WDM aka "Do you want to change the color scheme to improve performance?"

[gamesturbator]

I run Aero because I have to have it enabled to record my desktop as well as my games with Fraps often. Unfortunately, while playing games that popup interrupts my games quite frequently, so I tried to use Lasso to prevent this process from running while I am gaming. Turns out, it is considered an "essential" process and therefore cannot be managed. Is it possible this could be targeted in a future release? Have yet to find any solution to this other than disabling Aero while playing a particular game, but Aero is required to monitor my desktop with Fraps, Playclaw or what have you. Thanks.

[Jeremy Collake]

What process in particular are you referring to?

[gamesturbator]

The popup dialogue about "color scheme change" that interrupts most of my games.



As a point of reference: http://tr1x.com/how-to-disable-color-scheme-error-message.html But in order for Fraps to monitor both the games and the desktop I can't  just check "Disable desktop composition" on a game's properties to stop this from happening, because then Fraps would be unable to record my desktop activities. Obviously, I can't block the WDM (Windows Desktop Manager) itself, so I was wondering if there is a sub process to Windows Desktop Manager WDM that I could block to keep those popups from happening? Thanks.

[Jeremy Collake]

Oh, I see. There are ways that might be handled, but none that would be possible with Process Lasso as it stands. There is no separate process that you could kill to stop those popups. There may be an alternate way to disable the popups, but I don't know any off the top of my head. In fact, one would likely have to be discovered. There could be a registry setting, for instance. Perhaps simply changing your display effects to something other than 'let the system decide' could change its behavior (doubtful, but possible).

[hanemach_gt]

You may wish to try <a href="http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/69652-how-do-i-disable-annoying-performance-colorscheme-popup-2.html">this</a>.

[gamesturbator]

Thanks, GT. Somehow, my Googling skipped over that page. Somehow of all the notifications I chose to hide I missed that one! I have "always show all icons and notifications in taskbar" checked but before I do that I always choose which ones to hide first. Won't know till later when I'm gaming and will tell you the results. Thanks.

EDIT: Okay, that had no affect. This the one thing I hate the most about Windows LOL Can't tell you how much I hate it, goes beyond words.

[Jeremy Collake]

No matter what OS you run, there are annoyances. At least every OS I've ever used. So, keep that in mind

I am sure I could discover, or create, a way to fix this issue, but sadly I have not the time or resources. If there is a way to do it within Windows, gtweak is definitely your man. If it requires a patch to a system DLL or a special software solution, I'd have to do that -- but there's no way I have time.

You did reboot after trying gtweak's recommendation, right? I didn't read it before I stupidly removed the URL (thought it was spam before I saw it was gtweak ;o).

[gamesturbator]

I think the reboot did the trick. Been going for an hour now. Wait and see.

Edit:

ARRRRGH! Didn't take. Oh, well. Irony is I have my taskbar on a second monitor, yet it want's to interrupt what I'm doing on the 1st monitor. Perhaps if I make the 2nd a primary with desktop and all then the wdm wouldn't steal the focus? GT will know, but you guys have other people to help and I'll just have to experiment and find out on my own. Thanks.

[hanemach_gt]

I have two ideas:

Create Power Profile assuming Aero to be disabled when active, configure Process Lasso to switch Power Profile to newly created one (no-Aero) when running game executable, this way Aero will come back every time you quit gaming as Process Lasso switches previous Power Profile.
But, I don't know how to set Power Profile this way (to have Aero off).
This is my thought only, I'm stuck on that it's not possible to directly make Power Profile disabling Aero.


Second idea: batch file stopping DWM service, starting game and waiting for game termination, then starting DWM service back.

Code Select Expand

@echo off
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WBEM" /v "" /d "" /f>nul 2>&1||echo  You have not run me as Administrator!&&goto end
net stop uxsms>nul 2>&1&&echo  Stopped DWM service successfully&&ping -n 4 127.0.0.1>nul 2>&1&&FULL EXE PATH HERE&&net start uxsms>nul 2>&1&&echo  Started DWM service successfully
goto:eof
:end
pause

Above code works, tested with one application, but I don't know whether it will cause Windows to stop showing that annoying notification.
Select all, open Notepad, save as, choose 'All files' and give it a name of starter.cmd or starter.bat. Save it anywhere you want. Now, right-click saved file and create desktop shortcut to it. Right-click that shortcut and choose Properties, make it running minimized (only cmd.exe's window will be minimized; it'll close itself as soon as you quit playing).

