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

Anonymous
2009-11-15T23:07:02+00:00

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?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2011-02-14T09:27:12+00:00

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
2009-11-16T20:35:40+00:00

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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  1. Anonymous
    2014-07-31T00:09:31+00:00

    This is fixed in Windows 8, just upgrade. 

    Oh.

    I wasn't aware Windows 8 was now free.

    I have a laptop with 8 on it and it is a godforsaken nightmare with its own host of problems.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-30T22:46:23+00:00

    This is fixed in Windows 8, just upgrade.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-30T22:19:22+00:00

    If u can't answer the question then stay out of this conversation all ur doing is bitching!

    Irony much??? At least they did it in English, which is more than ur(sic) contribution managed. The saying "Practice what you preach." springs to mind.

    Anyway, back to the topic in hand. I have this problem on one particular game, Grid Autosport. I have a single Nvidia 660, that drives a pair of monitors. The game supports a second screen, but if I have this option turned on, it triggers this switching.

    The problem is, this switching triggers a dialog box, which causes the game to come out of full-screen mode. Like a lot of games, this sends the game into an unstable mode, and you have to do several game reloads, changing settings as you go, to get things back to normal again. At which point, there is no guarantee that the message won't appear again.

    The annoying thing is, two groups of people should be aware of this, the Windows developers, and the game developers. As such, the first thing the game should do, is to force the display into Basic mode, like Flight Sim X, and many others do... but in reality, they shouldn't have to work round window's flawed system.

    More importantly though, this is a BUG (that has been present for at least FIVE YEARS, according to just this thread alone), and the Windows dev team should get this sorted out. As part of the deal with us PAYING for a licensed version of the OS, is that we are entitled to expect a WORKING version of the OS in return. So when this dialog pops up, and I click "Close this dialog andnever show this message again.", then I never expect to see this message again.

    If the dev team is too lazy or incompetent, to give people what they have paid for, then they have no excuse to complain when people stop paying for it. So dev team, get your fingers out of each others orifices, and sort the damned problem out!!!

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