| All comments about dwm.exe: |
 Dozier | used for aero but takes a hella lot of resources. Vista Beta 2 x64, 64bit PC3200, 2gb of ram, Nvidia &800gt 256mb |
 Nick | Only a Windows Aero process for Windows Vista |
| Max | It can sometimes be heavy on CPU/Memory usage as it renders or runs out of resources. Ending it once will make it auto-restart itself - ending it again will make it permanently go and make the system use basic window management |
| | An important part of windows vista. |
 J Tregre | It uses 3X the memory of the next closest application |
| burnsie87 | It's a file that uses quite a lot of RAM but is harmless |
| Josh | Uses up to 5% CPU, needed for vista UI effects |
| Miguel | used for displaying smooth graphics and effects in vista |
| w59cb83x | Used For Aero Process for Vista |
| Sam | Inhibits the Fireworks CS3 Program |
| Greg | Microsoft Desktop Window Manager |
| bozy | uses up ram but i think its needed |
| GeorgGG | Cancel the Visul themes and U`ll be fine, Yea it takes a lot of RAM! |
| Alkampfer | Windows vista desktop manager See also: Link |
| Yoshi | Used to draw video effects to the video card buffer. Requires DirectX 9 compatible card. Uses roughly 10% of system resources. |
| Marco | Aero, indeed eats a lot (50MB). However this could include mapped video mem (like X under Linux) |
| Taurus | takes too many resources for my liking even though i have 2GB ram. See also: Link |
| Steve | works just fine with embedded graphics on dell c521 with 1.5gb ram |
| DWard | Appears to use around 60MB RAM on a basic load. If terminated, Windows Vista's Aero theme disappears and reveals the horrible Non-Aero theme. |
| Alex | It's for the Aero-fearure in Windows Vista. |
| sotek.com.au | It doesnt use much at all without Aero turned on |
| Ibrahim | I have a E6600/8800GTS and it doesn't cause me much resource loss |
| kevlar | Steuerung des Windows Aero Prozesses See also: Link |
| Darren | rated as neutral, becasue it is dangerous, if you want to run any program that uses a lot of resources. Possibly make the program crash... |
| Matt.H | It really doesn't use that much memory in comparison to things like virus programs |
| Ripa | eating memory.... |
 Peter Geisberts | My AVG got him during the making of the virus |
| umer | takes about 65 - 70 MB of RAM, Very Resource hungry. |
| abhijit | Running Areo is like Running a 3D game. It will require huge resources. |
| bb | vista as it says |
| dan | its what gives windows vista the great look and cool functions but if you don't have alot of memory then can be a problem. |
| Jaren | Runs the visual effects of Windows Vista |
| | Aero Glass needed only... |
| Dirk | Window manager for Vista. Not harmful, but does take up lots of resources. |
 davy d | it seems to run and run an run my comp. never stops ticking over on startup |
| | Uses 40K of mem |
| Danny | Vista feature. Not a problem. It's clean. |
| dennygee | I am a Microsoft MCP and know this file poses no danger if you kill the process and windows aero turned on your screen will flash and aero will be turned off right then. This do not use alot of resources. If you are not using Vista and you have this process running that is NOT good run your AV software |
| Chris | dwm.exe is a Desktop Window Manager from Microsoft Corporation belonging to Microsoft® Windows® Operating System. dwm.exe is the Desktop Window Manager and is responsible for the graphical effects in Microsoft Windows Vista operating system such as 3D effects, live windows previews and windows transperancies. The Aero interface in Windows Vista can be quite taxing on system performace on certain computers and you can switch it off or reduce the screen resolution to increase performance. |
| Christian Meinhold | Windows Vistas Aero-GUI. Not dangerous unless located elsewhere than %systemroot%\System32 |
| Sil3nt | not at all dangerous...unless your computer is about to overheat i suppose |
| Eddie | As said above, but the system resources for Aero aren't as high as people thing. It's more like 1.5GHz with 512mb RAM and a nVidida 6600 or higher (or equivalent) See also: Link |
| | hogs tons of sys memory |
| John | DWM.EXE is the Desktop Window Manager in Windows Vista |
| Stan | Want Vista's pretty aero glas interface? Then don't kill this process. As has already been pointed out, it has no danger apart from sucking system resources. |
| Alex | It seems to be the only app using processor time when the pc is idle.. |
| Raven596 | This is one reason why Vista needs atleast 1 gig of ram to run, just switch to a different display and your fine |
| NerdBoy | This is NOT a virus--exactly what the other comments say "For Windows Vista Aero" |
| matTronHaxloL | ok, it uses a helluva lot of ram and cpu, however is not dangerous. it seems to be responsible for alot of the rendering to the screen, and if it breaks, it will cause alot of programs to crash randomly. all you need do is end process and it will restart it self. |
| Spectacular Stuff | DWM uses a lot of memory and CPU usage in Vista however you do not have to end it in order for it to stop using memory. You can simply shut down a lot of the processes that the DWM file is using. Click on the start button, right click on computer and choose properties. Click on the Advanced System Settings link to the left; this will bring up the System properties window with the Advanced Tab chosen. On the Advanced Tab there is 3 boxed areas; Performance, User Profiles and Startup and Recovery. From the Performance boxed area click Settings. Uncheck any boxes on Visual Effects tab. |
