Windows 10: dwm.exe crashing when I turn graphics settings higher in video games windows 10

Hello,


I recently replaced my GPU that stopped working with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970.


It has worked fine for weeks, but suddenly my display started crashing while I am gaming. The monitor will shut off and I can sometimes continue to hear my computer's audio but it won't respond to anything. I usually restart at this point and the display sometimes only shows on one monitor before kicking into both. I am able to play fine when I change video games to their lowest settings.


Event viewer:


Faulting application name: dwm.exe, version: 10.0.18362.387, time stamp: 0x8e064b77

Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000

Exception code: 0xe0464645

Fault offset: 0x0000000000000000




Usually, 4-8 of those, followed with


Dwminit event 0


The Desktop Window Manager process has exited. Process exit code: 0x000000ff, Restart count: 3, Primary display device ID: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970


There are also multiple DistributedCOM errors that will occur at the same time in the event viewer.


Troubleshooting I have tried so far is:

• uninstall and install the newest nvidia drivers - didn't fix
• uninstalled and installed older drivers - didn't fix
• sfc /scannow - found something but didn't fix

Hope to hear from you soon,


PC

:)

 

Get better Game Performance under Vista by disabling DWM on a per-application basis!

I just came across this tip/tweak, which probably many who are familiar with Vista already know... It's about disabling the aero effect on a per-application basis, so that you get vista basic interface during gameplay (when you're not going to see it) and it switches back to aero when you exit the game.

DWM, or the Desktop Window Manager, turns the graphics card into a shared resource which allows for the Aeroglass effects and the tear-free desktop. When running normal applications, this is a good thing because it offloads the graphics work (the bulk of which was handled by the CPU in Windows XP) to the GPU, which, when running normal applications is sitting in your computer doing nothing. With Aeroglass/DWM on, the CPU is freed up for other duties as all of the desktop graphics are now handled by the GPU.

In DirectX 9 and OpenGL games however, having Aeroglass/DWM on can decrease performance. This is for a number of reasons :
1.DWM makes the video card a shared resource. When DWM is on, programs are not allowed direct access to the video card.
2.DWM uses both System RAM and VRAM because it maintains an offscreen buffer for every window.

Fortunately, Microsoft has provided a way to disable DWM on a per-application basis so you can still enjoy Aeroglass when not running games. To disable DWM on a per-application basis, right click on the application/game's icon and select properties. Navigate to the compatibility tab, then find and check Disable Desktop Compositing. Now, whenever you launch that program, Windows Vista will temporarily switch back to the Windows XP style graphics subsystem.

DirectX 10 games shouldn't be affected as much (if at all) by having DWM on because the DirectX 10 API is designed around having the GPU as a shared resource and is better able to handle GPU multitasking.

With a few simple steps, on most setups, you can easily make your games run as fast or faster than in Windows XP under Windows Vista.

This will work on both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista.

 

all games crash!

I suggest you run rthdribl > http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/archives/rthdribl_1_2.zip
Increase the window size step by step and watch your vga temps permanently.
What happens?
If it crashes, run at stock speeds as suggested before and retry.

P.S.: When your system locks, does the display signal turn off after a time?
Stuttering sound or no sound at all when freezing?
What X1800XT model do you own exactly?

 

disabling dwm access denied

I don't know if it is even possible to disable DWM and still have Windows working normally but I found a list of solutions that can solve problems related to DWM:

How to fix Desktop Window Manager notification issues in Windows 10