Dragging windows/files can cause visual issues

[aljowen]

Image of issue:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8Z3Qni8e0YLNMwIIVVpyzdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

When i am dragging windows or files around my desktop it will often leave an artifact like the one shown on the screen. It is caused by the icon windows shows next to your mouse while dragging. The only way to remove the artifact is by rebooting the computer, i can change its location by dragging things around the screen and hoping it gets stuck in a more convenient location of the screen, as i have done in the screenshot.
I have tried closing explorer.exe and dwm.exe in the hope that they may refresh it but with no result.

Thanks for any help,
aljowen

 

[gregrocker]

Dragging intact takes a huge amount of resources which may be a problem on lower resource machines. For these PC's I always edit the Visual Effects of fading, dragging intact, selection rectangle, and sliding. See Optimize Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums. Most of these effects are not even noticeable, except when they overtax resources and produce artifacts like you are seeing.

Update your display driver.

Establish a Clean Boot and work through the other Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

Are you getting Aero transparent windows? This is an important benchmark if your display is up to snuff for Win7. If not type Aero in Start Search box to run the Troubleshooter to find out why.

 

[aljowen]

Thanks for the response.
Well the thing is I wouldn't class my computer as a lower end machine even if it is getting a little old. It's a 3d rendering and gaming rig that is running an i5 2500k and a gtx560ti.The drivers are pretty new, only a month or two old, this issue has been happening over all the drivers I have had installed, I am using the official drivers too.
I do use aero translucent. windows tells me it should be fine (which it should be with a system like mine) since it gets full marks in the Windows experience score, the cpu gets pretty close too, of course the hard drive causes a lower final score.
I'm not sure what my displays could possibly have to do with it but I have a 1080p main screen and a 1050p one to the right for controlling music, having YouTube open while I work/game etc.

 

[gregrocker]

OK I see your specs now so visual edits and Aero should not enter into the equation. How much RAM exactly? Has it been tested overnight with RAM - Test with Memtest86+ ?

You can stress test your GPU with Furmark: FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net

Work through the other Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 including the other hardware tests. This not only goes over the install and PC most thoroughly, but in most cases will come up with important clues.

 

[aljowen]

Why would i even want to stress test my GPU because of windows issues, its more than powerful enough to run windows. Its not crashing, its not overheating (according to evga precision x when i monitor it during games occasionally). It certainly isn't overheating while running windows. My CPU is also more than powerful enough.
This does not seem to be a hardware problem. The issue is software (systems software i assume). Whether its an issue with windows or nvidia drivers i have no idea, that is why i am asking here.

I have had a look at performance options and i couldn't find anything about removing the icon for dragging folders without removing other visual features that i would rather keep. The miniature window shown in the image is a firefox thing. But it caused the same issue as windows, i guess this could make it more likely a driver issue but i am still not ruling windows out.

I would be perfectly happy if anyone could suggest a workaround, just a way to remove the icon from the screen without rebooting. Since it only happens once every 2 months or so its not to big a deal.

 

[gregrocker]

It's always best to first eliminate hardware as the problem, which you've not done until the tests in the steps are done with the addition of the GPU stress test.

Then the steps will eliminate most possibilities with Win7.

However if you're convinced the problem is with Win7 then work through those steps first. I'd also compare the install you have with the perfect install in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums which is based on what's worked best in tens of thousands of installs we've helped with here.

 

[essenbe]

aljowen, I can assure you it is not a windows issue. If it were, everyone would be having the same problems. When you reboot the computer, it reloads the drivers, which is most likely your problem. It is either a driver or a hardware problem. There is no other reason for you to be seeing artifacts. I would suggest you run through the troubleshooting steps that gregrocker linked to as well as the Furmark test.

 

[aljowen]

aljowen, I can assure you it is not a windows issue. If it were, everyone would be having the same problems. When you reboot the computer, it reloads the drivers, which is most likely your problem. It is either a driver or a hardware problem. There is no other reason for you to be seeing artifacts. I would suggest you run through the troubleshooting steps that gregrocker linked to as well as the Furmark test.

