Strange Minimise/Maximise Animations

[sierra117]

Hi guys - I've already posted this in Classic Shell's forums and Ten Forums and after coming across this one, I'm hoping for some valuable feedback that may diagnose this issue. So far I haven't received any unfortunately and the issue is driving me nuts now lol. So copy pasting begins:

Quote

Hey guys,

Something really weird is happening ever since I upgraded (which is a few days ago). Every window, if opened brand new, minimises with the correct animation (the window would fade and minimise to its button on the taskbar). But if I maximise it, the animation changes - it maximises from the bottom-right corner of the screen and minimises to the bottom-right corner as well. For example, if I create an instance of Notepad, click on minimise, it will play the correct animation. But now if I click on the button on the taskbar to bring it back up, it will play the wrong animation and will play the wrong animation upon minimising as well.

It somehow strangely fixed itself once, until I restarted and it's been the same ever since. I've attached a GIF to show it. Any ideas what's going on? Never experienced anything like this.

EDIT: Not sure how my attachment broke, since it was fine when I posted it, so I've uploaded it on imgur.

http://imgur.com/UHji5sf

[aviv00]

should relate to video card driver

or tweaking ?

[sierra117]

On 8/13/2016 at 1:11 AM, aviv00 said:

should relate to video card driver

or tweaking ?

Hi Aviv,

It doesn't seem like it. To begin with, my laptop doesn't have a dedicated video card. It has an nVidia something but it shares the memory with RAM so it's a really blegh kind of setup (I dunno what ASUS was thinking. It's a K550L in case you wanna know).

Second, I haven't tweaked anything on Win10. I had previously done so on Win8.1 but they were removed after the upgrade anyway. Plus, I recently did a sort-of-refresh by using Tweaking.com's tool, which has also fixed many earlier issues I was having, except for this one.

Moreover, I used my dad's work laptop, and it too, was having this same issue. No history of mods or tweaks on that one. I actually have another installation of Win10 on this laptop on another partition and I cannot recall this issue appearing on that, which makes it really strange. I'll check my display driver though, perhaps it got corrupted.

[NoelC]

I tried with Notepad and couldn't get any odd behavior.  I keep my Taskbar on the top, though.

Can you list very specific step by step instructions you go through to get it to happen?

-Noel

Edited August 15, 2016 by NoelC

[sierra117]

31 minutes ago, NoelC said:

I tried with Notepad and couldn't get any odd behavior.  I keep my Taskbar on the top, though.

Can you list very specific step by step instructions you go through to get it to happen?

-Noel

It happens all the time with all programs.

There was one time it actually fixed itself without me doing anything at all, but it was back to the weird stuff after a restart. Me thinks it's got something to do with Windows Updates.

Otherwise, if I open a new instance of any app, then for the first time I minimise/maximise, it will be the correct animation. After that it will always be the weird one.

[NoelC]

I believe I'm seeing something related.

With my Taskbar on top, Win 10 build 14393.51 seems to "target" the fade-out animation to the button on the Taskbar where it's going the first time, then the direction and length of the fade-out changes.

The first time the upper-left corner seems to head more or less for the left edge of the Taskbar button, and the upper-right corner seems to head to a point near the right edge of that same button.

But when restored the upper-right corner seems to be coming from / going to a location that's a good bit further to the right, and the animation doesn't last as long.  It's still getting smaller as it fades out, but at a different rate and toward a different "target" position.  In trying to screen grab it I realize that the animation doesn't go as far either.

I might not have noticed it if I weren't looking for it, but I can definitely confirm that the window fade animation has a bug / quirk / inconsistency where the first time the application is minimized it works differently than when it's subsequently exercised.

I've overlaid screen grabs to show the position of the Notepad window when fully open, and when it's fading out the first time and when it's fading in/out on subsequent restore/minimize operations.

First minimize:

Subsequent restore/minimize:

Note the very different angles of the red arrows on the right.

My software developer's 6th sense tells me someone at Microsoft took a shortcut because it was too difficult for the poor dear to get the actual Taskbar button position at the time, then tried to hide it by making the 2nd and subsequent animations fade out in shorter distance than the first one.

