“Aero Peek” is a feature in Windows 7 that has replaced the old “Show Desktop” feature. It is represented as a small rectangle that can be seen at the last part or the rightmost edge of the taskbar in Windows 7. Peek seems to give the user the power of having an x-ray vision for his computer screen.

Positioning the cursor of the mouse over that small rectangle would alloy the user to get a peek at all the windows that are open. When you are peeking behind all these open windows, all the windows would hide and only the outlines of all the windows will be shown. Clicking on this small rectangle will also allow you to minimize all windows so that you can see your desktop with all your hidden icons and gadgets. To finally disable the Aero Peek, two methods are available. The next parts will give you a tutorial on how to disable Aero Peek in Windows 7.

First Method: Using Taskbar Properties

Using Taskbar Properties is the easiest way to disable Aero Peek in Windows 7. The following steps are to be done:

  1. Point your mouse over the Taskbar. Right click on the taskbar and then simply select the Properties command.
  2. On the dialog box that appears, on the Taskbar tab, go to the last option. Remove the check from the option that you can read as “Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop.”
  3. Click on the button labeled as Apply and then, afterwards, click the OK button. Aero Peek is now disabled.

Second Method: Using System Properties

Another method of disabling Aero Peek is by using System Properties. The following are the steps:

  1. On your computer’s desktop, right click on the Computer icon and then select Properties to open the System window. Alternatively, you can also press the WIN + Pause/Break keys to open this window. On the left side pane, click on the Advanced system settings link.  You can also directly open this by running sysdm.cpl command on the RUN or Start menu search box.
  2. The Advanced tab from the System Properties window will now appear. In the Performance section, click the Settings button.
  3. The Performance Settings window will now appear. On the Visual effects tab, under Custom, remove the check from the “Enable Aero Peek” option.
  4. Click on the Apply button. Then click Ok to close the window. The Aero Peek feature in Windows 7 is now disabled.

Disabling Aero Peek in Windows 7 may be what you need if you are quite annoyed by the unnecessary bells, whistles and other sounds that come with using this feature. Aero Peek may also consume valuable resources on your system which makes you want to have it disabled.

However, you can always but the feature back on since Aero Peek is really a cool Windows 7 feature that will allow you to take a look at your active windows without having the need to minimize or close them.

If for some reason, these methods won’t work, then don’t hesitate to find contact support for Windows 7 online or on the shop where you bought your software.