forum

[Archived] How to disable Desktop Composition in Windows 8 and 8.1 [inv

posted
Total Posts
23
Topic Starter
Dexus
This is to disable desktop composition in windows 8 and 8.1.

This does not apply to:
Fullscreen users (not windowed borderless)
Other operating systems (Desktop composition is a lot easier to disable in other operating systems)

Use Process Explorer and run it as Administrator

Do the following steps in order:

KILL explorer.exe

SUSPEND winlogon.exe
[This is so you can do the next step without it re-opening automatically]

KILL dwm.exe
[This is what you don't want to be running, it's the desktop windows manager and has desktop composition. this gets in the way]

RUN explorer.exe
[File > Run... in Process Explorer, allows opengl to be used and basic OS navigations excluding metro start menu]

RESUME winlogon.exe when you want dwm.exe back (or restart)
[You may have to kill explorer again and suspend winlogon.exe again to get it to be resumeable]

The benefit to doing this is a dramatic reduction in cursor latency.
The downfall is the start menu goes to black and can't be used at all.

This has actually become very safe and easier to do. Now I really do recommend it to anyone on Windows 8 / 8.1
Full Tablet
Why don't you just play fullscreen in that case? (and use monitor settings to disable scaling, so the game doesn't use all the screen if you don't want it to).
Topic Starter
Dexus
I do play fullscreen like that, but there's some people that don't and are too used to playing windowed, so this helps them out. It's just a good tidbit to know.

Edit:

Besides the whole process itself is not very hard or difficult to handle. It only takes like a minute to set up and less than that to revert. Once you do it a couple times it's quite a simple process. The problem is it has ramifications for not cleaning up after yourself so it's a double edged sword. Good reduced latency at the price you may mess something up if you're not careful. I think there will be people out there willing to take this risk.
puncia
That's awesome, it will help a lot of people indeed. I think I'll make some application that does it by simply pressing a button, in order to avoid people ruin something.
Topic Starter
Dexus

Puncia wrote:

That's awesome, it will help a lot of people indeed. I think I'll make some application that does it by simply pressing a button, in order to avoid people ruin something.
Great! I was trying to figure out how to do it through a batch file but it didn't work out well.

Edit:
I learned OpenGL doesn't work when Desktop Composition is disabled in Windows 8 / 8.1 I'm not sure if this is just me or if it's windows itself. DirectX however is good to go and runs fine doing this on my end.
Espionage724
Couldn't one just disable Vsync from their GPU control panel? I know AMD's CCC has an option to disable it completely anyway; not sure on Nvidia and Intel...

I don't notice any difference with cursor latency between Windowed and Fullscreen (I'm on 8.1). Maybe this is hardware-dependent? Also what about just setting the compatibility mode for applications to Windows XP to bypass WDDM (and thus Desktop Compositioning)? What about changing the value for pre-rendered frames? Also about the vsync note I mentioned, what about forcing triple buffering even?

There's quite a few other options I would suggest personally, before suspending and renaming important system files...
Topic Starter
Dexus
I disable vsync and set the flip queue to 0. About the compatibility options I'm not sure setting it to Windows XP will disable it. In windows 7 you could check a box that disabled desktop composition every time you run osu! but Windows 8 does not have this option. It showed a really nice improvement in cursor precision and was well worth doing. Setting Triple buffer will make the latency worse (that and it only works with OpenGL which like I said doesn't seem to work when DWM is disabled).

If you read what I said, it's only for those who know what they are doing and are willing to do it. I know how to do this without messing up my Operating System, others however may mess up the process (even if the whole thing is really simple to do).


I'm just sharing information that others may find useful, just trust me on this one. It will help people out there.
Espionage724

Dexus wrote:

...Setting Triple buffer will make the latency worse (that and it only works with OpenGL which like I said doesn't seem to work when DWM is disabled).
Properly implemented triple buffering is supposed to do quite the opposite, and improve latency brought on by standard vsync. AMD's control panel however does only have it available for OpenGL applications, but a program such as RadeonPro allows you to set and configure vsync in far more situations. Pretty sure Nvidia's control panel allows for either D3D or OGL.
Topic Starter
Dexus
If vsync works so well then what settings are manageable for RadeonPro. I've tested a lot of settings and vsync always seemed to be the worst for me. I know if you buffer frames it allows the CPU to catch up, but I can't figure out the GPU/CPU proper synchronization. I just run unlimited with 0 flip queue and it feels pretty precise to me. I have started playing around with OpenGL However cursor latency still comes from DWM. I wish OpenGL could run without DWM but it doesn't. The 60hz lock is frustrating because it seems to be unchangeable with OpenGL. DirectX runs it if DWM is disabled or if you are fullscreen but OpenGL is better optimized.

