This morning I installed DeskScapes for XP (2.50.067). It seems that the control interface is another tab in the desktop properties window. After applying a theme, one core goes to 100% (50% CPU overall on a Core Duo). The theme just crawls and my machine becomes very slow. I am running WinXP Pro on a laptop with a Core Duo 1.6 Ghz CPU and an ATI Mobile Radeon X1400 GPU. I downloaded and installed the Microsoft codec checker as per the FAQ on the Stardock site and it shows the following codecs installed:
ffdshow Video Decoder ver 1.0.5.1925
Nero Video Decoder 2.1.6.1
Nero DVD Decoder 2.1.6.1
CyberLink Video / SP Decoder (PDVD8) 8.1.0.1513
"MainConcept (Adobe2) MPEG Video Decoder" (no version listed)
Nero Video Decoder HD 1.1.8.1
I read somewhere that the Nero 7 codecs may cause problems. Is this true? Is that the problem that I am experiencing or should I be looking for something else to resolve this problem?
Update: I played around a bit and most dreams work ok. The CPU still sits at around 50% but the computer is very responive. There are some dreams though that drag the machine to a crawl.