Windows 10 Activation watermark causes mouse input lag

PolisP · 09 Oct 2019

Whenever the windows 10 activation watermark pops up (ive noticed, its every 3 hours) it adds input lag to my mouse almost as if its vsync, and when I end the process explorer.exe (which removes the watermark until its reopened) the input lag is gone, is there any explanation as to why it adds the input lag? or how the watermark works?

all I know is that, it has something to do with its ability to show over any window, happens in windows 10 version 1809 and 1903, also the cpu usage across all 4 cores is about 0 - 1% (HWMonitor)

Bree · 09 Oct 2019

It's about time you bought a license and activated it.

See Rule 4: "...it is forum policy that no help shall be given to people who knowingly steal software or services"

PolisP · 09 Oct 2019

Bree said:

It's about time you bought a license and activated it.

See Rule 4: "...it is forum policy that no help shall be given to people who knowingly steal software or services"

all i ask for is an explanation as to why it causes the input lag, im not stealing nothing, i got my windows 10 1903 directly from the microsoft website, through a windows 10 setup assistant thing, im just running a non activated windows 10, nothing wrong here

bro67 · 09 Oct 2019

Bree said:

It's about time you bought a license and activated it.

See Rule 4: "...it is forum policy that no help shall be given to people who knowingly steal software or services"

Using Windows 10 in an non-activated state is not theft under what MS has done to allow it to be used with limited functions, it does not allow making changes to Customizing the desktop and such after the built in trial period. It is a gray area with 10, since a lot of people use it in VM’s for test benches.

bro67 · 09 Oct 2019

PolisP said:

all i ask for is an explanation as to why it causes the input lag, im not stealing nothing, i got my windows 10 1903 directly from the microsoft website, through a windows 10 setup assistant thing, im just running a non activated windows 10, nothing wrong here

Most likely it is tying up system resources while communicating with the activation servers on the MS side. Since you only have a 4mbps connection as shown in your profile, that can add to causing the lag while the system is talking to MS.

PolisP · 09 Oct 2019

bro67 said:

Most likely it is tying up system resources while communicating with the activation servers on the MS side. Since you only have a 4mbps connection as shown in your profile, that can add to causing the lag while the system is talking to MS.

well thats new, i had no idea it had to communicate to a server in order to check for activation, as i still get the activate windows watermark even when disconnecting from the wifi, also, i highly doubt that the low download speed causes my mouse input lag, since when i end the process eplorer.exe the input lag goes away and the watermark dissappears, until i relaunch explorer.exe, also, the cpu usage is litterally 0% on each individual core, sometimes goes up to 1%, so i doubt it

bro67 · 09 Oct 2019

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...prise-editions
You Don’t Need a Product Key to Install and Use Windows 10

If you are not doing any of the below, you are pretty safe. MS went this route to stop pirating of their software, along with crippling certain features that when the software communicates with the servers, it is checking to see if you have bypassed those locks that MS has implemented. There are of course some things that only MS knows that are checked as hashes to see if it is truly still their software.

“Restrictions. The manufacturer or installer and Microsoft reserve all rights (such as rights under intellectual property laws) not expressly granted in this agreement. For example, this license does not give you any right to, and you may not:(i) use or virtualize features of the software separately;
(ii) publish, copy (other than the permitted backup copy), rent, lease, or lend the software;
(iii) transfer the software (except as permitted by this agreement);
(iv) work around any technical restrictions or limitations in the software;
(v) use the software as server software, for commercial hosting, make the software available for simultaneous use by multiple users over a network, install the software on a server and allow users to access it remotely, or install the software on a device for use only by remote users;
(vi) reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the software, or attempt to do so, except and only to the extent that the foregoing restriction is permitted by applicable law or by licensing terms governing the use of open-source components that may be included with the software; and
(vii) when using Internet-based features you may not use those features in any way that could interfere with anyone else’s use of them, or to try to gain access to or use any service, data, account, or network, in an unauthorized manner.”

NavyLCDR · 09 Oct 2019

@PolisP:

Despite the justifications that you and @bro67 can come up with, you are violating the Windows 10 End User License Agreement that you had to accept when you installed Windows 10:

Last updated June 2018
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS
WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM
5. Authorized Software and Activation. You are authorized to use this software only if you are properly licensed and the software has been properly activated with a genuine product key or by other authorized method. When you connect to the Internet while using the software, the software will automatically contact Microsoft or its affiliate to conduct activation to associate it with a certain device. You can also activate the software manually by Internet or telephone.

The overlay on the video display of the Windows Activation notification itself could quite possibly be causing your lagging system. If you don't want to comply with the EULA, then I would suggest that you don't have much justification to complain about the performance of the OS.

PolisP · 10 Oct 2019

NavyLCDR said:

@PolisP:

Despite the justifications that you and @bro67 can come up with, you are violating the Windows 10 End User License Agreement that you had to accept when you installed Windows 10:

Last updated June 2018
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS
WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM
5. Authorized Software and Activation. You are authorized to use this software only if you are properly licensed and the software has been properly activated with a genuine product key or by other authorized method. When you connect to the Internet while using the software, the software will automatically contact Microsoft or its affiliate to conduct activation to associate it with a certain device. You can also activate the software manually by Internet or telephone.

The overlay on the video display of the Windows Activation notification itself could quite possibly be causing your lagging system. If you don't want to comply with the EULA, then I would suggest that you don't have much justification to complain about the performance of the OS.

I know 100% it is that overlay, all I ask is for info about it, how the overlay works, why it forces the vsync like delay, also, in game, my game is all choppy due to high fps, and when the overlay pops up, my fps is still unlimited but the choppyness is gone, so Im assuming its some form of vsync, not the type that limits the fps, also I have not modified my Windows 10 1903 in any way, shape, or form, litterally just installed the Windows 10 iso assistant or something like that, and went through the process of downloading it, extracted it, and setup windows 10. Also its not making my system lagging, it adds a slight delay to the mouse input.

NavyLCDR · 10 Oct 2019

Sounds like the solution to your problem is to get rid of the "Activate Windows" overlay on your video. To do that you need to...... wait for it..... here it comes.....

Activate Windows!