When you drag application, folder, and other windows inside Windows XP, an outline of the current window may appear as you drag the mouse pointer. Release the mouse pointer and the outline disappears, replaced by the window contents.

Likewise, the window contents may remain visible while dragging, making it easier for you to position windows onscreen. However, this may require more CPU and video card power, thus disabling it may be required or useful when optimizing your Windows XP installation. Also, if you are running Windows XP via a remote connection or inside a virtual machine, you may wish to disable this feature for speed (note that you can also do this via the Remote Desktop Connection Options):

To toggle this behavior:

1 Right-click an empty area of your Desktop and choose "Properties".

2. When the "Display Properties" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "Appearance" tab.


3. Click the "Effects" button.

4. When the "Effects" dialog box appears, check or uncheck "Show window contents while dragging" as desired.

5. Click "OK" to close the dialog boxes.

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