No vsync without Aero composition; cannot turn on Aero on CreateDesktop() made desktop

Question

I'm rendering with OpenGL. My stuff is sandboxed so I use CreateDesktop() to prevent shatter attacks. However, the new desktop has no Aero composition when created for whatever reason (though the default one does) and trying to enable it with DwmEnableComposition() fails. I have no idea why, or how to solve this problem. DwmEnableComposition() works fine on the default desktop. Is there any way to get vs vsync to work without composition? I can't get it to do so, even when forced from nvidia's driver control panel. What's the solution here?

I'm using Windows 7. In Windows 8, they say one cannot disable composition, so I'm wondering if this problem will not be present anymore there.

Answer 1

As far as I know, DWM composition restricted to the default desktop in Windows 7 and always disabled on other desktops. You can see this on the UAC prompt and the login/ctrl+alt+del screen, which don't have Aero effects enabled. I'm pretty sure that this has changed with Windows 8, so that all desktops are now rendered by the DWM.