Vista How to Disable Flip3D

Windows Vista is all about looking pretty, and with that, comes Windows Aero technology.  Aero Technology is found on all Vista editions, and one of its primary selling features is Windows Flip 3D. With Windows Flip 3D, your open windows are rendered to thumbnail views, enabling you to “Flip” through your thumbnails to access the windows that you want to use.  Flip 3D is a very pretty, and very elegant way to flip through your open windows, but some users find it cumbersome and distracting, and above all, a not very useful feature of Vista.  If you fall in this category, there is good news. You can disable this feature, and there are a few ways you can do this, depending on your preferences.

If you are not sold on the Aero Technology anyway, then you can disable the Vista Aero theme all together.  Many users find that the Aero theme uses resources unnecessarily anyway, and prefer to disable Aero for that reason alone, the Flip 3 D is one example. Disabling your Aero theme will effectively disable your Flip 3D so you won’t have to worry about it. 

Step 1. Right click on any area of your desktop.  Select the tab that says “Personalize”. 

Step 2.  You will then be brought to another menu where you will see “Window Color and Appearance”. Click on that link, and you will be given another small window with a link at the bottom that says “Open classic appearance properties for more color options". Click that link.

Step 3.  Here you will have a scrolling menu where you can choose what you want your Windows Vista appearance to look like.  Select the item that says “Windows Vista Basic” and that will disable your Windows Aero Theme.

If however you are one of those users that is sold on the prettiness of the Aero theme, that’s okay as well. We can still help you disable the Flip 3D, by assigning this feature to one of your auxiliary mouse buttons. You will need the Microsoft Intellipoint mouse for this however.

Step 1. Go to Quick Launch, and right click on  your “Switch Between Windows” icon. Select “Properties”.

Step 2.  You will see a path entered in the “General” tab. Use your mouse to “copy” this and enter this in your “Location” path.

Step 3. Go to your Control Panel, and open up the Mouse icon. Click on “Buttons”, and select the drop down auxiliary button for your mouse. i.e. “Magnify”, “Wheel”, etc.  Select “Start……Custom”.

Step 4.  Paste the location path that you copied in Step 2, into the dialog text field, and hit “Browse”.

Step 5.  Go back to your Quick Launch floder, and select “Switch Between Windows” again, and click on the button “Open”.  Click “Finish”, followed by “Apply”. 

Congratulations! You’ve just assigned your Flip 3D to your mouse!

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