Let me know if you need my advice to be explained more deeply.

[DeadHead]

There's an easier way to disable aero when playing games, and have it restored when you quit the game. Just go to the shortcut of your game, right click it, choose properties. In the window that pops up, click the compatibility tab, and there check "Disable desktop composition".

Of course, if this function could be implemented into PL when entering gaming mode as an option - great!

[hanemach_gt]

You only have to launch starter.bat/starter.cmd, it will start the game and stay waiting for game termination. Please place game executable path in quotes. I posted this script as I have read "Disable desktop composition" not always work. Script waits 4 seconds before launching game, maybe that's the factor, I don't know as I don't experience of such notifications.

Code Select Expand


@echo off
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WBEM" /v "" /d "" /f>nul 2>&1||echo  You have not run me as Administrator!&&goto end
net stop uxsms>nul 2>&1&&echo  Stopped DWM service successfully&&ping -n 4 127.0.0.1>nul 2>&1&&"C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 3\bf3.exe"&&net start uxsms>nul 2>&1&&echo  Started DWM service successfully
goto:eof
:end
pause


[gamesturbator]

Thanks, Gtweak. Can't wait to find out how this works.  You are a very kind person for going through all this trouble to solve a problem for me. You remind me of a couple guys on the Rockerteam forum.

Deadhead, the issue is not about disabling aero (I do not want that) but about blocking the popup that WDM so rudely (it's a sentient being that is bent on World Domination) insists on creating in the middle of my games. I often have to record BOTH my desktop and my game which requires Aero to be enabled all the time as Fraps and other recorders require DX, which isn't available if I disable desktop composition.  Nice try, though.

[DeadHead]

Deadhead, the issue is not about disabling aero (I do not want that) but about blocking the popup that WDM so rudely (it's a sentient being that is bent on World Domination) insists on creating in the middle of my games. I often have to record BOTH my desktop and my game which requires Aero to be enabled all the time as Fraps and other recorders require DX, which isn't available if I disable desktop composition.  Nice try, though.

Using the command "net stop uxsms" do disable aero afaik? BTW, would "run as administrator" change anything?

[hanemach_gt]

@gamesturbator,
so this script may solve your problem or I misunderstood? Let me know how it works, then I will develop it so that you can launch many games from one place, cmd is wonderful.

@DeadHead,
stopping uxsms causes window transparency to turn off, so you get Windows 7 Starter windows. Stopping this service without elevated rights is not allowed.

EDIT: My mistake - stopping uxsms *downgrades* Aero Glass to Aero Basic, though I am still unsure about that, because I am running classic composition (like Safe Mode).

[gamesturbator]

For some reason BF3 starts then closes and aero is restored (per the cmd)  then the game restarts on its own. I think it's the way EA designed the game to work with Origin. The game so nice they start it twice!  I can make Origin.exe the program to use in the cmd instead since it's require to run BF3 anyway, so will be the same difference. I will try this with other games also. This week the WDM has been leaving me alone for no reason LOL so hard to know if the cmd is working or if it's just Windows being silly as usual. I'll try and keep you updated.

[hanemach_gt]

I am working on script allowing to launch a maximum of 2147483647 (theoretically, this is the biggest positive number cmd can handle) possible games from one place, game info (name, path) will be retrieved from INI file (you will be able to add comments to it;p), here's mine for example and a screenshot:

Code Select Expand


; Icy Tower
Game1_path=E:\icytower1.3.1\icytower13.exe
Game1_name=Icy Tower 1.3.1
; WWP
Game2_path=E:\Worms World Party\wwp.exe
Game2_name=Worms World Party
; WA
Game3_path=E:\Worms Armageddon\wa.exe
Game3_name=Worms Armageddon



<hr>

EDIT: Done. There are two files in the archive: gamestarter.cmd, and gamestarter-makeini.cmd.
First is the main stub, there you can choose a game you wish to start in *no-Glass mode*.
Second lets you to create INI file or update existing.
You may need to copy&paste below link due to hotlink protection of my (free) provider. /Changed download location.

Download here >> https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=613c64ef069e3edd&resid=613C64EF069E3EDD!136&parid=613C64EF069E3EDD!109

[gamesturbator]

That's a lot of work you've done there! I am not sure how to add my games to the first cmd file or how the 2nd file works with the first one. It's a bit complex looking compared to the other one.    Might need a few examples of the text to enter into the cmd and where.

