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How do I get rid of the "glass" effect on taskbar icons

Anonymous
2011-07-12T15:02:45+00:00

Hi all,

I installed Windows 7 for the first time over the weekend and would like to know how to remove the diagonal gradient "glass" effect on the taskbar icons.

Unfortunately modifying the ColorizationGlassReflectionIntensity entry in the registry which was identified in other forums does not seem to work, even after relogging and / or rebooting.

I do not want to go back to the classic theme, just want the diagonal gradients removed. Mainly because I have multiple instances of an application open at the same time, and it isn't intuitive looking at the taskbar which one is the active window. Would like to either specify a completely different color for the active application or get rid of the gradients.

WindowBlinds figured out a way to do it, but that package causes all sorts of other problems with other applications (Thunderbird 5.0 for one). I had to manually block many apps to get it to work right. Also it needs to run in the background. Uninstalled it almost immediately.

Regards,

Tim

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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@CmdrKeene 90,626 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2011-07-13T14:36:21+00:00

Unfortunately there's not.  Like Windows Blinds, Aero is based on bitmap graphic skins.  The only way to change the style is to use another theme from another provider, like Window Blinds.  You might try keeping Aero on but turning off the transparency in the color options.  Then you can change the intensity and be able to better see the active application.

Picture:  http://skeene.net/answers/Sharp%20Colors.png

It's easier to see that Explorer is active because it's taskbar button is bright white.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-07-13T12:56:14+00:00

    Thanks for the reply.

    I already have done option #1, but that does not get rid of the glass effect on the buttons.

    Method 2 works however I would like to not revert back to a Windows 98 type taskbar.  Is there any other way other than 3rd party software?

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-07-13T08:47:17+00:00

    Hi Denikar,

    Method: 1

    Follow the steps mentioned below to taskbar settings.

    a.       Open Taskbar and Start Menu Properties by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Taskbar and Start Menu.

    b.       On the Taskbar tab, under Taskbar appearance, select Never combine from the Taskbar buttons menu, and then click OK.

    Method: 2

    If that doesn’t work then I would suggest you to disable the aero feature.

    Follow the steps to disable aero.

    a.      Right click on the desktop

    b.      Click Personalize.

    c.       Under 'Basic and High Contrast Themes, click 'Windows 7 Basic'

    Now you can get the default style of taskbar on Windows 7

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