Windows Vista Aero Glass visual effects are not working

Automatically diagnose and repair problems when the visual Aero Glass effects, themes, and transparencies are not working or are disabled in Windows Vista on your computer.
What it fixes...
  • A program you are running does not display the Aero effects
  • Some Aero effects such as transparency are not displayed
  • Identify if your video card doesn’t support the Aero required settings, color depth, or does not have sufficient memory to support some Aero effects
  • Identify if the required Desktop services, themes and indexes are running or disabled in order to display Aero effects
  • Identify if the current power settings do not support Aero desktop effects such as running on battery power
  • Windows borders are not displaying Aero transparency

How it works...
Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services scans your computer and detects the root causes of common problems, then
Automatically fixes the problems that it finds, and
Offers additional resources if the problem isn't fixed
Microsoft
Automated Troubleshooting Services

Run the diagnostic

By clicking Run now, you agree to the terms referenced in the Microsoft License Agreement.

Place a shortcut on my desktop to Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services Fix it solution

Run now

Note:

  • For our diagnostics to run, the following programs will be installed or enabled.
    • Windows Powershell
    • Windows MSXML 6.0
  • While this diagnostic will run on Windows Server 2008, it was specifically created to detect problems on Windows Vista machines.

Read our online privacy statement

Diagnostic and repair solutions for Windows

Run now
We detected that you are running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2
This means that for help with troubleshooting you can run the diagnostics built into Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 by following the instructions below.
To access the diagnostics built into your computer:
  • Click Start, Control Panel
  • In the Control Panel, click System and Security
  • In the System and Security window, under Action Center, click Troubleshoot common computer problems
  • In the Troubleshoot computer problems window, click a specific task to automatically diagnose and fix a problem. To view more troubleshooters, click a category.

Run the diagnostic

Run now
This diagnostic package is not available for Windows Vista
While Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services supports some diagnostic packages for Windows Vista, this is not one of them. However, click below for other information to help you troubleshoot this problem.

Diagnostic and repair solutions for Windows Vista

Run now
This diagnostic package is not available for Windows XP
We have detected that you are running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. While Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services supports some diagnostic packages for Windows XP, this is not one of them. However, click below for other information to help you troubleshooting this problem.

Windows Aero technology is only available in the Windows Vista Home Premium, Business and Ultimate versions, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008.

We're sorry, but your operating system is not supported by Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services at this time.
Here are additional troubleshooting steps you can take to solve this problem:
Go to Windows Help and How-to
Browse through topics related to using Windows.
Search Microsoft Help and Support
Search for topics related to this problem.
Open a Microsoft support request
Contact a Microsoft support professional via e-mail, online or phone. Support charges may apply.
Last Review : November 3, 2009