Turning Aero Affects On

right click on the desktop then click personalize then windows color and appearances then open classic appearances and pick it from the color scheme

Aero can also be disabled by 3rd party applications like Quicktime 6.3.  If you have an older version of QUicktime either uninstall it, or upgrade it to 7.1.3

I have all the necessary hardware, 1 gig memory, 256 mb dedicated video card, core 2 duo processor.

Aero will turn off or never turn on if you don't have the correct hardware. What video card and how much memory does it have? For more help, run the Windows Experience Index in Welcome Center, view computer details.

 

so could you turn it on?

If you turn on the Aero Affect, open several separate windows, then hold down the windows key and press the tab key.  in addition, when you hover the mouse over the task bar you will see a preview of the window.  also, alt-tab will get you previews as well.  hope this helps. 

I still can't get it working, exactly what is it suppose to do? I can open many pages in IE7 but I did that with XP.

Just a thought ... did you install the Vista Driver for your video card. If not it may not detect the correct card and disable Aero...

 

pcgeek11

Vista does require the WDDM validated driver for Aero