One of the hot new features in Windows 7 is the improved window management functions… you can simply drag a window to the top or sides of the screen, and it will be maximized or resized to take up only half of the screen.

The only problem is that some people like to drag windows partially off the screen, a very useful technique when you only need to see the edge of a window… but in Windows 7 it will resize the window to fill half the screen. So how do we disable it?

Here’s a screenshot of what we’re talking about… for more screenshots see our review of the Windows 7 beta release.

Windows 7 Mouse Drag Arrange 

Disabling this feature will also disable dragging to the top of the screen, but you could turn it on or off as needed.

Disabling Mouse Window Drag Arranging

Open up your Control Panel, and then go to the Ease of Access center. From there, click on “Make the mouse easier to use”…

Windows 7 Ease of Access

And then remove the checkbox for “Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen”, and then click the Apply button to actually save the setting.

Windows 7 Ease of Access Mouse Panel

I personally like this feature so I probably won’t be turning it off, but it’s nice to know it’s configurable.

Editor’s Note: We’ve been covering Windows 7 quite a bit, but don’t worry, we aren’t going to stop writing about other topics.

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Lowell is the founder and CEO of How-To Geek. He’s been running the show since creating the site back in 2006. Over the last decade, Lowell has personally written more than 1000 articles which have been viewed by over 250 million people. Prior to starting How-To Geek, Lowell spent 15 years working in IT doing consulting, cybersecurity, database management, and programming work.
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