Much slower Windows 7 boot w/DWM running - help!

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andrewa

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Jan 1, 2010
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Hey all -

I'm hoping you can help me unwind an annoying performance issue I've uncovered in Windows 7; one that doesn't seem to be documented at all if the Google is to be believed.

I recently upgraded my laptop (a Lenovo T60p, C2D T7200 proc, 2GB RAM, ATI X1400) with both a new SSD (an OCZ Vertex 60 GB) and Windows 7 Pro x64. Performance and stability has been terrific. Especially that sub-30-second boot time!

Initially, I had desktop composition disabled, so that Windows 7 was running without the Desktop Windows Manager. I just recently enabled it when I discovered that it's pretty damn sexy, and had little impact on battery life.

However, now my laptop takes much longer to boot - about an additional 30 seconds or so following the Windows login screen. When I disable DWM, it goes back to booting quickly. Now I realize you can't get something for nothing, but 30 seconds for a single process? A fairly lightweight process that you can enable instantly in the desktop environment? My hunch is that that just isn't right - something is interacting badly. Thus my questions are:

1. Does anyone know if this is normal behavior for DWM?
2. Is there anything I can do to address this?
3. Or, is there a good forum/online resource where I could post this (rather esoteric) question?

Thanks all!
 
You upgraded...what driver version do you have installed for your ati x1400?
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm running the generic driver for the X1400 - v8.561.0.0. Does anyone know if there is a better driver option?

Yes, DWM = Desktop Windows Management, the process spawned when you enable Desktop Composition. However, I'm not running transparency, or any of the full time Aero effects.

It is only taking longer to boot. Resuming from sleep is still very quick (though honestly, it might be hard to tell with the Vertex installed, everything is so quick).
 
andrewa said:
Thanks for the replies. I'm running the generic driver for the X1400 - v8.561.0.0. Does anyone know if there is a better driver option?

Yes, DWM = Desktop Windows Management, the process spawned when you enable Desktop Composition. However, I'm not running transparency, or any of the full time Aero effects.

It is only taking longer to boot. Resuming from sleep is still very quick (though honestly, it might be hard to tell with the Vertex installed, everything is so quick).
Click to expand...
Well, to be precise, DWM = desktop windows manager. It runs in conjunction with the uxsms service.

As for that card, it's unlikely you're going to find a newer driver. It's a legacy card now and only gets bug fixes. To trace the exact thing that's causing this, you're going to have to do some pretty advanced stuff (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/performance/cc825801.aspx) Not sure if it's worth your time. You may wish to remove startup items one at a time and see if you can find anything that's causing the slow boot. It's possible there's a program that loads with dwm that doesn't without, and it is slowing down your computer.
 
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