In Tip 53 I pointed out how to change the border padding for windows in Vista Aero. The same can be done if you are running Vista’s Basic interface (such as you would if running Vista Home Basic, or if you have a video card that isn’t Aero capable). The reasons are the same, the steps are just slightly different.

Here’s what my computer window looks like by default:

1. Right-click on your desktop and choose Personalize from the menu.
   
2. In the Personalization window, select Window Color and Appearance.
   
3. In the Appearance Settings window, select Windows Vista Basic as the color scheme, and click the Advanced button.
   
4. In the Advanced Appearance window, select Border Padding from the Item menu.
   
5. Set the Size window to a smaller number than the default, which is 4. I’m changing mine to 0.
   
6. Click OK to close the Advanced Appearance window, and OK to close the Appearance Settings window, which will apply the changes to your windows.

Here is how my ‘Computer’ window looks after reducing the border padding to 0: