In simple terms, the term Hardware Acceleration means using computer’s hardware for performing certain task and function faster than would be possible using software. This also allows for smooth rendering of graphics. In most processors instructions are executed sequentially i.e. one by one but you can perform them faster if you modify the same process a bit using some technique. The idea is to move all graphics and text rendering from the Central Processing Unit to the Graphics Processing Unit. The idea is to speed up graphic performance and the rendering by moving it from the CPU to the GPU, thereby getting better performance.
Sometimes loosely called as graphics accelerators or floating-point accelerators, hardware accelerators can improve the performance of an application significantly. The term Hardware Accelerator has now been loosely replaced by more common and less descriptive terms such as graphics cards and video cards.
While the settings are best left at their default values in Windows, you can if you wish disable Hardware Acceleration or reduce Hardware Acceleration. Turning off the Hardware Acceleration completely will run the application in software rendering mode’.
Disable, Turn off or reduce Hardware Acceleration
The Hardware Acceleration tab in Windows 7 allows you to specify the performance of the graphics hardware present on your PC. To disable or reduce Hardware Acceleration in Windows 7, first right-click on the Desktop and from the context menu, choose the Personalization option.
Then, select Display from the left panel of the window and click on ‘Change display settings’.
Next, click on ‘Advanced settings’.
This will open the ‘Troubleshooter’ tab. If your current display driver does not allow you to change the settings, you will see the Change settings button grayed out, and you will not be able to change the settings.
If your current display driver allows you to change the settings, you will be able to see the Change settings button. Click on it.
Now, in the Windows that appears on your computer screen, move the pointer to the extreme left to disable or reduce the hardware acceleration and click on OK. If you are having problems with your graphics hardware, these settings can help you troubleshoot display-related problems.
That’s it!
This is how you can disable or change level of hardware acceleration in Windows 7.
