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Disable Vista's Aero Effects for Certain Programs
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 1:30 AM on January 18, 2008
You may like having Vista's pretty-fying Aero effects enabled while you're working, but many modern games can make you want to devote every last bit of memory and power to their 3-D awesomeness. The How-To Geek shows how to easily disable desktop effects by editing (or creating) a shortcut for the game (or other program):
Simply right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties, and then the Compatibility tab ... Now on the Settings block check the box for "Disable desktop composition" in order to disable Aero the next time you use the shortcut.I have to guess many people might have never found that tweak, based on its obscure label, but it sure comes in handy.
Tags: aero | desktop | games | gaming | how to | windows vista | windows vista tip
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
myotheralt
Posted 2:32 AM 18/1/08
Why is it that in order to use Vista, you have to turn off many of its "features"? Most computers should not be upgraded to Vista even if they are labeled compatible.
myotheralt
Odwalla
Posted 2:32 AM 18/1/08
Unless you are running a game in a window this tweak doesn't matter. Full screen games open a new DirectDraw surface and have exclusive priority w/ the video card until you either quit or alt-tab to the desktop.
Odwalla
Asvetic
Posted 3:32 AM 18/1/08
I didn't know you could do that, I hated the effects Vista put on my Adobe programs, it made them difficult to use.
Asvetic
The How-To Geek
Posted 3:32 AM 18/1/08
@Odwalla: You are correct, the video card won't be faster in a fullscreen game. What gamers are usually trying to do is remove things that use up cycles or extra memory, and DWM does both.
I've found this tweak useful for running some older applications... they seem to run better with Aero off.
The How-To Geek
fairprincess
Posted 5:32 AM 18/1/08
As mentioned by ODWALLA, games will automattically dissable Areo, although unless you are running a dual+ monitor setup, it isn't really obvious as when you switch out, areo is restored so this isn't usefull for full screen games, just old apps for athetic/performance resons.
fairprincess
Maffu
Posted 2:32 AM 19/1/08
One of the reasons for disabling Aero when playing games is that the mouse cursor often doesn't display properly when Aero is enabled and even when it does the screen resolution doesn't change properly , leaving you unable to reach the edges of the screen with the mouse.
Maffu
balls187
Posted 9:32 AM 22/1/08
I prefer to disable Aero by downgrading to XP2 to run games.
Mo betta performance.
balls187