No preview panel for windows?

I have the Vista Home Premium 32-bit version. Normally, if i have windows open on the task bar, if I mouse over it, it would give me a preview of the window. Now it doesn't seem to do that. I've seen this happen before when I was playing a certain game that wasn't compatible with my current operating system I think. It used to revert to Windows Vista Basic(I think that's what it's called) and when I closed the game, it would go back to normal. One day, I open my computer and it doesn't have the preview pane for the windows on my task bar anymore.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 530
Hi


Right click on the Task bar and click Properties
From the Properties window, check the box for Show window previews (Thumbnails)
Then click Apply & OK.

Sweet
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5738G-644G32MN
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo - clockspeed 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer JV50
    Memory
    RAM 4 GB - SO-DIMM DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce - G105M - 512 MB
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 Pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS543232L9A300
    320 GB - Type SATA - Speed 5400 rpm
    Keyboard
    Azerty
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless Mouse M505
    Internet Speed
    Currently 14.5 MB/Sec which means 1.8 MB/Sec effective
Download the file Xplorer.exe.
If you click it, Windows Explorer will restart.
( This will only close your folders, apps will continue to run )
It may temporarily solve the problem.
If it doesn't, you can download the program Visualtooltip.
I've tested it on Windows XP and Vista, and it works perfectly.
It's also very customizable, and doesn't need to be installed.

Sweet
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5738G-644G32MN
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo - clockspeed 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer JV50
    Memory
    RAM 4 GB - SO-DIMM DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce - G105M - 512 MB
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 Pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS543232L9A300
    320 GB - Type SATA - Speed 5400 rpm
    Keyboard
    Azerty
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless Mouse M505
    Internet Speed
    Currently 14.5 MB/Sec which means 1.8 MB/Sec effective
Interesting. I have SP2 installed and the option to show the preview is greyed out. The taskbar is unlocked. I wonder what's up with that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
Hi Wither3

Please read this tutorial, and the one about changing the Color Scheme in Vista.
Could be that the Color Scheme is set to Windows Vista Basic or Standard.

Brink said:
You must have the Windows Aero color scheme turned on for the Glass Transparency, Taskbar Thumbnail Previews, and Flip 3D features.

Sweet
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5738G-644G32MN
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo - clockspeed 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer JV50
    Memory
    RAM 4 GB - SO-DIMM DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce - G105M - 512 MB
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 Pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS543232L9A300
    320 GB - Type SATA - Speed 5400 rpm
    Keyboard
    Azerty
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless Mouse M505
    Internet Speed
    Currently 14.5 MB/Sec which means 1.8 MB/Sec effective
I have home premium and had just installed it and the service packages on a new hard drive. It turns out that the scheme was set to basic by the installation so I changed it to Windows Aero. That did the trick. Thanks.

However, what it does is show the thumbnails stacked instead of spread as in Win 7 so you can't select a particular one. Any guidance on that?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
I'm not sure what you're talking about.
As far as I know, preview thumbnails are not stacked on top of each other, nor can you click them.
If you have too many buttons on the taskbar,
then these are grouped into one button for each category depending on the settings of the Taskbar Properties.
If you click that taskbar button, Windows will display a list (stacked) of open windows (names) from which you can choose.
There's also Flip 3D, which can be activated by pressing CTRL + Windows-Key + TAB.
Another option is CTRL + ALT + TAB, which will display a centered pane,
showing the activated windows and apps from which you can choose.
(As with Flip 3D, you have the possibility to hide a window, which you can't minimize, by clicking Desktop)

Sweet
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5738G-644G32MN
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo - clockspeed 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer JV50
    Memory
    RAM 4 GB - SO-DIMM DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce - G105M - 512 MB
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 Pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS543232L9A300
    320 GB - Type SATA - Speed 5400 rpm
    Keyboard
    Azerty
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless Mouse M505
    Internet Speed
    Currently 14.5 MB/Sec which means 1.8 MB/Sec effective
After I posted and was doing some other things, I realized that I didn't make myself clear.

If you have say two or three programs running and maybe 5 pages open in IE, there may not be enough space to display everything that is running. In that case, Vista will place all open IE pages under one button. If you hover the pointer over that button, it will only show 1 thumbnail clearly with the rest hidden behind it. In Win 7, the thumbnail for each IE page will be opened across the screen and then you can go pick the one you want to go to.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
wither 3 said:
If you hover the pointer over that button, it will only show 1 thumbnail clearly with the rest hidden behind it.

In Vista, this is normal, you have to click on the Taskbar button to see the list from which you can choose.
To always have buttons with grouped files, you must reduce the size of the taskbar buttons,
and set the Properties of the Taskbar (under the tab Taskbar) to Group similar taskbar buttons.

Sweet
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5738G-644G32MN
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo - clockspeed 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer JV50
    Memory
    RAM 4 GB - SO-DIMM DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce - G105M - 512 MB
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 Pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS543232L9A300
    320 GB - Type SATA - Speed 5400 rpm
    Keyboard
    Azerty
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless Mouse M505
    Internet Speed
    Currently 14.5 MB/Sec which means 1.8 MB/Sec effective
Thanks for the help. It's one of the few things in Win 7 that I like better than Vista.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
You could try VisualToolTip,
some experimenting with the options might result in something to your liking.
(The Dock you see in the picture is draggable)
Because it requires no installation, you can give it a whirl,
and if you don't like it, just remove it.

Sweet

attachment.php
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5738G-644G32MN
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo - clockspeed 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer JV50
    Memory
    RAM 4 GB - SO-DIMM DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce - G105M - 512 MB
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 Pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS543232L9A300
    320 GB - Type SATA - Speed 5400 rpm
    Keyboard
    Azerty
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless Mouse M505
    Internet Speed
    Currently 14.5 MB/Sec which means 1.8 MB/Sec effective
ignore. had a link to the wrong thread.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
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