[hanemach_gt]

Please re-download archive as I fixed bug causing MakeINI script to not start while gamestarter.ini is absent, re-uploaded files are 100% working.

Second file generates INI file for gamestarter.cmd, which you use to start games. That second file is gamestarter-makeini.cmd. Extract archive to the Desktop, start gamestarter-makeini.cmd. Type in the name of the first game, press ENTER. After that, go to folder of this game and drag its EXE file onto CMD window, so that you needn't to type it manually. Press ENTER again and you add second game, then third and so on. Here's step-by-step *tutorial*:

<hr>
Adding new games to INI file



Here's how INI file looks like at the moment:

Code Select Expand

Game1_name=Worms Armageddon
Game1_exec=E:\Worms Armageddon\WA.exe
Game2_name=Worms World Party
Game2_exec=E:\Worms World Party\Wwp.exe


<hr>
Updating INI file



You choose U, so that you don't lose INI file and don't have to create it again.

INI file after second run:

Code Select Expand

Game1_name=Worms Armageddon
Game1_exec=E:\Worms Armageddon\WA.exe
Game2_name=Worms World Party
Game2_exec=E:\Worms World Party\Wwp.exe
Game3_name=Icy Tower 1.3.1
Game3_exec=E:\icytower1.3.1\icytower13.exe

When you start gamestarter.cmd, you will see these 3 games.

[gamesturbator]

That's astounding. Couldn't have been easier. This deserves to be promoted all over the game forums. I know a LOT of people have been looking for a solution to this issue and you have solved it (best I can tell).  I'll test it a few more days and if it proves effective, with your permission, I'll make sure it gets shared on the Steam and EA forums. Thank you so much for all your help.

[DeadHead]

@DeadHead,
stopping uxsms causes window transparency to turn off, so you get Windows 7 Starter windows. Stopping this service without elevated rights is not allowed.

EDIT: My mistake - stopping uxsms *downgrades* Aero Glass to Aero Basic, though I am still unsure about that, because I am running classic composition (like Safe Mode).

So, what's the difference? From what I can tell, "Disable Desktop composition" do exactly the same thing? I don't get it!

[hanemach_gt]

Ask Windows, maybe time is the main factor before game launch. I don't know, really.

[DeadHead]

Deadhead, the issue is not about disabling aero (I do not want that) but about blocking the popup that WDM so rudely (it's a sentient being that is bent on World Domination) insists on creating in the middle of my games. I often have to record BOTH my desktop and my game which requires Aero to be enabled all the time as Fraps and other recorders require DX, which isn't available if I disable desktop composition.  Nice try, though.

So, is this still possible for you when you stop uxsms? If aero really needs to be enabled all the time for Fraps like you say, I can't understand how it can still work when you stop uxsms?

[DeadHead]

I can confirm by testing that stopping uxsms will disable Fraps' ability to record desktop, since stopping uxsms will disable aero.

[gamesturbator]

DeadHead is right. Fraps stops recording once the basic aero goes into effect, then starts again when the target game is closed and Aero is returned.  But at least gtweak came up with an easy way to make any game run without desktop composition without the need to manually change every single game's compatibility settings.  His new program is quite the time saver.

[hanemach_gt]

I'll try to make this script stopping uxsms, starting game, waiting brief period of time to turn Aero on again.

EDIT: Done. It has to *cheat* WDM, if this will work, then we can say WDM executes single performance check, on startup. If it doesn't work, my ideas end up.

It stops uxsms, launches independent cmd.exe instance waiting approximately 4 seconds 4 pings (ping~second), meanwhile gamestarter's instance starts game, game is loading and then Aero is turned on again.

>>> http://bitsum.net/forum/index.php/topic,1128.msg5356.html#msg5356

[gamesturbator]

For some reason the new cmd file launches some games then closes them when it reenables normal Aero. Plus, Fraps still stops recording while the game exe is running since Aero Basic is in effect. I then tried the original version of your cmd and the games all ran normally. So assuming there's no workaround for Fraps vs Aero Basic the first version of your cmd worked better. For some strange reason Shattered Horizon ran normally (Fraps still wouldn't run until after I manually closed that game). But the new cmd opens and closes every other game I tried, often before the games could fully launch. So you might want to scrap the new version.

