Windows Vista Users. how to enable aero glass?

[desiplaya4life]

Ok i installed the 32-bit version in my ferrari 4005 laptop. first of all it runs flawlessly, no crash or bugs its seems pretty nice OS. BUTT i cant believe i cant find the aero glass feature!

is it because of my ati x700 video card??? how can i enable it? i mean 128mb ddr/ my vid card should support it pretty easily!!

any help?? thanks

 

[Exsomnis]

What CPU and how much RAM?

 

[nitromullet]

Right click on desktop -> Personalize will open a dialog box with a number of different options for the look and feel of your desktop. My install gave me the aero glass look by default.

...now if I could only get the X-Fi driver to install...

 

[desiplaya4life]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
What CPU and how much RAM?

amd turion 64 -2.0ghz
1gig ram
100gb 5400rpm hd
ati x700 128mb ddr video card

i mean it should be more than enough to run that feature!


so i open the personalization program where do i go now/

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Right click on desktop -> Personalize will open a dialog box with a number of different options for the look and feel of your desktop. My install gave me the aero glass look by default.

...now if I could only get the X-Fi driver to install...

Creative has some new drivers, that work with x32 and x64bit versions. Works fine for me. All except I dont have the option for 5.1, just stero or mono speakers.

Now if Crossfire would work... Neither SLI nor CF work as of yet. CF has less issues, but neither works so far. And if Logitech would get on the Vista bandwagon, that would be great too. There are not any G5 of G15 drivers that I know of.

 

[krotchy]

hit windows button + tab. IF you see a 3d view of all windows open, aero glass is running.

 

[hans007]

yeah, its sad that that is all that aero glass is.

after seeing it for the first time, its cool. but then its useless.

it should run on that config fine though. might have just disabled it because it might be a tad slow or something

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: Ackmed

Originally posted by: nitromullet
...now if I could only get the X-Fi driver to install...

Creative has some new drivers, that work with x32 and x64bit versions. Works fine for me. All except I dont have the option for 5.1, just stero or mono speakers.

Odd, I got the X-Fi drivers installed directly off the CD, and I purchased my X-Fi within the first couple of days they were on Best Buy shelves. The auto-installer wouldn't work, though, had to let Windows find the drivers and do it's "thang". However, digital out works perfectly fine, although only using 2.1 here.

 

[stash]

yeah, its sad that that is all that aero glass is.

That's not all it is at all. There's live previews in the taskbar, alt-tab and winkey-tab. There's no more tearing of windows. Read up on WDDM before you make ridiculous claims.

As for glass not working, in addition to the hardware, you also need a WDDM driver. Some are inbox, some are available on WU. If you have a WDDM driver, make sure your color depth is 32-bit, and under personalization, click the window color and appearance applet. If you see the old style applet, you should see Aero if you meet all the requirements. Select that and hit OK and glass will come up.

 

[akshayt]

are you talking of beta 2?

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: stash

yeah, its sad that that is all that aero glass is.

That's not all it is at all. There's live previews in the taskbar, alt-tab and winkey-tab. There's no more tearing of windows. Read up on WDDM before you make ridiculous claims.

As for glass not working, in addition to the hardware, you also need a WDDM driver. Some are inbox, some are available on WU. If you have a WDDM driver, make sure your color depth is 32-bit, and under personalization, click the window color and appearance applet. If you see the old style applet, you should see Aero if you meet all the requirements. Select that and hit OK and glass will come up.

ok whateve,r previews in taskbar etc... big deal. it still in general is very little.

i've had every beta since beta 1 btw as i have an msdn account through my job. and every beta i was hoping there'd be something well significant.

not to mention all this garbage will just make your laptop's 3d accelerator rujn constantly and drain your batteries.

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: desiplaya4life

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
What CPU and how much RAM?

amd turion 64 -2.0ghz
1gig ram
100gb 5400rpm hd
ati x700 128mb ddr video card

i mean it should be more than enough to run that feature!


so i open the personalization program where do i go now/

There are no Windows Vista users yet. You're beta testing an operating system released for developers, so you should be able to figure this stuff out on your own.

:roll:

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: nullpointerus

Originally posted by: desiplaya4life

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
What CPU and how much RAM?

amd turion 64 -2.0ghz
1gig ram
100gb 5400rpm hd
ati x700 128mb ddr video card

i mean it should be more than enough to run that feature!


so i open the personalization program where do i go now/

There are no Windows Vista users yet. You're beta testing an operating system released for developers, so you should be able to figure this stuff out on your own.

