VISTA - changing appearances

RichardJW1

I just bought a new laptop stepping up to Vista having been a satisfied XP user, but I want to change the colour of the task bar, menu etc. but when I try through the normal way it always reverts back to dull shades of blue.....previously I had shades of green & brown which was easier on the eyes......the other thing I notice is that google chrome & some other bits n' pieces have locked themselves to the start menu....can't drag them off.

-TangleFoot-

Does this help?

RichardJW1

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

Does this help?

not really, no. I have been through the advanced settings in Windows Vista Basic and put them to the colour I wanted but it defaults back to this drab blue/black colour......as if it's locked

-TangleFoot-

Sounds like the visual styles in Vista Basic are hard-coded just like those in Windows XP. I suggest you refer to this if you want to change Vista's appearance that badly.

To get rid of the other thing, right-click your Taskbar and select Toolbars. My guess is you've got the Quick Launch toolbar enabled.

dogmaryxx

You might alter the color of the Taskbar if you have AERO Glass or AERO
Standard themes enabled. AERO Basic does not allow this. Right click your desktop
> click Personalize > Windows Color and Appearrance > click in the Themes
list box and select the support themes.

-TangleFoot-

dogmaryxx wrote: »

You might alter the color of the Taskbar if you have AERO Glass or AERO
Standard themes enabled.

Vista Home Basic doesn't have Aero.

Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, Home Basic targets budget-conscious users not requiring advanced media support for home use. This edition lacks the Windows Aero theme with its translucent effects. However, it does support Desktop Window Manager compositing, just without the glass effect.

dogmaryxx

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

Vista Home Basic doesn't have Aero.

System may support it

Windows Aero requires a DirectX 9-class graphics processor that supports the following:

• WDDM driver
• Pixel Shader 2.0
• 32 bits per pixel
• Adequate graphics memory
  • 64 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at a resolution lower than 1,310,720 pixels
  • 128 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels
  • 256 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at a resolution higher than 2,304,000 pixels

If your system meets the above requirements and has 512 MB of system memory, you can enable Windows Aero using Control Panel in Windows Vista. Additionally, on some systems with shared graphics memory, it is possible to adjust system configuration to obtain the Windows Aero experience. Contact your computer manufacturer to see if your system is capable of running Windows Aero.