Ok, back in Windows XP it was possible to disable hardware acceleration for your desktop. Can I still disable hardware acceleration in Windows 7?
How To Disable Hardware Acceleration
In XP you would do it like that:
1. StepRight-click on your desktop and click on NVIDIA Control Panel
2. Step Go to the tab “Troubleshoot”
3. Step Click on “Change Settings”
Your button is probably greyed out, so is mine:
This means that your graphic card driver does not support it. But the real reason is that Vista and Windows 7 render everything in DirectX9, that’s why you can’t turn it off and change the hardware acceleration settings. Back in XP GDI surfaces were rendered in a completely different way.
Solution: Windows Classic or Compatibility Mode
Depending on your problem, you might want to try out to disable Windows Aero and switch to the classic theme. If that doesn’t help, you can always try to run the application or game in compatibility mode for XP.
If you install the directX SDK it will provide a utility to allow you to disable the hardware acceleration in Win 7.
I find I must disable this when using Live Meeting if I am sharing any Live Meeting content.
I have downloaded and installed the directX SDK program on my PC using Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit version and I’m still unable to find the utility listed by Christopher J. Crocker within this program to disable and/or turn off hardware acceleration. Can someone please help & tell me what utility to use and how?
Thank You
Utilities/bin/x86/dxcpl.exe under DirectDraw has the option. Didn’t fix Heavy Gear II’s rendering issue though.
I cant find the utility either, can you expound on the location more?
sj, the correct path is %programfiles%\microsoft directx sdk\utilities\bin\x86\dxcpl.exe
Depending on your problem, it might be a solution to uninstall the driver or use a virtual PC?