Fixing Windows Snap and Shake

A very quick solution. I had noticed that Aero snap (dragging a maxmized window without the need for restoring to a smaller size) stopped working. A quick test showed that Aero shake to minimize all windows also stopped. This had worked before, I wonder why it turned off.

After searching around for quite some time, it turns out that I had switched off those features unintentionally. One very important setting to check is detailed below.

1. Navigate to your control panel, then Ease of Use Center (open up start menu, type ease, and click the result when it comes up).
2. Click ‘Make the mouse easier to use’
3. Make sure that ‘Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen’ is not checked.

I had just wanted to  turn off the feature #3 describes, however it apparently stripped away more than what it had mentioned.

If this is not the case, I would recommend following the preliminary steps here which state:

NOTE: If Aero is not enabled, then Aero Shake will still not work even when enabled or turned on.

• Aero is not included in Windows 7 Starter or Home Basic, so you must have Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise installed.
• 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• 1 GB of system memory
• A graphics card with support for DirectX 9 graphics with at least 128 MB of memory.
• The graphics card must support Pixel Shader 2.0 and the Windows Display Model (WDDM).
• The Desktop Window Manager Session Manager and Themes Services need to be set as Started and Automatic.
• You must be have True Color (32 bit) set instead of High Color (16 bit).
• Desktop composition needs to be enabled (checked) in Visual Effects.
• Refresh or update your WEI score.