Desktop Window Manager on Windows 10 crashes due to DirectX error, Microsoft is trying to fix

Microsoft is currently trying to fix a new problem that causes Desktop Window Manager to hang on laptops if the user repeatedly opens and closes the screen. This issue affects all versions of Windows 10 and involves the screen being set to run at 4K resolution.

Desktop Window Manager (DWM.exe) is Microsoft's Windows task. It is responsible for displaying effects on the computer screen as well as many other features such as 3D window transitions, high resolution support .

DWM helps to record each image on Windows into a memory location, creates a combined view of all those images, and sends it to the screen. In this way, the operating system can use Hardware Acceleration (hardware acceleration) to create smooth dynamic effects. Desktop Window Manager can also be used to create transparency effects.

Therefore, when DWM crashes, the Windows 10 computer can not display the maximum resolution, the image quality is reduced or more seriously, the image cannot be displayed, it must be restarted.

Not a hardware problem

"DWM.exe crashes when you repeatedly open and close a laptop screen running Windows 10," Microsoft said. "This problem is caused by a problem in the Microsoft DirectX Video Memory Management component (Dxgmms2.sys). This is not a hardware problem."

Microsoft said it had grasped the problem and was trying to fix it. A patch for this issue will be released in the upcoming version of Windows 10. However, the software giant did not share specific times.

DWM only hangs on a small number of devices

According to Microsoft, DWM only crashes on certain computers. Here are some situations that can cause DWM to hang:

Situation 1:

1. You connect the monitor to the laptop via HDMI
2. The screen is configured to operate in 4K resolution
3. You seamlessly play 4K H264 videos in the Movies & TV app on your computer
4. In the Control Panel, open the Power Optioon Advance settings screen and select Do nothing when closing the screen.
5. While 4K video is being played, you keep opening and closing the screen

Situation 2:

1. You connect 2 4K displays via the Thunderbolt 3 dock
2. You connect a laptop with a 4K screen to the dock and then configure three 4K monitors in clone or extend mode
3. You constantly connect / disconnect computers from the dock

Besides the DWM issue, Microsoft is also looking to fix the problem of preventing Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) and Windows Sandbox from starting on devices running Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise versions 1903, 1909 and 2004.

Users who cannot start WDAG and Windows Sandbox can temporarily fix it by restarting the device.