When hovering over the rows in the gridview i get a shadow selection which is a lighter color then a real row selection which occurs once clicking the row. How do I turn this off.
To remove the MouseOver visual from the grid you will need to edit the template of the GridViewRow and modify its visual states. You will notice an element called SelectionBackground whose opacity is elevated to 0.5 when the mouse overs a row. What you will need to do is go to the MouseOver visual state and tone it down to 0.
I am also sending you sample application which achieves just that. You can use the row style and template from there and apply it to your grid.