Aero Disables itself randomly on windows 7?

reluttr

New member
Im not sure if its a major cause for concern... But I have noticed that Aero will disable itself very randomly.... like weeks apart randomly. After about 10 minutes or so Aero will re-enable itself. The only connection I have came up with is that firefox "with a youtube playing" is running when it happens.

The first time it happened, it was quite alarming... enough so to make me do several full malware scans on all 3 of my hard drives. However none of the virus scanners detected a infection... and they still have not to this day... so I have came to the conclusion that it must be a program that just runs randomly that has the "no aero" launch command.

My only problem is that I have not found any "new" programs running during the period that aero is disabled. Just wondering if someone else has figured out what exactly is causing this.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Built
OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00 GHz
Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775
Memory
6.0GB (2x 2GB & 2x 1GB)
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA 512-P3-N807-AR GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO 512MB
Sound Card
Intergrated
Monitor(s) Displays
HP 2009m 20"
Screen Resolution
1600x900
Hard Drives
1x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB SATA - Primary
1x Unknown Emachene 100GB IDE - Backup
1x Unknown Emachene 80GB IDE - Backup
PSU
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W
Case
Rosewill RZS06 SLV Black
Cooling
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Fan
Keyboard
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 v1.0
Mouse
Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical
Internet Speed
3.0 mbps
Im not sure if its a major cause for concern... But I have noticed that Aero will disable itself very randomly.... like weeks apart randomly. After about 10 minutes or so Aero will re-enable itself. The only connection I have came up with is that firefox "with a youtube playing" is running when it happens.

The first time it happened, it was quite alarming... enough so to make me do several full malware scans on all 3 of my hard drives. However none of the virus scanners detected a infection... and they still have not to this day... so I have came to the conclusion that it must be a program that just runs randomly that has the "no aero" launch command.

My only problem is that I have not found any "new" programs running during the period that aero is disabled. Just wondering if someone else has figured out what exactly is causing this.

Windows 7 will revert to the standard theme anytime you run an application that is not compatible with the Display Window Manager (DWM) which provides the Aero features, your video card or video RAM runs out of memory to fully load all the Aero features or your system performance drops below an acceptable level to provide all Aero features. When this happens, a balloon popup should appear near your taskbar clock. Click it to see the true source of the problem. How much Ram do you have?

A Guy
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
OS
Windows 10 Home x64
CPU
INTEL Core i5-750 Quad-Core 3.37GHz
Motherboard
ASUS P7P55D
Memory
HyperX Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Superclocked 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5
Monitor(s) Displays
LG 32MA68HY 32" IPS
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
Samsung 840 Evo 120GB, SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
PSU
ANTEC TruePower New TP-550, 80 PLUS, 550W
Case
ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion
Cooling
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 4 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Noctua's
Internet Speed
85 + Mbps
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Vivaldi
I have 6 gigabytes of system ram, and my video card has 512 megabytes of ram, and I am running x64 Windows 7 Professional.

What troubles me, is that my system gives no notice of aero disabling itself, I get no error popups or notification bubbles. That's why I thought it might be a malware infection. But like I said, none of the scanners has found anything, even to this day.

EDIT:
Entirely filled in my specs page with my build info. Didn't even realize this forum had that feature XD. I can see it being a huge time saver for both the person needing help and the people giving the help.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Built
OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00 GHz
Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775
Memory
6.0GB (2x 2GB & 2x 1GB)
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA 512-P3-N807-AR GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO 512MB
Sound Card
Intergrated
Monitor(s) Displays
HP 2009m 20"
Screen Resolution
1600x900
Hard Drives
1x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB SATA - Primary
1x Unknown Emachene 100GB IDE - Backup
1x Unknown Emachene 80GB IDE - Backup
PSU
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W
Case
Rosewill RZS06 SLV Black
Cooling
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Fan
Keyboard
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 v1.0
Mouse
Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical
Internet Speed
3.0 mbps
I have 6 gigabytes of system ram, and my video card has 512 megabytes of ram, and I am running x64 Windows 7 Professional.

What troubles me, is that my system gives no notice of aero disabling itself, I get no error popups or notification bubbles. That's why I thought it might be a malware infection. But like I said, none of the scanners has found anything, even to this day.

EDIT:
Entirely filled in my specs page with my build info. Didn't even realize this forum had that feature XD. I can see it being a huge time saver for both the person needing help and the people giving the help.


