Desktop Windows Manager high memory usage on 6901

Obt1mus · Oct 23, 2025

Hi everyone,

dmw.exe (desktop windows manager) is having high memory usage spikes (sometimes up to 1.5gb). Transparency and effects are off, my drivers up to date

Anyone with the same issue?

a0adio0 · Oct 23, 2025

Yeah we did for awhile, but I didn't come up with any brilliant fixes. Just rebooted and it may have come up a couple more times and then stopped.

pepanee · Oct 23, 2025

Open Command Prompt as an Administrator.
sfc /scannow

Once it finishes, do this:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /scanhealth

Then:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /restorehealth

Restart the computer.

Obt1mus · Oct 23, 2025

Thanks,

pepanee said:
Open Command Prompt as an Administrator.
sfc /scannow

Once it finishes, do this:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /scanhealth

Then:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /restorehealth

Restart the computer.

Thanks, I just repeated this step this morning but It seems the problem is still there. I tried a clean boot without my apps running in the background but nothing change. As long as I open a browser (Edge or Brave), the ram usage goes all over the place. (All of sudden from 60-80mb to 500, 800, 1.2gb....)

Even with just 2 tabs open

antspants · Oct 23, 2025

Welcome to the forum

25H2 may have increased baseline usage for DWM

Turning off hardware acceleration in apps like browsers, could reduce the usage.

You could experiment and disable hardware acceleration globaly? And let the software take on the task.

Code:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Avalon.Graphics]
"DisableHWAcceleration"=dword:00000001

If the Avalon.Graphics registry entry is not there:

Open Registry Editor
- Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter.
Navigate to:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft
Create a new key
- Right-click on Microsoft > New > Key
- Name it: Avalon.Graphics
Create a new DWORD value
- Right-click on Avalon.Graphics > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value
- Name it: DisableHWAcceleration
Set the value
- Double-click DisableHWAcceleration
- Set the value to: 1

Restart your system

If it doesn’t help, you can delete the key.

XxXxX · Oct 23, 2025

please check the reliability monitor
control panel > security and maintenance > maintenance > reliability monitor
check for any errors there

then check problem devices
window tools > system information > components > problem devices
check for any problems there

if you have already done an SFC and DISM/restore health
then check indexing and see if that is running
control panel > indexing options
as indexing constantly running can cause similar symptoms

best of luck Steve ..

Obt1mus · Oct 23, 2025

antspants said:
Welcome to the forum

25H2 may have increased baseline usage for DWM

Turning off hardware acceleration in apps like browsers, could reduce the usage.

You could experiment and disable hardware acceleration globaly? And let the software take on the task.

Code:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Avalon.Graphics] "DisableHWAcceleration"=dword:00000001

If the Avalon.Graphics registry entry is not there:

Open Registry Editor

Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter.

Navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft

Create a new key

Right-click on Microsoft > New > Key

Name it: Avalon.Graphics

Create a new DWORD value

Right-click on Avalon.Graphics > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value

Name it: DisableHWAcceleration

Set the value

Double-click DisableHWAcceleration

Set the value to: 1

Restart your system

If it doesn’t help, you can delete the key.

Thanks! :) I did that yesterday and the registry entry is still present but that didn't fix help unfortunately. I also tried re-installing my GPU drivers using DDU but no chance

antspants · Oct 23, 2025

That’s a shame.
Have a look at Steves’ suggestion above, see how you go.

antspants · Oct 23, 2025

Side note:

Before you try Steves suggestion, (or after if I am too late) export that key then delete it from the registry.
It’s best to know what actually makes a difference and eliminate what doesn’t

Obt1mus · Oct 23, 2025

XxXxX said:
please check the reliability monitor
control panel > security and maintenance > maintenance > reliability monitor
check for any errors there

then check problem devices
window tools > system information > components > problem devices
check for any problems there

if you have already done an SFC and DISM/restore health
then check indexing and see if that is running
control panel > indexing options
as indexing constantly running can cause similar symptoms

best of luck Steve ..

I found some issues under the reliability monitor

Under components > problem devices i got no errors
Not sure why date and time are all wrong there (my date and clock settings are ok)

antspants · Oct 23, 2025

Obt1mus said:
Not sure why date and time are all wrong there (my date and clock settings are ok)

Someone reported an issue thay had with time updating/syncing, yesterday. Not sure that it’s a problem. It could be server side.

Obt1mus · Oct 24, 2025

antspants said:
Someone reported an issue thay had with time updating/syncing, yesterday. Not sure that it’s a problem. It could be server side.

so just opened notepad and it certainly have an issue lol. I'm going to try uninstalling it

antspants · Oct 24, 2025

Obt1mus said:
View attachment 150259so just opened notepad and it certainly have an issue lol. I'm going to try uninstalling it

Yeah that’s way over the top.

Obt1mus · Oct 24, 2025

Uninstalled notepad but the issue haven't disappeared . Oh well... .

Obt1mus · Oct 24, 2025

10 to 20% of GPU usage, 2 sometimes 5% of CPU. I regret installing 25H2......... WIndows never cease to disappoint :steam:

Obt1mus · Oct 24, 2025

XxXxX said:
please check the reliability monitor
control panel > security and maintenance > maintenance > reliability monitor
check for any errors there

then check problem devices
window tools > system information > components > problem devices
check for any problems there

if you have already done an SFC and DISM/restore health
then check indexing and see if that is running
control panel > indexing options
as indexing constantly running can cause similar symptoms

best of luck Steve ..

I tried disabling Windows Search. Does not fix the issue, ''Search'' appears to spend 300mb more than when turned it off in services.

XxXxX · Oct 24, 2025

then please try
in a command prompt windows as administrator write

chkntfs c:

press enter and restart the system
windows will do do a complete disk check on restart.

best of luck Steve ..

Obt1mus · Oct 24, 2025

XxXxX said:
then please try
in a command prompt windows as administrator write

chkntfs c:

press enter and restart the system
windows will do do a complete disk check on restart.

best of luck Steve ..

Thanks I tried this (as admin) and I'm left with the message below, restarted after that and nothing happened

XxXxX · Oct 24, 2025

link to check disk

How to Run CHKDSK Windows 11: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Learn how to run CHKDSK on Windows 11 with this easy-to-follow guide, perfect for beginners. Ensure your system's health in just a few simple steps!

www.solveyourtech.com

i should have put enter Y then press enter, my bad.
best of luck Steve ..

Obt1mus · Oct 24, 2025

XxXxX said:
link to check disk

How to Run CHKDSK Windows 11: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Learn how to run CHKDSK on Windows 11 with this easy-to-follow guide, perfect for beginners. Ensure your system's health in just a few simple steps!

www.solveyourtech.com

i should have put enter Y then press enter, my bad.
best of luck Steve ..

No worries, I haven't used that in a while. I just did a reboot with check disk. Restarted it seems disk didn't have any issue. The dwm.exe process is still having huge CPU/RAM usage spikes (792mb now)

Desktop Windows Manager high memory usage on 6901

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