, and it will do a thorough recheck on your graphics card’s abilities and tell you what’s preventing Windows Aero from being supported.

If the troubleshooting tool doesn’t work, it’s time to get your hands dirty in the Windows Registry.

1. Open the registry editor. Press the start orb and search for “Regedit”. Open the application under administrator.
2. Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM. If the DWM registry key doesn’t seem to exist, right click on Regedit and then select New -> Key to create new branch and name it as DWM.
3. In the right details pane, right click and create a new DWORD (32-bit value). Call it UseMachineCheck, and set its value to 0.
4. Create another DWORD (32-bit value) and have it be named Blur. Set the value to 0.
5. Create another DWORD (32-bit value) and this time name it Animations. Set the value to 0.
6. Now you need to restart the Desktop Window Manager. Open a command prompt window under administrator and type: net stop uxsms and immediately after net start uxsms
7. Now attempt to enable a Windows Aero based visual style. Restart the computer if necessary.

Have fun with Windows 7′s shiny transparency effects!