windows aero not working after reformatting my HDD

[Samuel]

I'm having a problem with Windows Vista Aero now...

I usually work on my laptop with the battery removed because my friends
mentioned that this could overcharge the battery and shorten its life.

Well then, I was working on my laptop as usual, when my younger sister
accidentally pulled out the power cord. When I rebooted the computer, I ran
safe mode and restarted it in normal mode. All seemed well.

Today, when I turned on the computer, it was lagging much worse than usual.
The sleep and hibernate function is disabled, I cannot change the loudness of
my speakers, I cannot change the brightness of the screen, the system cannot
detect my graphics card (it's running on "standard VGA output"), and my theme
was windows vista basic.

I saved all necessary documents and reformatted the computer. All was
working fine except that windows aero was not available. I have downloaded
and installed the latest graphics drivers from nvidia but under the
"appearance" settings, the theme "windows aero" is not available. Even after
re-installing windows vista service pack 1, the theme is still not available.

computer configuration:
LG R405
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz
3 GB RAM
160 GB HDD
Nvidia GeForce 8400GS

Please... someone help me on this.

 

[Not Me]

UPDATE YOUR WINDOWS EXPERIENCE SCORE
once that is high enough, aero should be available.
afrer formatting, I believe the score is set to 1 until you run the test.

 

[Charlie42]

All was working fine except that windows aero was not available. I
have downloaded and installed the latest graphics drivers from nvidia
but under the "appearance" settings, the theme "windows aero" is not
available. Even after re-installing windows vista service pack 1, the
theme is still not available.

Troubleshoot problems with Windows Aero:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/c33fe91a-9e6f-41f4-ae82-3ed2d5fa2fbf1033.mspx

Charlie42

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

UPDATE YOUR WINDOWS EXPERIENCE SCORE
once that is high enough, aero should be available.
afrer formatting, I believe the score is set to 1 until you run the test.

No, the experience index is recalculated after a new installation. That is
not say it might not be useful to run it again, but it is never
automatically set to 1.

 

[oscar]

Slightly OT:


“The question is often asked, should the laptop be disconnected from the
main when not in use? Under normal circumstances, it should not matter with
lithium-ion. Once the battery is fully charged, no further charge is applied.
However, there is always the concern is malfunction of the AC adapter, the
laptop or the battery.â€

Source: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

I have owned laptops since the early '90's and have not experienced battery
failure or significant short-lived battery life due to leaving the battery in
the laptop while plugged-in. As long as the battery is used once in awhile
and recharged about once a month, the user should not worry about the battery
being seriously harmed during times when laptop is plugged-in. In the design
of laptop battery, there are current and voltage limiters that do not allow
the battery to be cooked. Heat is the main enemy of lithium-ion batteries.
Heat usually from being stored in high temperature areas or being used under
high temperature conditions such as non-air conditioned or poor air flow
environments. I have found that leaving the battery in my laptop is far
better than taking it out in a hotel room and then accidentally leaving it
behind.

The myth of significantly damaging the laptop battery by having the laptop
plugged-in is perpetuated by Websites who cut and paste from each other. I
have yet to find technical data to back-up the claims that these websites
(usually sellers of laptops batteries) make.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Slightly OT:


“The question is often asked, should the laptop be disconnected from the
main when not in use? Under normal circumstances, it should not matter
with
lithium-ion. Once the battery is fully charged, no further charge is
applied.
However, there is always the concern is malfunction of the AC adapter, the
laptop or the battery.â€

Source: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

I have owned laptops since the early '90's and have not experienced
battery
failure or significant short-lived battery life due to leaving the battery
in
the laptop while plugged-in. As long as the battery is used once in awhile
and recharged about once a month, the user should not worry about the
battery
being seriously harmed during times when laptop is plugged-in. In the
design
of laptop battery, there are current and voltage limiters that do not
allow
the battery to be cooked. Heat is the main enemy of lithium-ion batteries.
Heat usually from being stored in high temperature areas or being used
under
high temperature conditions such as non-air conditioned or poor air flow
environments. I have found that leaving the battery in my laptop is far
better than taking it out in a hotel room and then accidentally leaving it
behind.

The myth of significantly damaging the laptop battery by having the laptop
plugged-in is perpetuated by Websites who cut and paste from each other. I
have yet to find technical data to back-up the claims that these websites
(usually sellers of laptops batteries) make.

I agree. The one time it does need to be on AC is during installation of
Windows and when applying a service pack. In fact, IIRC, SP1 requires it.