Well I spoke too soon. The fix you suggested IS the one which SHOULD HAVE done the trick, but it's still not doing it for her laptop. Show shadows under windows is checked. I've un-checked it, re-checked it, restarted the computer, troubleshot aero, etc., for almost an hour. The basic HUD Machine Pink theme doesn't cut off the borders (shadows), but the aero version does. And again, the default aero theme (Windows default) does just fine.
FOR SOME REASON HER COMPUTER ISN'T RENDERING THE HUD MACHINE PINK IN AERO.
I suspect her
graphics card is shot. Before I installed the theme on her computer, I was afraid of something like this happening. Because her screen often flashes (black and light) when booting up; it has done that for a long time. It's a cheap-o HP Pavilion lappy, a few years old. Piece of crap. Had bad reviews from a lot of people, I found out after we got it. Even simple games cause her screen to flicker and stutter when full-screen. It's not a virus, we have Kaspersky 2015, and I'm pretty savvy about system-protection. It's just a p.o.s. 'puter. Guess it's just time to junk it and buy another.
Like I said, you DID give me the correct fix, I know you did. I tested unchecking and checking 'Show shadows under windows' on my own computer, and it gave me those expected results. So I thank you.....Just made no difference on her laptop.
BTW: when I ran the Troubleshooting tool to detect and fix problems with aero, it switched her theme to the default Windows Aero theme, and, in the 'details' area said that the previous theme doesn't support aero.....Which is poppycock. It works awesomely on my desktop, full aero-enabled, in all its glory, no disabled borders/shadows.
Her computer is apparently about to bite the dust. The HUD Machine Pink theme is just
too graphics-intensive for it.
Oh well, she's not bent out of shape about it; she'll play on it until it dies. She's not a computer-freak like me. I FREAK OUT when some tiny little quirk happens on my desktop! As long as she can play her online bubble-shooter type games, she's happy as a clam. Plus she doesn't keep anything on it, just a few pics. My computer is chock-full of documents, pics, graphics, music, movies, etc. It's an entertainment center! I am a nazi about backing-up with Acronis and keeping it in peak condition.
We'll just stash away a little new-computer money for her XMas I guess. Thanks again for your help friend.