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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 1, 2024 21:37:29 GMT -8
From time to time (lately more often) dwm.exe crashes which leads to Windows logging me off (and everything is therefore closed). Especially when using vmware.
Has anyone noticed something similar?
Could it be that the new method to use the classic theme could be the culprit (the windhawk mod: "Enable classic theme by handle method")? Because I think the problem with dwm.exe didn't occur before.
I'm not saying that the windhawk mod IS the culprit, it's just a wild guess.
So for now I've just disabled it and I use the old method instead.
I'm using Win11 23H2, btw
So has anyone experienced similar issues?
P.S. Just one more thing: Normally the user can decide what should happen if a service crashes (dwm.exe is a service), so you could choose to do nothing at all or to restart Windows or to log off etc. so I thought about doing that with the dwm services and hence prevent Windows from logging me off, but the weird thing is that I can't find the service. What is its exact name?
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clara
Sophomore Member
Posts: 112 
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Post by clara on Mar 2, 2024 3:53:54 GMT -8
No DWM crashing on my side, using Windhawk mod since it was posted.
Edit: checked in Event viewer, there seem to be two instances of dwm.exe crashing since the year started, but i'm not sure what it was related to and when it did happen i didn't notice it. Doubt it's Windhawk.
Edit 2: I did a quick search for DWM crashing while using VMWare and looks like some other users are reporting the same. I suspect virtual machine itself might be the culprit.
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 2, 2024 10:15:29 GMT -8
But I still wonder what the name of the service is.
Edit: I've done a little bit of research now. Seems like there is no service for DWM.exe and it also turned out there's a big difference between Windows 10 and 11. When dwm.exe crashes in Windows 10, basically nothing happens except for the fact that dwm.exe automatically restarts. If the same thing happens in Windows 11, you will be automatically logged out and therefore any programs that were open when the crash happened will be automatically killed.
Well done, MS
So I'll need to find a way to teach Windows 11 the same behavior as can be seen on Windows 10.
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Brawllux
Regular Member
Yeeting metro settings out of the window
Posts: 281
OS: Windows 11
CPU: Intel Core I5-13500H
RAM: 16GB DDR5 5200MHz
GPU: Nvidia RTX 4060 Mobile 8GB
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Post by Brawllux on Mar 2, 2024 11:10:14 GMT -8
But I still wonder what the name of the service is.
Edit: I've done a little bit of research now. Seems like there is no service for DWM.exe and it also turned out there's a big difference between Windows 10 and 11. When dwm.exe crashes in Windows 10, basically nothing happens except for the fact that dwm.exe automatically restarts. If the same thing happens in Windows 11, you will be automatically logged out and therefore any programs that were open when the crash happened will be automatically killed.
Well done, MS
So I'll need to find a way to teach Windows 11 the same behavior as can be seen on Windows 10.
I am on 11,doesnt matter if dwm crashes or i end it manually it doesn't log me out. Are you sure? |
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 2, 2024 11:11:20 GMT -8
Yes, Windows 11 23H2.
Which version do you have?
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 2, 2024 11:20:32 GMT -8
Ok now I took a look at the eventviewer log and I can see that DWM actually DOES restart several times before I'm logged off.
It says something about both the Microsoft Basic Display Driver and the NVIDIA graphics card I have.
Both of them seem to be somehow related to the crash.
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 2, 2024 11:57:11 GMT -8
Ok, one more thing:
Now I've updated the graphics card driver, without expecting any difference.
And there is no difference but I've noticed something else.
Many times when you log into Windows dwm.exe will crash several times and it will restart without the user necessarily noticing a problem.
Without the Windhawk mod that doesn't seem to happen.
So as convenient as it is, I'm afraid it's not really a good alternative to the rather inconvenient "good old" method.
At least as far as i can tell.
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johnnyghost
Freshman Member
Posts: 48
OS: Windows 11 23h2
CPU: Intel Core i7
RAM: 16gb
GPU: Geforce RTX 3070
Member is Online
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Post by johnnyghost on Mar 2, 2024 12:28:34 GMT -8
It isn't exclusive to just the Windhawk mod. I've been using ClassicThemeTray, and if you don't close the icon in the tray after you switch over to the Classic Theme with the tool, it also causes the same result.
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 2, 2024 12:45:37 GMT -8
Switching between the two has never worked for me anyway so I can't try that...
But maybe you're right, maybe it happens with the classic theme tray as well, but it seems to happen more often with the mod.
At least that's the impression I have at the moment.
But we'll see.