Edit: I'd like to add that OpenGL fullscreen is pretty much like Fullscreen borderless and DWM still has affect over the game.
VelperK

Dexus wrote:

If vsync works so well then what settings are manageable for RadeonPro. I've tested a lot of settings and vsync always seemed to be the worst for me. I know if you buffer frames it allows the CPU to catch up, but I can't figure out the GPU/CPU proper synchronization. I just run unlimited with 0 flip queue and it feels pretty precise to me. I have started playing around with OpenGL However cursor latency still comes from DWM. I wish OpenGL could run without DWM but it doesn't. The 60hz lock is frustrating because it seems to be unchangeable with OpenGL. DirectX runs it if DWM is disabled or if you are fullscreen but OpenGL is better optimized.
If peppy wants me to switch over to OpenGL I'd like him to adress this issue, because right now I can't play well anymore.
Espionage724

Dexus wrote:

Edit: I'd like to add that OpenGL fullscreen is pretty much like Fullscreen borderless and DWM still has affect over the game.
That would imply it's being vsync?

My FPS counter (not the built-in osu! one; didn't actually look at that one) doesn't work on osu! in OGL mode for whatever reason, but with Minecraft, I get well over 60 FPS while fullscreened.
Topic Starter
Dexus
My refresh rate is set to 120hz and vsync is forced off.
I will still continue to blame DWM because it's not useful to run.

I'll just make a partition, put 7 on it, bare bone it and play osu! that way. 8 still is great but there's too many tiny things that keep me from using it. (Tablet skipping issues, DWM, drivers, etc) what 8 has to offer isn't much. It's just a fancy new UI with nice tweaks but a handful of flaws added.
puncia

Dexus wrote:

My refresh rate is set to 120hz and vsync is forced off.
I will still continue to blame DWM because it's not useful to run.

I'll just make a partition, put 7 on it, bare bone it and play osu! that way. 8 still is great but there's too many tiny things that keep me from using it. (Tablet skipping issues, DWM, drivers, etc) what 8 has to offer isn't much. It's just a fancy new UI with nice tweaks but a handful of flaws added.
Have you tried this? p/2334981/
Espionage724

Dexus wrote:

My refresh rate is set to 120hz and vsync is forced off.
I will still continue to blame DWM because it's not useful to run.

I'll just make a partition, put 7 on it, bare bone it and play osu! that way. 8 still is great but there's too many tiny things that keep me from using it. (Tablet skipping issues, DWM, drivers, etc) what 8 has to offer isn't much. It's just a fancy new UI with nice tweaks but a handful of flaws added.
So wait; even with vsync forced off (and possibly after a reboot), the input delay is still occurring?

As for tablet skipping, I had this happen on my Vistablet Penpad, until I installed drivers. I could get away without installing the drivers on 7 though, but I don't have any real reason to not install the drivers.

As for Windows 8, it's far more than a fancy new UI and issues; but a lot of people seem to be completely unaware of full DX11.1 support, WDDM 1.2 and (in 8.1) WDDM 1.3, under-the-hood kernel tweaks, etc.

I just hate to see people not even give Windows 8 a chance and missing out on some performance benefits just because of some minor (possibly even fixable) issues, or hate of Modern UI (this reason bothers me the most).
Topic Starter
Dexus
@Puncia: I've not seen this, thank you so much

@Espionage: Yes even after a restart. Also, I said nice tweaks didn't I?
Espionage724

Dexus wrote:

@Espionage: Yes even after a restart. Also, I said nice tweaks didn't I?
I somehow managed to miss that lol... fair enough :)
Topic Starter
Dexus
Found out you can actually relaunch explorer.exe and it runs fine, but the start menu will be black. You do not have to rename DWM.exe. Revised what I wrote. This actually fixes opengl and allows it to be useable. I guess with the fixed pen tapping and temp removal of dwm.exe to play osu! I'll be sticking with windows 8.1
Wylo
Least input lag: Fullscreen < Windowed/Borderless < Vsync :Most input lag

You get input lag because DWM has its own vsync and I like it a lot since it doesn't make the mouse lag so much compared to fullscreen + vsync.
Topic Starter
Dexus
Like I said some people use windowed mode and this will help them.
ualexen92
you do not need to kill explorer.exe just SUSPEND winlogon.exe and kill dwm.exe

btw ati last windows 8.1 is have video bug after few time
dwm.exe and explorer.exe 10%+ cpu usage

http://www.overclock.net/t/1481365/dwm- ... -cpu-usage

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/For ... 8itproperf


You did a great job tnx
show more
Please sign in to reply.

New reply