I suggest you report it to Microsoft via the Feedback App, assuming you're running Apps.  Then they can ignore your bug report with all the others by saying it's "as designed". 

I'm glad I'm running Win 10 only in a test VM.  This would bother me too, and I'd probably just shut off the animations as a result.  Thing is, when done right, I actually like a little animation.

-Noel

Edited August 15, 2016 by NoelC

[sierra117]

Exactly! Good to see I'm not alone (but not good that this problem exists to begin with).

I think they just really botched up the programming because of the whole idea of having continuous development and releasing the OS before it is finished. Everything is half-baked. I'm extremely disappointed. Regarding your assessment of what might have happened, if it's true, then it's really hard to believe that any programmer could mess up such a simple animation. I'm pretty horrible at programming but this really doesn't seem like something you can mess up, especially considering you have working code to look at in all the previous Windows 8, 7 and more builds.

The only reason I haven't uninstalled Win10 so far is because it has really good memory management, otherwise I'm sick of these buggy animations and worst of all, the themes, which are an eye sore now. I thought Win8's was bad but at least I could use something like glass8 to bring back the glorious aero glass of Vista/Win7. Now it's like the new updates are actively trying to break anyone's attempts at customising.

To make things even worse, there's another bug with these Metro apps, where they just crash (even though I'm not using them) and then the whole thing is just in a broken mode. An example use case is I have my PC running for a couple of days. Suddenly, completely randomly (but always after a few days of uptime), explorer.exe will crash, restart and the Action Centre will have stopped working. It simply shows "no notifications (off)" or something like that and upon clicking it, it won't open until restart. No amount of restarting explorer or dwm or any related process or service does anything. Lots of WERFAULTs in logs ...

If there's a way to make Win8.1 manage memory as well as Win10 then I'll downgrade tonight (really an upgrade all things considered).

[NoelC]

Can you describe what "manage memory as well as Win 10" means to you?

I haven't noticed my best lean, tweaked Win 8.1 using any more memory than my best lean, tweaked Win 10 setup TBH.  If anything there are something like 6 to 10 more processes running on an idle Win 10 system.

In very round numbers, both systems seem to use about 1 GB of an 8 GB RAM available just sitting at an idle desktop.  But even that's misleading; you really do want the system to use your RAM as needed, that's what it's there for.  Are there specific things you're finding you can run on Win 10 that wouldn't run on Win 8.1?

-Noel

[sierra117]

Well, I wouldn't be able to talk about anything other than Laptop performance. I except Desktop performance of any Windows installation to be far superior to a laptop and unfortunately I'm stuck on a laptop where the performance issues of any OS are a bit more pronounced.

By better management I was generally referring to how, as I understand, Windows 10 compresses whatever memory is in use, among other things. It's especially apparent when running something heavy like After Effects. However, I only have 6 GB, so yeah.

I also run quite a few 3rd party apps to help my productivity out (they're very light, but they're there nonethless, such as Classic Shell or ClipX). I was beginning to have a lot of issues on Win 8.1, though probably because I had too much going on causing stuff like late-opening context menus and explorer crashes (which are back in Win10 apparently and worse, as mentioned before regarding the action centre).

As for running specific programs on Win 10 that no longer run, the top of the list is winglass (I think I mentioned this before too). Such a bummer.

What do you do to make your Win 8.1 or 10 run really lean? I would usually just stop services that are not essential, startup programs etc.

Also, what do you think about ReactOS?

[NoelC]

ReactOS is a good idea, but isn't mature.  Perhaps Win 10 will spur it on to be finished.

Have you compared a freshly installed Win 8.1 system with the freshly installed Win 10?  The results may surprise you.  For me there are quite a few more things running in a quiet Win 10 system than with the older OS.

Regarding accumulating crud...  I've found it possible to keep a Windows system running efficiently, but it does take some ongoing work...

