When context information about an object might be lost because of using a less-desirable rendering mechanism and format, the target can elect to pick a common mechanism and format that achieves the best performance. This is done the same way that the next best rendering mechanism and format is selected, proceeding from the best-performing rendering to the worst.

Regardless of the rendering mechanism used, the target might need to prepare the source for the rendering of the object. This is necessary when the source needs to create a window in order to handle the conversation. This preparation is done by sending a DM_RENDERPREPARE message to the hwndSource window in the DRAGINFO data structure. This message need be sent only when the DC_PREPARE flag is on in the fsControl field of the DRAGITEM data structure. When the source receives this message, it performs any necessary preparation for the rendering and fills in the hwndItem field in the DRAGITEM data structure, thereby allowing the target to establish conversation with that window.