Windows Flickering Problem

houdini71 · 07 May 2013

Hello everyone,

I've read quite a few posts and info online about this problem but can't seem to figure out what solution anyone tried that worked.

Here is my problem, I have a new computer that has the Geforce 660ti graphics card from nvidia and no matter where I'm at on my computer whether it's using adobe photoshop, illustrator, documents folder window, browser window etc etc. I get this intermittent flicker that happens about every 2-3 minutes. It's a quick flicker as if the program/software window blinks real quick.

I've seen a youtube video with the similiar problem but he suggests editng the registry and I'm a bit cautious to do so but from his video in the begining with the window flicker is exactly what my windows do too. Here is the link:

Windows 7 flickering problem (long description + solution) - YouTube

Any help would be apprecaited.

Thank you
Houdini71

Faladu · 08 May 2013

Those are safe reg entries:

Cut and paste from the youtube description:

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="5000"
"HungAppTimeout"="5000"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Cur*rentContr*olSet\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="5000"

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="5000"
"HungAppTimeout"="5000" - run your new file - restart PC

All that is happening is changing the waiting on automatically timing out of apps/services if they don't do anything (hung) and/or the timing to kill (end the process automatically) them, in this case all being shorted to 5 secs.

This is a common setting available in a lot of Windows tweaking tools also, not sure why it is the cause of flickering, though, seems odd.

bulletng · 08 May 2013

You can always backup your registry if you're worried about messing something up. Also creating a restore point would help.

I've never seen an issue like this before and I wouldn't know where to start.