How to remove dwm error

The free file information forum can help you find out if dwm.exe is a virus, trojan, spyware, adware which you can remove, or a file belonging to a Windows system or an application you can trust.

dwm.exe file information

The process Desktop Window Manager belongs to the software Microsoft® Windows® Operating System or dwm.exe or MicrosoftR WindowsR Operating System by Microsoft Corporation (www.microsoft.com).

Description: dwm.exe is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32. Known file sizes on Windows XP are 83456 bytes (98% of all occurrence), 82432 bytes, 82944 bytes.
dwm.exe is a Windows core system file. dwm.exe is a Microsoft signed file. The program has no visible window. It can change the behavior of other programs or manipulate other programs. Therefore the technical security rating is 23% dangerous, however also read the users reviews.

Important: Some malware camouflage themselves as dwm.exe, particularly if they are located in c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder. Thus check the dwm.exe process on your pc whether it is pest. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. It is one of the Top Download Picks of 2005 of The Washington Post and PC World.

Links: dwm.exe, dwm.exe

Score

User Comments

It seems to be the only app using processor time when the pc is idle..
Alex

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.
Stan

DWM.EXE is the Desktop Window Manager in Windows Vista
John

hogs tons of sys memory

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)
Eddie (further information)

not at all dangerous...unless your computer is about to overheat i suppose
Sil3nt

Windows Vistas Aero-GUI. Not dangerous unless located elsewhere than %systemroot%\System32
Christian Meinhold

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.
Chris

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
dennygee

Vista feature. Not a problem. It's clean.
Danny

Uses 40K of mem

it seems to run and run an run my comp. never stops ticking over on startup
davy d

More comments can be found here:
(further information)

Summary: 45 users think dwm.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application. 6 users think it's probably harmless. 8 users think it's neither essential nor dangerous. 1 user suspect danger. 2 users think dwm.exe is dangerous and recommend to remove it.. 2 users doesn't grade dwm.exe ("not sure about it").

dwm scanner

Security Task Manager shows all running Windows tasks including embedded hidden functions (e.g. keyboard or browser monitoring, autostart entry). A unique security risk rating indicates the likelihood of the process being potential spyware, malware, keylogger or a Trojan.

Spyware Doctor detects and removes sleeping spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, malware and tracking threats from your hard disk. Ideal supplement to Security Task Manager.

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