Though I have a fair number of accessories also, generally speaking I stop needless services and applications that start up.  I ruthlessly remove unneeded things that show up after installs using tools such as Autoruns and ShellExView.  On my main Win 8.1 system, a quiet desktop generally settles to a bit more than 40 processes, 11 of which are svchost wrappers for services.  Here's what a nightly poll of running things turns up late at night on a logged-in system...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TaskList /V /FO:CSV /NH (processes running):
 
"aerohost.exe","1260","Services","0","652 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:04:12","N/A"
"atieclxx.exe","10228","Console","1","7,160 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:00","N/A"
"atiesrxx.exe","180","Services","0","1,940 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:00","N/A"
"ClassicStartMenu.exe","8096","Console","1","9,168 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:00","N/A"
"CLOCK32.EXE","4232","Console","1","5,940 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:00","N/A"
"cmd.exe","5656","Services","0","2,740 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:00","N/A"
"conhost.exe","5928","Services","0","7,392 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:00","N/A"
"csrss.exe","3996","Console","1","7,092 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:24","N/A"
"csrss.exe","656","Services","0","2,280 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:02","N/A"
"dasHost.exe","2260","Services","0","7,084 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE","0:00:00","N/A"
"dllhost.exe","3028","Services","0","4,616 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:00","N/A"
"dwm.exe","7444","Console","1","54,692 K","Unknown","Window Manager\DWM-1","0:04:51","N/A"
"explorer.exe","3660","Console","1","138,796 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:01:14","N/A"
"gsort.exe","6840","Services","0","1,712 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:00","N/A"
"lsass.exe","808","Services","0","23,140 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:05:30","N/A"
"mainserv.exe","1508","Services","0","4,320 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:21","N/A"
"OutlookPasswordWorkaround.exe","3408","Console","1","10,864 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:00","N/A"
"services.exe","800","Services","0","6,028 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:14:26","N/A"
"ShellFolderFixUI.exe","4296","Console","1","10,100 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:00","N/A"
"Skype.exe","6120","Console","1","161,768 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:08:36","N/A"
"smss.exe","524","Services","0","520 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:32","N/A"
"spoolsv.exe","1272","Services","0","14,676 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:03","N/A"
"svchost.exe","1088","Services","0","28,048 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE","0:04:28","N/A"
"svchost.exe","1308","Services","0","23,404 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE","0:00:48","N/A"
"svchost.exe","1704","Services","0","10,236 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE","0:00:02","N/A"
"svchost.exe","2352","Services","0","1,164 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE","0:00:00","N/A"
"svchost.exe","2856","Services","0","10,720 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE","0:00:01","N/A"
"svchost.exe","512","Services","0","27,720 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE","0:01:41","N/A"
"svchost.exe","588","Services","0","31,764 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:22","N/A"
"svchost.exe","652","Services","0","25,216 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE","0:00:09","N/A"
"svchost.exe","812","Services","0","68,284 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:52:50","N/A"
"svchost.exe","920","Services","0","10,804 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:02:55","N/A"
"svchost.exe","968","Services","0","13,756 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE","0:02:00","N/A"
"System Idle Process","0","Services","0","4 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","4221:34:12","N/A"
"System","4","Services","0","144,892 K","Unknown","N/A","6:45:39","N/A"
"taskhostex.exe","7708","Console","1","22,748 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:02","N/A"
"tasklist.exe","9480","Services","0","6,028 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:00","N/A"
"TortoiseProc.exe","8700","Console","1","33,624 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:01","N/A"
"TSVNCache.exe","5860","Console","1","52,728 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:08","N/A"
"vmware-authd.exe","1804","Services","0","4,324 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:02:51","N/A"
"vmware-usbarbitrator64.exe","1036","Services","0","2,968 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:00","N/A"
"Windows10FirewallControl.exe","4176","Console","1","24,684 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:18:04","N/A"
"Windows10FirewallService.exe","1352","Services","0","14,248 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:34:35","N/A"
"wininit.exe","744","Services","0","1,500 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:00","N/A"
"winlogon.exe","6328","Console","1","6,048 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM","0:00:00","N/A"
"WizMouse.exe","6104","Console","1","1,120 K","Unknown","NoelC4\NoelC","0:00:06","N/A"
"WmiPrvSE.exe","10700","Services","0","6,596 K","Unknown","NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE","0:00:00","N/A"
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TaskList /SVC /FO:CSV /NH (services running):
 