Did you update the graphics driver?
NVIDIA DRIVERS 258.96 WHQL
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Build
OS
Windows 10 Pro x64, Arch Linux
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 OC'd 3.08GHz
Motherboard
Asus Rampage formula LGA775
Memory
8GB DDR2 900Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
MSI GT730 2GB GDDR5 (Kepler)
Sound Card
Supreme FX2
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung LS22F350 LED
Screen Resolution
1080P
Hard Drives
Kingston SSDNow UV400 120GB, 500GB Hitachi, 2TB Samsung, 500GB Seagate FreeAgent, 640GB Samsung, 160GB Toshiba (Arch)
PSU
AeroCool 500W Bronze
Cooling
Cooler Master V6 + 3X fans
Keyboard
Prolink keyboard
Mouse
Logitech M705
Internet Speed
1MiB/s
Browser
Chrome Beta
I can see it being a huge time saver for both the person needing help and the people giving the help.

It is :)

When this happens, a balloon popup should appear near your taskbar clock.

The only time it doesn't show a notification is when the WEI index periodically updates itself (it runs on a schedule) and sometimes there is a delay for it to refresh after updating video drivers.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Systems by SmartEyeball
OS
8 Pro x64
CPU
i7 3770K 4.6GHz
Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77 WS
Memory
16GB G.Skill Trident X 2666mhz
Graphics Card(s)
x2 EVGA 780 Ti Superclocked SLI
Sound Card
SB X-FI Surround 5.1 PRO USB / ATH-AD900 Headphones
Monitor(s) Displays
x3 Dell U2410 / 58" Samsung
Screen Resolution
5760*1200/ 1920*1200
Hard Drives
2x Intel 520 240GB (RAID 0) * 2x WD Caviar Blacks 2TB (RAID 0) * 2TB WD Caviar Black * Sony Optirac DVD
PSU
Silverstone Strider Evolution 1200W
Case
Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition
Cooling
Noctua NH-D14
Keyboard
Topre Realforce // Ducky Shine MX Black // Filco Ninja TKL
Mouse
Thermaltake Theron (Highly Recommended) + Razer Imperator
Antivirus
MSE
Browser
IE, FF, WaterFox
Other Info
GT Extreme V2 Sim Racing Cockpit + 40" LCD and K/B Mouse stand ▼
Fanatec CSR Elite Wheel + Clubsport V1 Pedals + CSR shifter/7G-H ▼Saitek X52 Pro ▼ TrackIR 5 Pro
Buttkicker v2 Seat Rumbler with Dedicated 5.1 and Sub Woofer attached to frame ▼
=
Bloody Big Grin
This is likely do to the video playing in firefox. You can check the Event Viewer after it happens, see if see any:

"A request to disable the Desktop Window Manager was made by process (Windows System Assessment Tool)"
Source: Desktop Window Manager
Event ID: 9010

or

"The Desktop Window Manager was unable to start because composition was disabled by a running application"
Souce: Desktop Window Manager
Event ID: 9013

Also, windows runs the performance test when the PC is idle, but I have 4 Gigs of Ram, and have never experienced that.

A Guy
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
OS
Windows 10 Home x64
CPU
INTEL Core i5-750 Quad-Core 3.37GHz
Motherboard
ASUS P7P55D
Memory
HyperX Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Superclocked 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5
Monitor(s) Displays
LG 32MA68HY 32" IPS
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
Samsung 840 Evo 120GB, SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
PSU
ANTEC TruePower New TP-550, 80 PLUS, 550W
Case
ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion
Cooling
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 4 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Noctua's
Internet Speed
85 + Mbps
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Vivaldi
i have a similar issue. is there anyway to stop this from happening?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Sony VGN-FW560F
OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 @ 2.13 GHz
Memory
6 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
Hard Drives
500Gb SATA
Mine reverts to basic whenever I run exPressit for art work disc covers. A Guy gave you the answer.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home build.
OS
Vista Ultimate 32 bit, Win 7 Pro 32 bit, Win 7 Pro 64 bit
CPU
Intel i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67 GHZ, OC 3.7 GHZ
Motherboard
Asus P7P55D
Memory
4 Gig
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTS450
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer 24"
Screen Resolution
1440 x 900
Hard Drives
1000 GIG
1000 GIG
PSU
650
Case
Antec Nine Hundred Two
Internet Speed
14 MB (APPROX)
Also, windows runs the performance test when the PC is idle, but I have 4 Gigs of Ram, and have never experienced that.

A Guy

I did not know that windows 7 did that... more than likely that is what is causing it, since it always seems to happen at around midnight-1am. It would also explain why it doesn't cause a notification bubble.