:roll:

wow. like username, like post. you managed to come across as a total ass, and you failed to make a point, congratulations

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: Ackmed

Originally posted by: nitromullet
...now if I could only get the X-Fi driver to install...

Creative has some new drivers, that work with x32 and x64bit versions. Works fine for me. All except I dont have the option for 5.1, just stero or mono speakers.

Odd, I got the X-Fi drivers installed directly off the CD, and I purchased my X-Fi within the first couple of days they were on Best Buy shelves. The auto-installer wouldn't work, though, had to let Windows find the drivers and do it's "thang". However, digital out works perfectly fine, although only using 2.1 here.

I don't think that X-Fi's are shipped with a cd containing the Vista Beta 2 drivers, but hey I'll check that out

Ackemd, which X-Fi do you have? I've heard of other people getting their's to work as well, but for the majority of X-Fi users the drivers don't work. Using the self extracting driver installer, the installer exits and tells me that I need to upgrade to Vista before I can use the drivers, and if I try extracting the drivers manually and installiing them via device manager I get an error saying the file can't be found. I've tried extracting the drivers multiple times to make sure I didn't mess that part up myself. Oh well, honestly it isn't that big of a deal since I'm just kind of toying around with Vista anyway. I assume that you're using 64-bit?

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: nullpointerus

Originally posted by: desiplaya4life

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
What CPU and how much RAM?

amd turion 64 -2.0ghz
1gig ram
100gb 5400rpm hd
ati x700 128mb ddr video card

i mean it should be more than enough to run that feature!


so i open the personalization program where do i go now/

There are no Windows Vista users yet. You're beta testing an operating system released for developers, so you should be able to figure this stuff out on your own.

:roll:

wow. like username, like post. you managed to come across as a total ass, and you failed to make a point, congratulations

I did make a point (see above). In the future please refrain from blatant personal attacks.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: nullpointerus

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: nullpointerus

Originally posted by: desiplaya4life

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
What CPU and how much RAM?

amd turion 64 -2.0ghz
1gig ram
100gb 5400rpm hd
ati x700 128mb ddr video card

i mean it should be more than enough to run that feature!


so i open the personalization program where do i go now/

There are no Windows Vista users yet. You're beta testing an operating system released for developers, so you should be able to figure this stuff out on your own.

:roll:

wow. like username, like post. you managed to come across as a total ass, and you failed to make a point, congratulations

I did make a point (see above). In the future please refrain from blatant personal attacks.

sure. if you refrain from needlessly insulting people in the first place.

There are Vista Beta users here who can give the guy a hand (and have). No need to bite his head off. Reserve the :roll: emoticon for people who actually deserve it

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: nullpointerus

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: nullpointerus

Originally posted by: desiplaya4life

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
What CPU and how much RAM?

amd turion 64 -2.0ghz
1gig ram
100gb 5400rpm hd
ati x700 128mb ddr video card

i mean it should be more than enough to run that feature!


so i open the personalization program where do i go now/

There are no Windows Vista users yet. You're beta testing an operating system released for developers, so you should be able to figure this stuff out on your own.

:roll:

wow. like username, like post. you managed to come across as a total ass, and you failed to make a point, congratulations

I did make a point (see above). In the future please refrain from blatant personal attacks.

sure. if you refrain from needlessly insulting people in the first place.

I didn't insult anybody - needlessly or otherwise - in the first place. Beta software is released to specific categories of people for useful feedback contributing to the development of that software, none of which appears to apply to the OP.

Let's take a look:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx

...which says in red text (emphasis mine):

"Note: This is beta code and should not be used in a production environment or on a main machine in the home. Beta 2 is intended for developers, IT professionals and technology experts to continue or begin their testing of Windows Vista. Before you decide to use Beta 2, you should feel comfortable with installing operating systems, updating drivers, and general PC troubleshooting."

Now, did I insult his intelligence? No! Not everyone needs to be a developer, IT professional, or technology expert. What I said was that if he does fall under one of those categories, he wouldn't be asking those kinds of questions. For example, if you're a carpenter, you don't normally ask what a philips screwdriver is, but that doesn't necessarily make you stupid. IOW it's a matter of familiarity and interest; not intellect.

