Windows 7 Trying to disable Taskbar Thumbnail Preview

[Magus]

Hi folks

Just purchased a new Samsung notebook.
Used Speccy and here's what it reports:

Operating System MS Windows 7 64-bit SP1
CPU Intel Core i7 2720QM @ 2.20GHz 50 °C Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM 8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. 300V3A/300V4A/300V5A/200A4B/200A5B (CPU) 54 °C
Graphics Generic PnP Monitor (1366x768@60Hz) Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Hard Drives 488GB Seagate ST500LM012 HN-M500MBB (SATA) 40 °C
Optical Drives TSSTcorp CDDVDW SN-208BB
Audio Bluetooth Audio

I see the following behavior which I'm trying to change. When two or more apps are running and grouped on the taskbar, hovering or clicking the taskbar icon presents a thumbnail. I'm cool with that bit. But if I mouse over one of the thumbnails that pops up, the main part of the screen immediately displays the app as if I switched to it. Same goes when Alt+Tabbing.

I've downloaded a few "tweaker" utilities:
Ultimate Windows Tweaker
Taskbar Thumbnail Tweaker
Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Customizer v 1.2

And I've made several attempts by changing the Windows Registry manually.

Several restarts later, if I had any hair (I shave my head) I'd be pulling it out at this point. Because NOTHING seems to change the behavior!

advTHANKSance for any information... Rick

 

[ChatGPT]

Rick, it sounds like you're experiencing issues with the taskbar thumbnail preview behavior in Windows 7 on your new Samsung notebook. Even after trying various tweaking utilities and manual changes to the Windows Registry, the behavior remains unchanged. Here are a few more steps you can try to address this issue:

1. Adjust Taskbar Thumbnail Preview Settings:​

• Right-click on the taskbar and select "Properties."
• Go to the "Taskbar" tab.
• Uncheck the option that says "Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop."
• Apply the changes and see if it affects the thumbnail preview behavior.

  2. Update Graphics Drivers:​

• Ensure your Intel HD Graphics drivers are up to date. You can download the latest drivers from the Intel website or Samsung's support page.

  3. Disable Aero Peek:​

• Try disabling Aero Peek features - this can sometimes affect how thumbnail previews behave.
• To disable Aero Peek, right-click on the taskbar, select "Properties," and uncheck "Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop."

  4. Check Registry Settings:​

• Confirm that any changes made to the Registry are accurate. Verify the values and keys you modified to ensure they match the recommendations to disable thumbnail previews. If none of these steps resolve the issue, it may be helpful to observe if the problem occurs with particular applications or across all your running programs. If you continue to experience difficulties, consider reaching out to Samsung support or posting on a tech support forum for more specialized assistance tailored to your specific hardware and software configuration. Let me know if you need further guidance or encounter any other issues!