Windows Vista Problem

[God of Twilight]

Okay, I'm not sure if many of you will have the answer to this, but:

I got a new computer for Christmas. It was pre-built by HP. The model # is a6130n, in case anyone needs it.

Anyways, well it included Windows Vista Home Premium(32 bit). Well...sometime ago(I'm not sure exactly when), some problem arose with my taskbar(Bar at bottom of screen;also has start button on it). Basically....no matter what color I set the taskbar to, it appears grey. I can still see differences in colors, but it's all greyed out. However, this only occurs when the desktop is visible. As soon as I maximize a window or program, the taskbar's color returns to normal.

I didnt notice this for a while, because I had the transparency set ON for a while, and it's hard to notice with it on, although it's still grey.

Can anyone think of a solution to this?
♥Please?♥

[Username]

what color is your desktop backround. The Vista taskbar is sort of transparent. It's built in. If i were you ( if you wanted) i would copy all of my files and then downgrade it to XP, it runs a lot faster.

[Lantean]

Username, I'm sorry, but that's very poor advice to give someone. Downgrade to an inferior version just because of a taskbar problem?

[GDwarf]

Indeed.


Uh GoT, mind posting a screenshot or two of your problem? I'm not really able to tell what's wrong from your description.

[God of Twilight]

Originally Posted by GDwarf

Indeed.


Uh GoT, mind posting a screenshot or two of your problem? I'm not really able to tell what's wrong from your description.

How would I do that?

btw, I'm NOT downgrading back to XP...I JUST got this computer

[Mini-Link]

There are different levels of transparency, it's goes by 10's (I think) from 0% up to 100%

[GDwarf]

Originally Posted by God of Twilight

How would I do that?

btw, I'm NOT downgrading back to XP...I JUST got this computer

Hit the print screen ("Prt Scr" or similar) button on your keyboard, it'll be at the top, above your arrow keys.

Now open up paint (or similar) hit "paste" and voila, you have a picture of your desktop. Save that.

Now go to somewhere like Imageshack or Photobucket, upload your picture, and then put a link to it here.



And you definitely shouldn't downgrade to XP. That would be...foolish.

[Lantean]

For a screenshot, press the Prt Scr button, which should be about your backspace key somewhere. Then open up Paint or something and paste it. Then edit as you will, and upload it to share.

[Mini-Link]

Really? I didn't know that before.

[God of Twilight]

Didnt know either...
OKay, so the first picture is when the desktop is showing...as you can see, grey.

The next picture is when I have the internet maximized, and it's normal(black)
- btw transparency is off right now, but even when it's on, it still looks grey.

[GDwarf]

Edit 2: Huh, I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions. You've changed the colours, you say, so that's obviously not resetting it.


And it's very odd that it's only when everything is minimized.


Tell me, and this will sound strange indeed, but does changing your desktop background to something darker solve the problem?



Edit 3: I should probably say: This was a (admittedly stupid) way of checking to see if it was a transparency issue. Ignore it and use the colour intensity slider.

[God of Twilight]

Oh, and just to let you know, it doesnt matter which color I change it to either. I can still see differences(I can tell if it's blue or red), but it's like a grey tone

[Mini-Link]

When you go online it is supposed to be black, it does that automatically, but like I said check the color intensity 0% means it's solid, 100% mean you can see through it. Like this...



It's the little scale right under the "Enable Transparency" box.

[God of Twilight]

Originally Posted by Mini-Link

When you go online it is supposed to be black, it does that automatically, but like I said check the color intensity 0% means it's solid, 100% mean you can see through it. Like this...



It's the little scale right under the "Enable Transparency" box.

I know...It's all the way up

[Mini-Link]

I forget if you want it transparent or not so, you just said it was a problem you didn't say what you wanted.

Solid= All the way up
Transparent= All the way down.

[God of Twilight]

Originally Posted by Mini-Link

I forget if you want it transparent or not so, you just said it was a problem you didn't say what you wanted.

Solid= All the way up
Transparent= All the way down.

Not do be rude, but I'm not sure you understand:
The transparency isnt the problem.
In fact, it doesnt matter whether it's on all the way, or off.

Look at this:
the first picture is how the default color(of the taskbar) is supposed to look like
The second picture is how my default color looks.

There's a noticable difference.
(Both color settings are the same)
(and I'm talking about the taskbar)

[Mini-Link]

Tell, me if I'm wrong, go ahead be rude, if I don't get it let me know. Ok?

Let me see if I get what your saying now. The problem is that the color of the bar is changing when you don't want it to. Yes? No?

[Lantean]

I think it's because the taskbar is unaffected by changing your window color and appearance, as shown in the pictures above.

That would make sense, since that taskbar is not a window.

[Mini-Link]

No because it changes too when you change the color.

See? 1 is Frost, 2 is Red

[Lantean]

Originally Posted by Mini-Link

No because it changes too when you change the color.

Again, the taskbar is not a window, so if unaffected by "Window Color and Appearance."

I tried it out myself, and got the same results.

[God of Twilight]

Here's another example:
This is my computer on the default color. Look at the start menu: It's grey.



But when I open things up, like the internet, it returns to a normal color.
It never used to do this, but one day I noticed it happening.

[God of Twilight]

Originally Posted by Mini-Link

No because it changes too when you change the color.

No. It's not supposed to change. When it's transparent, it appears to change, but only because the background is changing.
(I know...2 posts)

[Lantean]

That's just weird. I have no idea.

*Snaps fingers*

I got it!

Do you have your taskbar locked? Maybe the color won't change when it's locked. Right click on your taskbar to find out.