"atiesrxx.exe","180","AMD External Events Utility"
"lsass.exe","808","EFS,KeyIso,SamSs,VaultSvc"
"mainserv.exe","1508","APC UPS Service"
"spoolsv.exe","1272","Spooler"
"svchost.exe","1088","CryptSvc,Dnscache,LanmanWorkstation,NlaSvc,TermService"
"svchost.exe","1308","BFE,DPS"
"svchost.exe","1704","stisvc"
"svchost.exe","2352","PolicyAgent"
"svchost.exe","2856","SSDPSRV,upnphost,wcncsvc"
"svchost.exe","512","Audiosrv,Dhcp,EventLog,lmhosts,Wcmsvc,wscsvc"
"svchost.exe","588","Browser,CertPropSvc,IKEEXT,iphlpsvc,LanmanServer,MMCSS,ProfSvc,Schedule,SENS,SessionEnv,ShellHWDetection,Themes,Winmgmt"
"svchost.exe","652","EventSystem,FontCache,netprofm,nsi,WdiServiceHost,WinHttpAutoProxySvc"
"svchost.exe","812","AudioEndpointBuilder,DeviceAssociationService,PcaSvc,SysMain,TrkWks,UmRdpService,WdiSystemHost"
"svchost.exe","920","BrokerInfrastructure,DcomLaunch,LSM,PlugPlay,Power,SystemEventsBroker"
"svchost.exe","968","RpcEptMapper,RpcSs"
"vmware-authd.exe","1804","VMAuthdService"
"vmware-usbarbitrator64.exe","1036","VMUSBArbService"
"Windows10FirewallService.exe","1352","Windows10FirewallService"
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beyond that, and assuming you have leaned-down your setup similarly, I see that you mentioning late opening menus... 

If equipped with an electromechanical HDD, your laptop could be suffering from being bound by slow I/O, especially if it's doing any swapping to disk.  It might be worth investing in a big, fast SSD.  I run everything from SSD here.  Like you, I find delays in control response unacceptable, and SSD is the single easiest upgrade you can do that will net results (and ongoing results, as increasing fragmentation doesn't bother an SSD-equipped system nearly as much).

-Noel

Edited August 24, 2016 by NoelC

[sierra117]

I see. I suppose it's always an intensive process to maintain; making sure something heavy doesn't creep into the shell, registry, etc.

I haven't really compared recently. I installed Win 8.1 fresh and of course back then it was blazing fast. I suppose it slowly happens and you never notice steady change; one would have to look at a significant before/after snapshot to appreciate the change, much like when on a fitness plan.

I hear good things about ReactOS. While still in Alpha stage, it's still been around for a decade or so and runs pretty much everything natively. But again, me spoiled by aero is getting in the way again haha.

I've been thinking about SSDs a lot lately, considering their improved endurance in the recent past. Though even then, I just can't completely trust it. Just an uneasy feeling I guess

I hope to someday be able to build a nice, powerful rig. I think I've been building the systems online (like a silly fantasy haha) for several years now but never had enough to spend on one ... sigh!

Anyway, if anyone would like to know more about what's going on with the aero theme for win10, check out the thread that is on this forum itself:

[NoelC]

For what it's worth, I have found SSDs utterly reliable.

I have created two RAID 0 arrays of 480 GB SSDs in my workstation, 4 drives in one (system volume C:) and 2 in the other (volume V:, which backs virtual machines).

I got the first 4 SSDs back in 2012.  I have never had even the slightest glitch.  They have delivered 100.0000% reliability, and that's with heavy use.  These drives are OCZ Vertex 3 models - way out of date per today's tech, but still seriously fast overall, especially combined together.

A key to getting and maintaining tip top SSD performance is to overprovision.  Get about twice the space you anticipate using and the drives will love you.  Put several in RAID 0 so the load is spread and they'll love you even more.  Yes, that gets even more expensive, but it works. 

-Noel