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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Answer accepted by question author

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

2014-09-19T19:44:22+00:00

Same problem here.

Running six monitors with i7-950, 18GB memory and dual ATI Radeon 7870 black video cards. Happens every time I run FireFox browser.

Is quite annoying. Apparently this has been a problem for years and Microsoft has never addressed it.

What is up with that?
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Anonymous

2014-08-01T00:52:09+00:00
If you bothered to read the thread, you would have seen that you're the only person that had this problem related to quicktime. How does what you said help anyone with this issue popping up when playing games? It doesn't. Quicktime has absolutely nothing to do with Battlefield 3 and 4 for example. Quicktime has nothing to do with video editing or any of the problems anyone else is having.

The only reason you had this problem in the first place is because:
1. You were using Quicktime in the first place.
2. Your computer is probably sorely outdated and probably shouldn't be running or can barely run Windows 7 in the first place.
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Anonymous

2014-07-31T22:51:59+00:00

Well, I told everyone what I did and how I fixed my problem. Does not solve your problem? too bad. Could be helpful to other people. You come here to tell me that "you assume" the reason and therefore I'm not helping?

There is a flaw on windows part and I'm telling people how to stop being annoyed by this flaw, step-by-step. I think I was a million times more helpful than you.
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