Can't check "Show Windows Previews (Thumbnails)"??

ubapook

New Member
Alright well I got Windows Vista home basic, and its activated and all fine. So on my taskbar, whenever i minimize stuff and a tab is there, and i put my mouse over it, no picture comes up. I didn't know why but now I just checked and i right-clicked on taskbar, went to properties, and i looked at the menu and the option for "Show Windows Previews (Thumbnails)" won't let me check it....why?
 

My Computer

Alright well I got Windows Vista home basic, and its activated and all fine. So on my taskbar, whenever i minimize stuff and a tab is there, and i put my mouse over it, no picture comes up. I didn't know why but now I just checked and i right-clicked on taskbar, went to properties, and i looked at the menu and the option for "Show Windows Previews (Thumbnails)" won't let me check it....why?

Do you have Vista Aero enabled? Live Thumbnails are available only when Aero is enabled:
  • Right-click anywhere on your desktop, and select Personalize
  • Click "Window Color and Appearance"
  • Click "Open classic appearance properties"
  • Select "Windows Aero" in the Color Scheme. If it's not available, then your computer hardware does not support Aero.
  • Click OK
  • Go back into the Start Menu properties, and try enabling Live Preview Thumbnails again.
But you are using Vista Home Basic, which if I remmber correctly, does not support Aero. You'll need to upgrade to Home Premium or Ultimate
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
    Motherboard
    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
    Memory
    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAHARA 21"
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 x 80GB Seagate (I)
    2 x 120GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 200GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 250GB Seagate (I/S)
    PSU
    800W
    Case
    Thermaltake Tai-Chi
    Cooling
    Tai-Chi Water Cooler
    Keyboard
    Genius
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    384kbps
    Other Info
    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
Like areo I dont think it's supported in Vista Home Basic :(
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
aww thats not fair lol but thanks

woa wait I just selected Vista Home Standard instead of basic and now the color is a bit different and the thumbnail thing is checked just no picture comes up when i put mouse over it.....just the words that say what the program is take longer to come up

???
 

My Computer

Hi Upapook,

What version of Vista do you have?

If it is Vista Home Basic, then you will not be able to turn on the taskbar thumbnail previews since this is part of the Windows Aero color scheme that is not included with the Vista Home Basic version.

If you have another version of Vista, then make sure that you have the Windows Aero color scheme running to see the taskbar thumbnails.

See:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/73728-thumbnail-previews-taskbar.html

and

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/118399-thumbnail-previews-taskbar-enable-disable.html

Hope this helps you,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Okay. I've had this same exact issue. I had to reboot my computer due to a crash and a lot of my features (like this one) were no longer functioning. I wish I could take credit for finding out how to do this, but it took me lots of research and someone else had the answer for me. First off, using Vista Home Basic, this feature is just not available. Anything beyond that and it is. This it to inform you how to recover this option if it is available, but wont let you select it.
Because Vista has numerous versions, it needs a way to detect how efficient your computer is running in order to use as many options as you would like. They created something which essentially "grades" your computer, to avoid crashing it by over-using it with features that seem to slow down your computer. This is KEY to remember, because this is most likely the issue with not being able to turn on the taskbar thumbnail feature. In order for this feature to be able to be used, your computer must register a minimum of a 2.7 overall performance score. If you have recently rebooted your computer, it will automatically default your score to 1.0 so here is how to reset it:
1) Click on the Start bar icon and select Control Panel
2) Once the window opens select the System and Maintenance option
3) After the window advances to a new screen, scroll down until you find the option Performance Information and Tools and select that
4) This should advance it to the screen you want. From here you will see a number at the right of the screen labeled Base Score. What this represents is the lowest score of all of the component subscores
5) On this screen select Update My Score under the Base Score (note that you must be the administrator in order to run this option). After about five to six minutes, your computer should reset the scores for all of the components and label your Base Score with the lowest component score.
6) Once all of this is done, restart your computer (given your Base Score is high enough) and login once again. Give your computer a second to setup everything then it is as simple as right-clicking in the taskbar and selecting Properties and checking the box for this feature.
I hope this is helpful to everyone, especially you Ubapook, and anyone else who has had this problem. It took me almost a month of searching to find this solution and my hope is that if it is out there even more, it will make it easier for others with this problem as well. Anyone who is confused by this post a reply
 

My Computer

Back
Top