Bottom line you did an excellent job and at least the cmd file (first one) is easy to add games to one right after the other, saving a lot steps normally required to disable Desktop Composition for any number of games.

Edit: In case anyone read my edit I was wrong and my original text in this post is true. The one you see now. ^

[hanemach_gt]

Updated one works for me (I mean game starts, I don't get that darn necessary WDM message).

[gamesturbator]

Yeah, you fixed it LOL Well, what the main goal is I guess is to prevent that WDM popup during games.  Since normal Aero gets renabled after a few extra moments, how is the cmd preventing WDM from dong it again at that juncture? Just  wondering. 

[hanemach_gt]

Please clarify, I don't understand your concern. Has it fixed WDM message + Fraps problem?

[gamesturbator]

After the cmd opens a game, changes Windows to Aero Basic then after a few moments changes it back to normal Aero Fraps is able to continue recording. So that part works. It will probably take me a while to see whether or not WDM still interupts games (never happens immediately, just when I am getting shot at ;p ).

My question was: Once the game is running and the cmd tells Windows to go back to normal Aero, what then prevents WDM from interupting the game as NORMAL Aero is running during the game?

P.S. You might think about contacting game companies about adding the cmd coding as an option for running their games. Example: Steam has an option to add launch options to all it's games manually. Normally you have to go through several steps to do this, plus you have to know what commands will work and type them in manually. But if they add running your script to their program as an option to be applied to any or all DX games that Steam launches that would greatly simply matters for a lot of players.

Might make a bit of money there!

[hanemach_gt]

Answer: I don't know. Windows' behavior is abnormal sometimes.

Please test it more deeply, if it works, I will release it as my new freeware.

[DeadHead]

Just curious - have you checked VRam levels when this happens? If you indeed are running out of vram, it would be interesting to see if lowering settings in the game in any way prevents this popup from appearing.

[gamesturbator]

That I will look into, though I have 1280MB on my GTX 570. BF3 is notorious for using up resources, however even BC2 had the same behavior and that pails in comparison to BF3 (I think) in that regard.

Right now I'm encountered a problem with Windows. Randomly my mouse won't drag and drop, select text by dragging, launches apps with only single click, etc., then later on it works normally!  Stupid system Restore always fails on me (I've even run it from a recovery disk, separate admin account, everything Google had to offer). So have to put testing the cmd on hold till I find out what's going on. Canned air to the rescue? derpy derp

[gamesturbator]

Well, now I'm fracking mad. Every time I drag and drop ANY exe from the "Origin Games" folder and hit enter it causes the gamestarter-makeini.cmd to crash. This doesn't happen with any other game!  I can even add origin.exe from the Origin folder (it's separate from the "Origin Games" folder) successfully. And if I manually edit the ini to launch BF3.exe it won't launch it! Worked earlier now it doesn't. It's not your cmd it's something else interfering with the Origin Games folder contents. Ill have to work this out on my own as I don't feel right about pestering you.

[hanemach_gt]

Newer gamestarter launches *waiter* instance and immediately (not waiting) launches game. That's all.

[Jeremy Collake]

Nice work gtweak . It seems we have the birth of a new application right here in Bitsum forums .

[gamesturbator]

x86 aside, I now have Steam and Origin in the Program Files section and other games in normal named folders. I added 9 different games and none of them could be launched by the new gamerstarter, but the old one had no trouble. So looking forward to your next file. Hope you get lots of sleep before that though! 

[hanemach_gt]

Final version, supporting almost all special characters Windows allow to use in file/folder names (excluding equality sigh "=").
Copy&paste below link.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=613c64ef069e3edd&resid=613C64EF069E3EDD!136&parid=613C64EF069E3EDD!109

GameStarter will now use one more file - gamestarter.cfg, which contains amount of pings (~seconds) that GS has to wait after DWM termination (PingsToWaitAfterUxsmsServiceTermination) and after game launch, when to start DWM (PingsToWaitBeforeUxsmsStartAfterGameLaunch).

You use gamestarter-cfg.cmd to set these pings, gamestarter-makeini.cmd (supports special characters, too)  to add games to ini file, and gamestarter.cmd you know.