Thanks,
I should probably mention my GPU got replaced by a different revision with lower specs by Gigabyte shortly after i bought it because they got too many complaints about driver instability. They blamed nvidia, nvidia blamed them. You've probably figured that neither party admitted fault and nothing happened.
Drivers did get fixed about a year after purchasing the card, no more daily bsod's after that point. This is the only issue it has had since. Because it is a rare occurrence it hasn't caused me enough bother to fix it yet. Since once you get it rebooted you forget about fixing it and carry on as normal

I will have a go at some furmark testing when i get the chance though since i understand that it pushes the card harder than anything normally would. Will report back once i have done that.

 

[gregrocker]

How much RAM exactly? Has it been stress tested 8 passes or overnight with RAM - Test with Memtest86+?

Have you tried swapping out Avast for MSE, per the tutorial?

 

[aljowen]

How much RAM exactly? Has it been stress tested 8 passes or overnight with RAM - Test with Memtest86+?

Have you tried swapping out Avast for MSE, per the tutorial?

I have 8gb (2x4gb) 1600mhz. It has not been stress tested, i wouldn't have the time to do a full stress test of the ram to that degree since i sleep next to my pc. But if i get time i will give that a go.

I have uninstalled Avast before to repair it after an update broke it, i couldn't say if it helped or not because of the infrequency of the issue. I also have malwarebytes installed. I primarily use malwarebytes because it does a better job of spotting issues than avast does. But since malwarebytes isn't actually antivirus software i have avast there too just in case.

 

[gregrocker]

MSE and MBAM real time protection work very well together. Avast is bloated and bloating with attendant issues. Where once we recommended MSE/Avast co-equally, you will not see that here any longer which is a very strong indicator.

Have you tried dragging intact with an Aero theme chosen in Control Panel>Personalize? One of our hardware specialists carwiz suggests this.

 

[Britton30]

I would, however, run the RAM test, you can turn the monitor off. It is one of the more important tests to do to eliminate stuff.

 

[TVeblen]

Image of issue:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8Z3Qni8e0YLNMwIIVVpyzdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

When i am dragging windows or files around my desktop it will often leave an artifact like the one shown on the screen. It is caused by the icon windows shows next to your mouse while dragging. The only way to remove the artifact is by rebooting the computer, i can change its location by dragging things around the screen and hoping it gets stuck in a more convenient location of the screen, as i have done in the screenshot.
I have tried closing explorer.exe and dwm.exe in the hope that they may refresh it but with no result.

Thanks for any help,
aljowen

I think your use of the term 'artifact' has caused some confusion.

When I'm looking at your image I'm also confused. What am I looking at here?
I'm guessing that that small window in the upper right corner of the pic is the offending item. And the big green arrow you added to point to it.
Is your display really that long? Or am I looking at multiple displays?

Anyway,
That window looks like (I'm guessing here) a 'submenu' (I don't know what else to call it) of files or folders, or images inside the icon/folder you are moving around. Please let me know if I'm on the right track or way off.

Now when I move anything around on my desktop I do not get that 'feature'. I suspect that that may be a feature of a program you are running or a feature that must be enabled in Windows that I am unaware of.

Perhaps a more detailed explanation of all will help. It would be cool to see a bigger pic of what is inside the offending 'window'.

 

[aljowen]

I think your use of the term 'artifact' has caused some confusion.

When I'm looking at your image I'm also confused. What am I looking at here?
I'm guessing that that small window in the upper right corner of the pic is the offending item. And the big green arrow you added to point to it.
Is your display really that long? Or am I looking at multiple displays?

Anyway,
That window looks like (I'm guessing here) a 'submenu' (I don't know what else to call it) of files or folders, or images inside the icon/folder you are moving around. Please let me know if I'm on the right track or way off.

Now when I move anything around on my desktop I do not get that 'feature'. I suspect that that may be a feature of a program you are running or a feature that must be enabled in Windows that I am unaware of.

Perhaps a more detailed explanation of all will help. It would be cool to see a bigger pic of what is inside the offending 'window'.

I also think artifact was the wrong term to use, i just don't have the vocabulary to give a better term. Artifacts are normally associated with severe hardware issues.

I have two screens, The left one is 1920x1080, the right one is 1680x1050.