I will take a look at the event viewer log more often in the next couple of days.
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Post by OrthodoxWin32 on Mar 2, 2024 15:41:19 GMT -8
Switching between the two has never worked for me anyway so I can't try that... But maybe you're right, maybe it happens with the classic theme tray as well, but it seems to happen more often with the mod. At least that's the impression I have at the moment. But we'll see. I will take a look at the event viewer log more often in the next couple of days. I think you have configured ClassicThemeTray incorrectly, I have never encountered this problem.
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 2, 2024 16:11:59 GMT -8
What do you mean?
That I can't switch between the two modes (classic and modern theme)?
I don't know.
Even though it's called "classic theme tray" I have rarely seen the icon in the system tray (maybe once in a VM).
But I really don't care much about it.
I know which registry settings need to be applied to get classic theme to work (or the modern theme) and I know the two (or three) tasks you need to run at startup.
That's good enough for me.
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Post by anixx on Mar 2, 2024 18:23:42 GMT -8
Are you running any other Windhawk mods? They can easily crash DWM if injected to it.
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 2, 2024 19:09:03 GMT -8
Yes, I use other windhawk mods too, but I've now added a lot of processes to the exclusion list of every single mod.
But that didn't help.
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Post by anixx on Mar 2, 2024 22:49:11 GMT -8
Yes, I use other windhawk mods too, but I've now added a lot of processes to the exclusion list of every single mod. But that didn't help. Find which mod causes the problem by disabling them one by one. Then add DWM to its exclusion list. |
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 3, 2024 9:31:34 GMT -8
I already have very long exclusion lists for many mods.
I think the easiest and least time-consuming solution is to use the "traditional" method to enable classic theme for a couple of days and then find out if and how often dwm.exe has crashed.
If it doesn't crash anymore, it would be quite obvious that the handle method mod is the culprit.
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clara
Sophomore Member
Posts: 112
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Post by clara on Mar 3, 2024 10:50:00 GMT -8
I already have very long exclusion lists for many mods. I think the easiest and least time-consuming solution is to use the "traditional" method to enable classic theme for a couple of days and then find out if and how often dwm.exe has crashed. If it doesn't crash anymore, it would be quite obvious that the handle method mod is the culprit. The thing is: since CTT uses the same method, as i unrerstood ephemeralViolette, DWM will crash anyway, the only question is how frequently.
And again, overall it all just boils down to Windows 11 being at this stage not very classic theme friendly
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Post by nonameneeded on Mar 3, 2024 12:30:08 GMT -8
Yes, the CTT method seems to crash dwm.exe a lot less frequently, so that's a good thing. And yes, Windows 11 (especially 23H2) is even a bit less suitable for the classic theme than Windows 10. See this thread for example: github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/issues/2708But what can you do? Nothing, basically. Yes, you could stick to an ancient version of Windows 10, but then again, you could also stick to Windows 7 and enjoy the classic theme "out of the box". |
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clara
Sophomore Member
Posts: 112
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Post by clara on Mar 3, 2024 12:46:09 GMT -8
I'm only saying that Win11 needs its own solutions to the new issues it arises, and it will probably take some time before we get there, considering how long it took for classic theme on Win10 to get where it is today. Even after 2,5 years a lot in the system itself feels underbaked, so to speak.
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Post by anixx on Mar 3, 2024 18:47:58 GMT -8
I already have very long exclusion lists for many mods. I think the easiest and least time-consuming solution is to use the "traditional" method to enable classic theme for a couple of days and then find out if and how often dwm.exe has crashed. If it doesn't crash anymore, it would be quite obvious that the handle method mod is the culprit. What "traditional" method you are referring to? ClassicThemeTray does exactly what the mod does. There is no difference. |
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Post by anixx on Mar 3, 2024 18:50:45 GMT -8
I already have very long exclusion lists for many mods. I think the easiest and least time-consuming solution is to use the "traditional" method to enable classic theme for a couple of days and then find out if and how often dwm.exe has crashed. If it doesn't crash anymore, it would be quite obvious that the handle method mod is the culprit. The thing is: since CTT uses the same method, as i unrerstood ephemeralViolette, DWM will crash anyway, the only question is how frequently.
And again, overall it all just boils down to Windows 11 being at this stage not very classic theme friendly
Only one user so far reported any DWM crashes in Classic theme. I also use Win11 without any issues. On what is based your claim that Win11 is not theme-friendly? The DWM crashes are obviouusly because of the other mads and the user should disable them one-by-one to test (which he refuses to do).
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