C/C++ Allegro program causes Windows 7 to switch to Aero Basic

Question

Hi SO,

I'm just trying out the allegro library, and here is the code which I've got so far:

#include <allegro.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    allegro_init();  // initialize the allegro libraries
    install_keyboard(); // initialize keyboard functions

    set_color_depth(16); // set the color depth
    set_gfx_mode(GFX_AUTODETECT_WINDOWED, 640, 480, 0, 0); // set up 640*480px window

    BITMAP *pic = NULL;
    pic = load_bitmap("C:/picture.bmp", NULL); // load the picture
    blit(pic, screen, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1000, 1000);

    readkey();
    destroy_bitmap(pic);
    return 0;
} 
END_OF_MAIN()

It works fine, but when I run it, while the program's window is open, Windows 7 changes the theme from Aero to Aero basic. If you aren't sure what I mean, this pops up (I got this from Google, which is why it says Vista rather than Windows 7):

1) Why? 2) How can I ensure that this doesn't happen?

Answer 1

Aero needs color set to 32 bit, but you're setting it to 16:

set_color_depth(16);

Answer 2

Unless you have good reason to use a specific color depth, do this:

int cd = desktop_color_depth();
if (cd < 15) cd = 32;
set_color_depth(cd);

While generally not a problem today, many older video cards only support one of 15/16 bit and one of 24/32 bit.

If you need to use 8-bit color depth because you use a palette, then just use the GFX_GDI driver for maximum compatibility.