On this occasion the offending feature was dragging a mozilla firefox tab onto the opposite screen. When you drag a tab out of the browser it shows a small graphic next to the cursor as you drag it, basically a print screen of the webpage that was open in that tab as it isn't an interactive graphic. This can be fixed by rebooting firefox and all is good again. This is fairly common for me. I can reproduce this if needed.
I think this may be a firefox issue but im not sure since windows does a similar thing every now and again, which means firefox could just be more prone to this.
Im pretty new to firefox since i switched from opera recently after they switched to the chromium engine. This didnt happen in opera, once again this is why i think this is a software issue.

Sometimes the same thing occurs when dragging a windows folder around the desktop. The little icon of the folder may get stuck. When this happens it is usually more serious. This is where i have to do a full reboot of the PC. I cannot reproduce this on demand, it happens once every two months or so. This was more present when i only had one screen. Its been happening less recently though

Even if i open a full screen directx program the icon will overlay over the top of that.

This is why i think this is a software issue, since if i close the offending program it fixes it. But i don't know of any program that i can close that will fix the dragging of windows files.

As for what was inside the window, it was a youtube video of linustechtips "wan show".

Hope this helps as i have a feeling i explained this pretty badly at first, probably something to do with the time i posted it at...

 

[carwiz]

Just for a quick test, change your desktop and/or theme to something other than black. Don't use the "high contrast" themes supplied by Windows as these disable Aero.

 

[aljowen]

Just for a quick test, change your desktop and/or theme to something other than black. Don't use the "high contrast" themes supplied by Windows as these disable Aero.

Does the advice still stand if i am already using aero and the only thing that is black is my wallpaper. I am not using high contrast or anything similar.

 

[carwiz]

Yes, this is just a test. There were reports some time ago that all black desktops create problems with Aero. It may have been fixed but just try it.

Added: I'm sure I read a MS patch about it but I can't find it.

 

[aljowen]

Yes, this is just a test. There were reports some time ago that all black desktops create problems with Aero. It may have been fixed but just try it.

Added: I'm sure I read a MS patch about it but I can't find it.

That didn't help the firefox issue, but it did make me realize what the firefox issue was. I use opera's email client. Turns out firefox doesn't play nice with that, since i always have email open on that screen when its not in use i didn't realize it was whenever firefox touches opera that firefox leaves a ghost there. I guess that solves one issue.

I will have to post back when i next get the issue with windows files and folders. Since i cant replicate that on demand.

 

[TVeblen]

Oh yeah - I see it now. Except on my rig I need to minimize Firefox to the taskbar, then when I hover the mouse over the Firefox icon it shows that preview window of whats going on in Firefox. But I can't move that around my desktop.

I will bet you the rest of this beer that this has something to do with one of your programs or combination of open programs. But it is one of those very annoying problems that requires lots of experimentation to find out exactly what combination of events is causing the problem. Never a easy task.

The fact that you are running dual monitors could also contribute to the problem. It shouldn't - lots of people run dual (or more) monitors without issue. But again, some combination of events...

The thing to take away is that this is not a common problem. I've never heard of it and I can't recreate it. The common problems are easy because someone on the forum has usually helped someone to solve them. The hard ones are the ones that only happen on your machine.

So do some experiments and post back here what you discover. Don't shy away from trying anything the folks here suggest. Eventually you or we will get to the a-ha moment.

 

[aljowen]

Oh yeah - I see it now. Except on my rig I need to minimize Firefox to the taskbar, then when I hover the mouse over the Firefox icon it shows that preview window of whats going on in Firefox. But I can't move that around my desktop.

I will bet you the rest of this beer that this has something to do with one of your programs or combination of open programs. But it is one of those very annoying problems that requires lots of experimentation to find out exactly what combination of events is causing the problem. Never a easy task.

The fact that you are running dual monitors could also contribute to the problem. It shouldn't - lots of people run dual (or more) monitors without issue. But again, some combination of events...

The thing to take away is that this is not a common problem. I've never heard of it and I can't recreate it. The common problems are easy because someone on the forum has usually helped someone to solve them. The hard ones are the ones that only happen on your machine.

So do some experiments and post back here what you discover. Don't shy away from trying anything the folks here suggest. Eventually you or we will get to the a-ha moment.

That's not quite how it works, If you click and hold one of your tabs (at the top of the screen, the web browser ones)You can drag them out of one firefox window and it will create another instance of firefox. For dual monitors its very useful because you can have 2 websites open at once. In two different browsers. You can then drag tabs between them, its a very clever system.