"Desktop Window Manager is disabled." CANNOT keep the service running.

Anonymous
2010-02-03T04:52:10+00:00

I turn on my computer, and everything starts as usual. DWM loads, everything looks great.  However, within about 15 minutes, the screen flickers, although nothing else happens; however, about a minute later, it flickers again, and the theme is reset to Windows 7 Basic.

After running the troubleshooter, it detects that DWM is disabled, and it repairs it.  Within 5 minutes, however, this happens again.  I can also manually go into Services and restart it, but the same thing happens - eventually, within 5 minutes, it is reset again.  I've messed with all of the settings; The service is set to automatic, and ALWAYS appears to be running when viewed in the Services window, but the troubleshooter ALWAYS says it's not.

This is driving me up the wall; I've looked everywhere for solutions, but NOTHING helps. Any suggestions...?

Further note:  The screen continues to flicker every now and then AFTER switching to Basic.

My computer fully supports Windows 7, it came with it pre-installed.  This problem did not occur until recently, but I haven't the slightest clue as to why it's doing it now.  I have not installed any new programs in a long time.  Previously, the only times where it switched to Basic were when I would unplug my computer, and it switched to a low-power plan.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2010-03-08T22:39:19+00:00

Factory restore puts the hard drive back as it was when it left the Gateway factory...you don't need the win7 disk, you need to follow the user guide on how to create the factory restore disks.

You don't need to have an asus to use this asus program http://www.asus.com/999/html/share/2/icon/15/index.htm

You need to turn off both sleep and hibernate, they are two different things.


Never ever approach a computer saying or even thinking "I will just do this quickly".

My hangouts Format and Reload or Windrivers

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Anonymous
2010-03-08T13:12:58+00:00

Two things occur to me reading this thread

  1. The video has a hardware fault
  2. The laptop has a heat issue causing an apparent fault.  Heat issues are easy to create on laptops - just having them on your lap can and does cause a problem if you are wearing sweat pants/trousers.  Having the laptop on any soft surface will block the fans.

I agree that you should backup your machine and create the restore disks and restore it to factory condition.  If it still does it, it's a hardware fault (or at the very least a problem that Gateway caused with their image).  Looking through the list of stuff installed on your machine, I spotted an "optimizer"... these are always suspect - is the Glary Utilities pro the 30 day trial?

You should also run the experience index - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/What-is-the-Windows-Experience-Index

having noted what it is currently and what it ends up being.

Have you checked the event viewer for related problems?  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-information-appears-in-event-logs-Event-Viewer

Have you checked the action center for solutions and made sure the problems have been reported?  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-is-Action-Center

You could also try http://downloads.guru3d.com/Guru3D---Driver-Sweeper-(Setup)_d1655.html and remove both ATI and nVidia drivers and then install the ATI drivers that came with the machine.  The point about using the drivers that come with the machine is that you are using the "approved" version, so if it does turn out to be a hardware fault, when you phone Gateway to get it sorted, you can do the troubleshooting they need to ask you to do and you will get service from them.

Hope this helps.


Never ever approach a computer saying or even thinking "I will just do this quickly".

My hangouts Format and Reload or Windrivers

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Anonymous
2010-02-10T11:49:42+00:00

Hello ContiX,

The flickering issue is occuring while you had aero enabled, and is still occuring without aero enabled, correct?

What type of Dispay adapter do you have? Manufacturer and model

You said in your original post that after about 15 minutes this starts. Is there anything that you are doing regularly that could be causing the issue? Do you notice it more frequently when you are performing any particular task?

Try performing a clean boot to rule out the possiblity of any third party app's causing issues.

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

Since it was working previously, have you tried rolling back the driver to a previous version?

 - Click Start Orb > type device manager into the start menu search box

 - Click Device Manager in the search results

 - Locate the Display adapters and expand by clicking the triangle to the left

 - Right-click your display adapter > click Properties- Click the driver tab

 - Click Roll Back Driver

Follow the steps to roll back your Display adapter driver.

Hope this helps


Chris.H

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

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Anonymous
2010-02-04T02:07:15+00:00

Hey ContiX,

This is most likely a driver issue. Before going further, run Aero troubleshooter and see what it has to say.

Open the Aero troubleshooter by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type Troubleshooter, click Troubleshooting, and then, under Appearance and Personalization, click Display Aero desktop effects. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Refer:

Open the Aero troubleshooterhttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Open-the-Aero-troubleshooter

 Get the latest driver for your graphics card from the Manufacturer’s website. Download and install the one that is released for Windows 7. See if installing it solves the problem.

Check your manufacturer details from DirectX Diagnostic Tool:

   1. Open the Direct X Diagnostic Tool. To do this, click Start, type dxdiag in the Start Search box, and then click dxdiag.exe in the Programs list.

   2. Click the Display tab.

   3. Under Device, look for Name and Manufacturer.

   4. Click Exit.

Make a note of the manufacturer, visit the website and download the appropriate driver for your graphics card driver that is compatible with Windows 7.

For details on how to obtain device drivers, see:

Update a driver for hardware that isn't working properlyhttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Update-a-driver-for-hardware-that-isnt-working-properly

This can also happen because of malware or a virus infection. Run virus scan to remove any trace of such infection and check. Check the post by by Vincenzo Di Russo, MVP on Saturday, May 09, 2009 8:18 AM at**http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistasecurity/thread/ba80504b-61f1-4d71-960f-b561798b7b42**for the same.


Regards,

Shinmila H - Microsoft Support

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-01-09T01:46:23+00:00

    hello i share the same problem...

    First off i will explain how my problem first occured.

    I just opened my computer one day and went in the kitchen to grab some coffee. When i returned it was stuck in the "Windows is starting" screen and the animation above would not appear. I waited and waited but it would not start the windows. So i pressed the hard reset button. When the computer restarted it began "Startup Auto Repair" ( i didn't have the windows 7 cd in the drive) it completed and got stuck in the same screen as before (i suppose that's what happened while i was in the kitchen in the first place). Summing up windows could not boot. 

    What i first did i go in to bios and reset all the settings to normal (i had overclocked my cpu and ram back in 2010 or 2009 and never had any problems.). The computer restarted and Windows 7 booted. HOWEVER , i realized my task bar was as if i had Windows 98 and so where any windows i would open (even though i had the smart objects , clock etc on my desktop).I didn't have aero enabled obviously. I searched the internet for solutions and tried them all.

    I tried to fix aero but my windows say that my theme doesn't support aero (that's not true , i have many aero themes, none of them solve the problem) and that my Desktop Window Manager is disabled (also false as you can see in my pictures i have posted).

    Does anyone have any idea how to solve this ????

    Thanks in advance.

    Here are my problems , i hope those screenshots help you solve the case

    1. http://imageshack.us/f/856/evidence1q.jpg/
    2. http://imageshack.us/f/689/evidence2j.jpg/
    3. http://imageshack.us/f/32/evidence3s.jpg/
    4. http://imageshack.us/f/683/evidence4j.jpg/

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