Pop quiz:

Did I...
a) tell him to stop using the software?
b) accuse him of downloading it illegally?
c) tell him he came off like a total ass?
d) even ask why he downloaded it?
e) none of the above

Time's up! The correct answer is e.

There are Vista Beta users here who can give the guy a hand (and have).

Yeah, I sort of gathered that. But on the other hand this isn't the best place to post if you really want to contribute to the development of Vista as beta testers should be doing.

No need to bite his head off. Reserve the :roll: emoticon for people who actually deserve it

I didn't bite his head off; I expressed an opinion from which you apparently inferred an unspecified insult. I suggest you reread all of the OP's posts in this thread if you really want to know what I was thinking. You've taken a small, noninflammatory comment and inflated it to a small, one-sided flamewar. I will not post in this thread anymore.

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: Ackmed

Originally posted by: nitromullet
...now if I could only get the X-Fi driver to install...

Creative has some new drivers, that work with x32 and x64bit versions. Works fine for me. All except I dont have the option for 5.1, just stero or mono speakers.

Odd, I got the X-Fi drivers installed directly off the CD, and I purchased my X-Fi within the first couple of days they were on Best Buy shelves. The auto-installer wouldn't work, though, had to let Windows find the drivers and do it's "thang". However, digital out works perfectly fine, although only using 2.1 here.

I don't think that X-Fi's are shipped with a cd containing the Vista Beta 2 drivers, but hey I'll check that out

Ackemd, which X-Fi do you have? I've heard of other people getting their's to work as well, but for the majority of X-Fi users the drivers don't work. Using the self extracting driver installer, the installer exits and tells me that I need to upgrade to Vista before I can use the drivers, and if I try extracting the drivers manually and installiing them via device manager I get an error saying the file can't be found. I've tried extracting the drivers multiple times to make sure I didn't mess that part up myself. Oh well, honestly it isn't that big of a deal since I'm just kind of toying around with Vista anyway. I assume that you're using 64-bit?

(Ah, just one more post as this is unrelated to my discussion with dug777.) For some devices the XP drivers will work just fine as is the case with my wireless NIC. You'll get that "file not found" when you try to install 32-bit drivers in a 64-bit OS. If you wish to install XP drivers in Vista x64, you'll need to use the XP Pro 64-bit drivers, not the 32-bit XP drivers.

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: desiplaya4life
Ok i installed the 32-bit version in my ferrari 4005 laptop. first of all it runs flawlessly, no crash or bugs its seems pretty nice OS. BUTT i cant believe i cant find the aero glass feature!

is it because of my ati x700 video card??? how can i enable it? i mean 128mb ddr/ my vid card should support it pretty easily!!

any help?? thanks

During installation you can have options I believe of several installs. It has to do with the type of install.

 

[Kartajan]

You SHOULD have glass by default if you are running Beta2. I have an X1400 on my E1505 laptop, which the driver included w/ Beta2 is calling an X700, and my glass shows up just fine. (Window Transparency, etc). Did you get a different driver for your video than the default one? For example, did you do an UPGRADE install instead of a clean install? That could be the problem...

maybe...

If not, I don't have a guess.

**Edit: Note that Beta 2 was released as an "ultimate edition" only, so all features should have been enabled unless you did something funky somewhere..**

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: hans007
yeah, its sad that that is all that aero glass is.

after seeing it for the first time, its cool. but then its useless.

it should run on that config fine though. might have just disabled it because it might be a tad slow or something

i know i was gutted too. that transparent window thing too, i had that ages ago with one of the vista transformation packs, and TBH it was down right annoying with semi transparent windows.

ive been playin on a mac though, and i love how they work. shame i cant afford one

 

[terentenet]

Aero works fine here. No lag, no nothing. You should be able to enable it by Right clicking the desktop -> Personalization -> Visual Appearance. Enable transparent glass. Mine installed with it enabled.
Try this, not sure it works, but give it a go:
1. Open up Regedit.
2. Navigate through HKEY_local_machine, Software, and Microsoft.
3. Right click Microsoft -> New -> KEY, name the newly created key DWM.
4. In the new DWM key you created, create a DWORD (32bit) called EnableMachineCheck.
5. Make sure this value is set to 0 and hardware checking is now disabled.
Reboot windows and retry to activate the transparent glass. Some reported success with this method.