| linuxUser | Very dangerous file, because of high usage of graphic card resources. Can lead to graphic card failure. |
| Al | It is harmless, but you'll get more performance by turning it off |
| Licht | Windows Home Premium 64Bit Aero Process |
| | This program is very important to vista. (Hint: WIndowsKey + Tab, or hover your mouse over the app's name in the taskbar) |
| | used for vista graphics |
| X | Windows AERO PROGRESS |
| demasa | This file is required for Aero to work. |
| Eric | It uses roughly around 64MB of ram on my system. To disable under certain programs (ie.Games) adjust the program to disable Windows Themes before launching. This frees up the resources you may need to run said program. |
| Chris | Process used for Windows graphics processing on desktop windows; average CPU usage: 10%, average memory usage: 44,172KB |
| Goordon | Yes this isnt a virus i think it only could be a hidden one, but i think its the windows aero style ... so turn off aero and it odesent exists or keep it on and see the aero effect . |
| Patrick | If you need the shiny cool new bling-bling features of Windows Aero, this is one of the processes you need running |
| Jan | Uses a lot of RAM but it is harmless and a part of Vista Aero Glass. |
| nuggits | It's the Windows Vista GUI--it's what makes the GUI pretty, but, uses a TON of memory |
 M4rxis | Apparantly it allocates high preference to CPU LOAD |
| Schnubi | Braucht unter meinem Vista fast 80 MB RAM, ist aber harmlos |
| Zeloguy | Vista Aero File |
| Mikepike | Vista Aero |
| Brijesh | it eats lots of memory... |
| Munkey Butt | Provides windows glass effect (and other gui stuff). Uses resources but not a big deal. You can stop the service if you don't care for the visual effects. |
| Drew | used for aero - change to "vista basic' and save 200MB of ram |
| add | uses a lot of memory when windows aero is on, a little when it isn't |
| | Everyone claims that this is resource heavy. Well, after just testing, I was sitting at 41% usage from a 1 GIG stick of DDR2 RAM with Aero Glass on. Without, I dropped to a whopping 39% while on Windows Classic... Yeah... now THAT is resource heavy... _ |
| Alejandro | It crashes the system if the machine is running out of memory, this happens on a 2G RAM machine, Best thing to do is Upgrade from Vista to XP Pro. |
| Austin | You will lose the fuzzyness of you turn it off, might as well be using XP |
| | doesnt do anything bad.. it wont even hog my cpu.. just was curios |
| tony | Uses a lot or resources. This should be something that should be disabled unless you have a lot of memory. |
| Kr0sf1r3 | Not integral to the opeation of windows, can be ended without problem if you need additional resources |
| jose | it takes memory, and lags internet explorer |
| poop | The more windows you have open at once, the more memory it uses |
| asfasfsdfsf | vista proccess for visual effects See also: Link |
| Erik | Used to display aero user-interface in windows vista. |
| JasonO | Safe - just high CPU Usage. Disable Aero Theme in settings if necessary. |
| Moose | Certainly not a risk but a bit of a resource hogger |
| BigRedDog | Consumes massive amount of RAM |
| abm | it uses 10k memory :S |
| | Controller for Windows Aero; uses alot of memory. Not required; disable windows aero if you want to free the extra memory. |
| bite | Windows Aero process which makes vista look pretty. Go to themes and cheese "Windows Classic" to free up that memory. See also: Link |
| Jigga | The File can get stuck and eat ALL your memory Resources end the process and it will restart on it's own. |
| | It can cause havoc with the mouse and touchpad on an Asus laptop See also: Link |
| DarkMessiah | Uses high amount of RAM, should only be on vista as it is used for the Aero graphics. |
| Blunt | It is a useful part of window's push to become more like a mac, but it takes up quite a bit of ram, but aparently it won't be "draining my ram." |
| 1947Yankee | Very active process with at least 1-2% CPU utilization all the time. |
| SiliconSamurai | Its using 50+ MB of RAM of my 4GB!! Vista is a memory whore!! |
| morgz | essential for windows vista visual effects etc and lol uses little resources on a true vista compatable computer ^_^ |
| kris | vista component |
| Sincity | Uses more recources than anything else i have running |
| Bret | CPU hogger! |
| Jesper | Part of the Windows Vista graphical environment See also: Link |
| Eric | It causes heavy cpu usage. I did as Max said and ended it twice and it went away and freed up 30% memory usage instantly. |
| Mike | NOT IMPORTANT!!! Uses LARGE amounts of cpu memory. If you are constantly having nagging lag problems with vista, go to Run services.msc and find Desktop Windows Manager and disable it. It's only used for the high-end graphics of vista. Your pages will look completely fine w/o aero, and you'll live without the Flip 3D. |
| caleb | its the desktop window manager for vista |
| jay1971jay | Its harmless, a big part of the new look in Vista; Windows Aero |
| Trevor Goble | Microsoft Integrated Management. It assists windows vista in organizing and catagorizing files and programs. It is a part of fast searching program which is general turned on. However disabiling this service and fast search will not affect the performance of the computer and will only add minimal time to seek files and folders. See also: Link |
| Adhi | Uses a lot of RAM, but its complusory, carful if you stop the process, could lead to a BSOD. |
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