[gamesturbator]

Great work. All games add normally and run. I even added Steam to it so that any games that use online files to launch will also be covered. Same thing for Origin which is a bad copy of Steam LOL. I will run games all week (and I'll monitor my Vram just in case thats part of the original issue) and confirm how effective this is. Either way, you've saved people from a lot of right clicking and navigating to manually disable desktop compostion for video-intensive games with the added benefit of restoring the DX dependent Aero afterward, which Fraps, Playclaw, etc.  depend on. Thank you very much!   

[hanemach_gt]

Good to hear it seems to work. You can edit CFG file manually or using gamestarter-cfg.cmd. If gamestarter.cfg does not exist, default pings are assumed: 4 to wait after uxsms termination and 5 ping delay before uxsms start after game launch.

[gamesturbator]

WDM did come up again. I changed BF3 to low resolution to see how the game looked and it triggered it. I didn't bother closing the popup and went back to playing the game. The way I was running the cmd was by applying it while Steam.exe is running, covering my other games.  But the funny thing is I no longer got the WDM popup at high resolutions, so go figure. The gamestarter is still very useful and did the job all week. One little exception doesn't make it a failure.

[hanemach_gt]

Could you give gamestarter to other person experiencing this stupid message? This way I will know whether it works on your OS configuration only.

[gamesturbator]

Made a post on the help and tips section of the Steam game forums. Any inaccuracies please let me know. Hoping to get feedback from gamers there. I also posted a link to it on my platoon wall on the BF3 Battlelog page. I expect it will be a week or so before I receive proper feedback (a friend already misunderstood what the program does lol). Once we know one way or the other you can consider making some tweaks to the user interface (I have a couple ideas), but not until we know what works and what doesn't. http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?p=28572064#post28572064

[hanemach_gt]

I plan to make gamestarter allowing to double window height of cmd, since having >10 games may require user to scroll down. Additionally, I plan to make it configurable to define whether user wants empty line between games on the list.

[gamesturbator]

It displays nicely, so no extra line seem necessary. I'm thinking that navigating multiple folders to find each game's executable might seem like a lot of work to some people. So if there's some way to add dragging and dropping a games desktop shortcut instead to accomplish the same thing, that would be very convenient for them.  Eventually I see a GUI with the functions of all the cmd files making this more accessible to the average person.

I did run into that WDM again. Since some things like Steam take up to 10 seconds to start up I changed the PingsToWaitBeforeUxsmsStartAfterGameLaunch to 10 seconds just to see if that makes a difference. It might be that it was pure coincidence that I didn't get that popup for over a week. Also possible that I need to target individual games instead of the Steam client which launches them.  If I could just get more people on board to test it and let me know the results we could know for sure.

What Deadhead said about checking Vram levels is something I need to do,  of course.

[hanemach_gt]

It displays nicely, so no extra line seem necessary.

I meant to let user to REMOVE this one (empty) line between game entries on the list, to save space.

I'm thinking that navigating multiple folders to find each game's executable might seem like a lot of work to some people. So if there's some way to add dragging and dropping a games desktop shortcut instead to accomplish the same thing, that would be very convenient for them.  Eventually I see a GUI with the functions of all the cmd files making this more accessible to the average person.

Erm.. You have 150 games? It's a matter of 5 minutes to get 10 games done with that. If you're lazy, then it's your problem, sorry. I am BAT programmer as of yet.

[gamesturbator]

Oops, misunderstood, sorry.

LOL  I actually know people that own nearly that many games (I'm quite jealous of them)! But it's unlikely that they'll play more than a few. I have games all over the place due to space limitations on my SSD, so  I Mlink most of them. The average person probably won't be like me though and if they are they are already advanced enough to understand how to grasp how your tool works just the way it is. Plus, just adding Steam.exe (or any "multigame launcher") would cover a multitude of potential games anyway, so my point was, well, kind of pointless.    Your tool is superb as is.

[hanemach_gt]

Please test it this way: try running your games without gamestarter, if there is no WDM prompt then say about coincidence. Don't worry about less-experienced users - I will make step-by-step guide, but only IF IT REALLY WORKS. It make no sense publishing it if it was coincidence. I can rely on your reports only, since I am not gamer. Thank you for collaboration.

Alternate gamestarter download: [<a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=613c64ef069e3edd&resid=613C64EF069E3EDD!136&parid=613C64EF069E3EDD!109">SkyDrive</a>]

[hanemach_gt]

Final version of SuppressDwmPerformancePrompts (aka gamestarter) has been released, born in Bitsum Forums ;p.
Download link in above post.