Thanks for the help :D, I feel at ease now that I know its not a malware infection.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Built
OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00 GHz
Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775
Memory
6.0GB (2x 2GB & 2x 1GB)
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA 512-P3-N807-AR GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO 512MB
Sound Card
Intergrated
Monitor(s) Displays
HP 2009m 20"
Screen Resolution
1600x900
Hard Drives
1x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB SATA - Primary
1x Unknown Emachene 100GB IDE - Backup
1x Unknown Emachene 80GB IDE - Backup
PSU
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W
Case
Rosewill RZS06 SLV Black
Cooling
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Fan
Keyboard
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 v1.0
Mouse
Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical
Internet Speed
3.0 mbps
hey you just try out the following tool its awsome and solves the problems quickly
 

My Computer

OS
windows 7 ultimate
hey you just try out the following tool its awsome and solves the problems quickly

didnt solve my problem. but quite a handy program otherwise.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Sony VGN-FW560F
OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 @ 2.13 GHz
Memory
6 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
Hard Drives
500Gb SATA
I did not know that windows 7 did that... more than likely that is what is causing it, since it always seems to happen at around midnight-1am. It would also explain why it doesn't cause a notification bubble.

Thanks for the help :D, I feel at ease now that I know its not a malware infection.

Same here... 1 AM, and lights out. No aero for about 2 minutes.
Where can i look up those scheduled tasks?

I have 8 Gigs of ram and plenty of power to run multiple windows 7-s at once.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
The exact same thing happened to me at 1AM - Aero disabled itself for approximately 3 minutes. This has happened before a few times over the past few months, and I still don't know what causes it. However, when it last occurred, I opened task manager and found that my computer was using over half of its total ram (8gb). I also found a program that was named along the lines of "windowSAT" or some such. As soon as its process ended (automatically), the Aero theme was enabled again. What is this program?
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
I just ran across some settings which may prevent the OS from doing this:

Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools > Adjust visual effects

It seems the default is "let Windows choose what's best for my computer". I haven't been able to find any supporting documentation to back this up, but I believe selecting "Custom" and enabling all Aero features will prevent any unwanted automatic changes in the future.

Note that if you intend to switch from "Let Windows choose" to "Custom", once you select Custom you also need to change at least one of the settings below so that you can actually apply the change to "Custom". (If you don't make any changes, but simply hit OK you'll find that "Let Windows choose" will still be selected...not sure whether that's a bug, or some intentionally heavy-handed behavior.)

More info on Visual Effects can be had in this thread:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1908-visual-effects-settings-change.html
 

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Alienware m17x R4
OS
Windows 7 Pro x64
for me its happens at a random time... I think I already did something about it in the
advanced scheduler.. switched it from from every week to every 4 weeks...
I'm taking about the performance testing, that's disables the aero but FORGETS to put it back on again! X(

the WinSAT service I had set to every 4 weeks// I ui[dated to once ever 16 weeks..
SERIOUSLY it doesn't really need to run!
but the last run of WinSAT was may 19th,
so that is not what just caused my aero to go off just about 10 minutes ago.. X(

btw I did not see an entry event manager for this.. I think...

the only thing in Event Viewer was recently was...
SYSTEM: "Application Experience service"

the only thing that was worked for me is to go into:
"Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Personalization"
and click on Aero Themes, THEN re-click on my custom profile!

That seems to get aero working again...!
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    [Self-built](custom-build)(June 2020)
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro (x64)
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME X570-PRO
    Memory
    32GB, 2x G.Skill 16GB (PC3200)(DDR4-2137)
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    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8GB XC3 model by EVGA
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220A 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" DELL Gaming Monitor - G2422HS - DisplayPort used
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    1920x1080p at 165Hz (16:9 Aspect Ratio)
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 980 Pro (NVMe)(SSD)
    2TB Samsung 980 Pro (NVMe)(SSD)
    2TB Samsung 870 EVO (SSD)

    NVMe 1TB
    -- OS(Win10 Pro x64),
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    -- programming(MS Visual Studios 2022 Community Ed.),
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    NV
    PSU
    Thermaltake TOUGHPOWER DPS G RGB Titanium Certified 1250Watt
    Case
    Corsair Graphite Series 780T Full Tower PC Case
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    AMD Wraith cooler (stock) & 3x Corsair case fans
    Keyboard
    Alienware Low Profile RGB Mechanical USB Gaming Keyboard - A
    Mouse
    Redragon M602 RGB Wired USB Gaming mouse
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    2100Mbps Download, 350Mbps Upload
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    n/a aka "ABOVE TOP SECRET!" lol ;)
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    Firefox & Google Chrome
  • Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    DELL G15 Ryzen edition, model 5515
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
    Motherboard
    DELL G15 Ryzen edition
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Ryzen 7 5800H integrated AMD Radeon Graphics and Nvidia GeForce 3060 6GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC3254 with Nahimic 3D Audio for Gamers
    Monitor(s) Displays
    built-in
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    500GB NVMe SSD
    PSU
    DELL power brick.
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    laptop
    Cooling
    laptop cooling
    Keyboard
    built-in
    Mouse
    Microsoft basic optical scroll mouse
    Internet Speed
    1000Mbps download, 20Mbps upload
    Browser
    Firefox & Waterfox Classic
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