Usually I always post my tricky little discoveries right away – not least to be able to look them up here again at any time, in case I forget them. But as for this subject, I thought some time ago that I could remember it anyway and that nobody else would be interested in it either. Think again! Today I needed it again and couldn’t remember. ;)
What I’m talking about? In the Aero designs of Windows 7, you can adjust just about everything – window colors, window transparencies and all that stuff. What you can not adjust, however, are those rotten glass reflections that are visible as diagonal lines on all window borders.
I think many people don’t even notice the reflections. Back then, I had asked several people if they knew how to disable this effect. But they claimed they didn’t have any glass effects. However, when I demanded proof screenshots, it turned out that they had these lines on the windows, too! :D
I guess many people won’t understand how anybody could be bothered about something so unimportant. But at least I’m not the only one! In a Windows 7 forum someone else was upset about it, too, and I also found the solution there.
Solution
In short: Open the Registry Editor (Start Menu → type regedit.exe → Enter), press Ctrl+F and search for the key ColorizationGlassReflectionIntensity. After you’ve found the entry, double-click it, enter a 0 (zero) as value and confirm with “OK”. The change will take effect at the next logon.
Note: As soon as you make any changes to the “Window Color” on the control panel page “Personalization” (see picture), the stupid effect will automatically be enabled again, and you must once again set the value in the registry to 0. So you should first perfect your design and then remove the glass effect.
Update (August 2, 2011)
Vantage509 had the excellent idea of making a Windows registry file out of this. Just copy the following code into a text editor and save it as a *.reg file (or download my removelines.reg). Then, whenever the stripes reappear, simply double-click the file and you’re good again.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM] "ColorizationGlassReflectionIntensity"=dword:00000000
9 responses to “Windows Aero: remove glass effect (diagonal lines)”
To make this a little easier to reset, you can save the text that’s below the line as a *.reg file and run it whenever you need to disable the glass effect:
—————————————————-
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM]
“ColorizationGlassReflectionIntensity”=dword:00000000
Oh, yeah! Good point, why didn’t I think of that? :D Thanks.
Hey man, thanks for this post. I found it very useful. I wish Windows would allow for users to remove this without having to do something so dramatic.
Also, I have recently found that using Custo Packs http://www.custopack.com is an easy way to change Windows’ themes. Its about as easy as it gets when installing themes. There are OSX Lion themes, various windows themes, and many peoples own creative doings. Its just a software where you download themes, and its free. Anyway, I figured that anyone looking to get the Aero glass lines out might be the kind of person that likes to customize things, so I thought I would drop a line and tell you about it.
Again, Thanks, your solution is the best I have found in regards to the “lines/folds”.
Thank You very very much!
Greetings from Lithuania! :)
What is the default setting for this registry key? I like the Aero stripe effect but mine keep being removed for some reason.
I just reset my design, and the value became 32. So that seems to be the default value. :)
Please help, this registry edit isn’t working for me.
Now my window borders looks beautiful. But it doesn’t work with Aero Peek preview for the desktop.
I want to thank you for posting this solution. It worked for me, and now my taskbar and borders look great again.