Windows 7 automatically switching to basic (non-aero) theme. I need a way to disable that behaviour.

Anonymous

This is very similar to what is described here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939423

As well as here: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistaperformance/thread/c7b869e1-5138-48a3-b09d-419f76e2f728

However, this is for Windows 7, not Vista.

Scenario:

On a 3 screen (1920x1080 each) setup ran on an ATI HD4890 (1gb RAM, running 2 screens) + HD 3450 (256mb RAM, running 1 screen), whenever anything graphic intensive is put onto the screen hosted by the HD3450, Windows will complain "The color scheme has been changed to Windows Basic - The current color scheme has exceeded its allowed memory so the color scheme has been automatically changed to improve performance. Click to see more information." and change my theme to Windows Basic.

However, it is to be noted that the 3450 is not being stressed at all (all the load is being put onto the 4890 according to GPU-Z).

It should not be a problem with system RAM (6gb, on Win7 x64) nor processing power (i7 920).

Is there a way to disable Windows automatically "improving performance" by switching my theme?

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Anonymous

Run menu > sysdm.cpl > Advanced Tab > performance > select adjust for best performance > make sure you do not allow Windows to choose for you because your computer does not know whats best --- Make sure Enable Aero Peek is checked

---- OR ---

Right click my computer > properties > Advanced System settings > performance > select adjust for best performance > make sure you do not allow Windows to choose for you because your computer does not know whats best --- Make sure Enable Aero Peek is checked

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Anonymous

Hi whsper,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers Community Forums.

The aero theme is basically enabled depending on video card.

Windows Display Driver Modelis the graphic driver architecture for video card drivers running Microsoft Windows versions beginning with Windows Vista.

WDDM driver model version 1.0 is that it does not support multiple drivers in a multi-adapter, multi-monitor setup, the latest version is 2.0 is introduced.

Windows will disable the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) that controls the transparent glass effect or other effects of the Aero theme. The DWM manages the desktop and the primary display settings in Windows.

I would suggest you to check with your manufacturer for latest drivers to support your hardware configuration.

Hope this information helped you.

Regards

Yaaser - Microsoft Support Engineer

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138 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-09-29T13:31:11+00:00

It's noteworthy that whenever you check 'Enable Aero Peek' that the configuration becomes custom. May as well start off with Custom and check the effects you want.

Thanks for the answer though. It certainly solved my issues with Aero.
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Anonymous

2013-10-10T21:01:20+00:00

I'm going to reply to my own post.

The only thing that has ever triggered the basic desktop change for me is a browser. Almost always a browser with a video in it. 1 single browser. No other program I have, singly or all of them, that I can run has ever caused the desktop to change. I have eight monitors, 16 GB RAM 8 core 3.1 Ghz cpu. But windows can't figure out how to deal with the resources. If I set the program to give preference to performance, Windows will tell me my resources are running low and my desktop has to be changed to conserve them. If I set the preferences to appearance, Windows tells me my desktop must be changed because only so much memory is allotted to this feature and my desktop must be changed. This is the dumbest and most irritating thing there is. I don't feel like upgrading to Windows 8. I just upgraded my old pc with a new motherboard, lots of RAM and a new 4 monitor video card and I bought a new computer, this one, with 8 monitors. With both running Windows 7 Pro. It is downright disappointing to find that after this I find that Microsoft can't be bothered to do dick about the issue even after years of knowing about it. I wonder how much it would cost them to find a solution. Probably about what they spend on coffee for the week.
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Anonymous

2013-11-14T10:40:13+00:00

What a bunch of b***t. 2 complete updates later and not a single improvement. I am sure it is worse. Almost any browser regardless of what the website contains produces the message. " Your color scheme has exceeded it's allowed memory and has been changed." What a friggin stupid message to give to a user. And then afterwards tell me my computer performance is slow. And not lift a finger to try to improve the situation at all.
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