[Chops]

Hi All:

I'll attempt to describe this problem in short order.

An example:

- Open FireFox
- Open Excel

Now say with these two open (happens with more open as well) and say Excel is in the active view and I want to flip to FireFox for a second. I can't. The inactive apps icons turn orange and I can not access any of them. Below is an example. Note: the Excel app is orange. I can not bring that into the active view unless I move the taskbar and click to minimize FireFox.



Any ideas what might be causing this? It seems to have started about a week ago. I scanned for Virus' with SAS, Avast, MSSE, Malwarebite etc. Nothing found.

Thanks

[Tipstaff]

Just out of curiosity, does Alt-Tab still allow you to switch between the open programs?

Also, does this seem to happen with completely different applications being open at the same time? Or does this always happen when you have a browser, such as Firefox open too (where Firefox is always open along with any other app, and this problem occurs)? Have you had any Windows errors, registry problems, or hard drive issues lately?

I've seen this issue only once before. I know Alt-Tab between the open apps should still work, but I remember that sometimes this isn't always the case. If I recall this problem has to do with the "explorer" listing in the registry, and that to fix it I ran some vbs script that repaired that entry in the registry (however the script was to repair another issue where the open applications were not showing up in the taskbar). If I find it I'll post it for you to try.

Edit: found it. THIS VBS script is meant to reset the registry in regards to open applications not showing up on the taskbar, but if I remember correctly it fixed this issue too. Give it a shot, and let us know how it goes.

[Chops]

Hi Tipstaff:

Yes Alt-Tab works but I get a message saying Alt-Tab is engaging. Odd. I never saw that before.

This isn't isolated to just having a browser open but any multiple # of apps w/ or w/o a browser open.

I tried your file. It worked to some degree. I now can access another app but only if I double click on it Vs a single click.

Here's a brief vid to illustrate what is happening.

My Videos :: 5d03171b.mp4 video by Chettochips - Photobucket

[WxMan1]

I'm glad that somebody of the magnitude as He who responded did in fact respond.

MORE INFO would be appreciated...

[Tipstaff]

This is sounding more and more like a focus issue, only I can't figure out if it's because another application keeps steeling the foreground focus, or if the timeout or foreground settings have been changed in the registry.

Do me a favour, and go into the registry (Start | Run | regedit.exe), and look under HKEY_Current_User | Control Panel | Desktop. On the right side I need you to look at the value of 2 options: ForegroundFlashCount (should be 3), and ForegroundLockTimeout (there are conflicting values to have this set to, one is the original default of 200000, another is 0 which Microsoft recommends for use only to diagnose problems with some apps, but having it at 0 can "sometimes" cause more problems, so if it's at 0 change it to 200000). Be sure to reboot if/when you change these (or at least log off/log in the user).

1 other thing to try would be to reset both your Start Menu and the Taskbars settings back to default. You can get that HERE from Kelly's Korner. Be sure to reboot after you run this, and see if it helped.

Try each thing in order, rebooting after each, and let me know if any of them help.

[Chops]

Hi TipStaff:

1st thanks for taking the time to help out on this annoying glitch.

ForegroundFlashCount (should be 3),

I have REG-DWORD 0x00000003 (3)

and

ForegroundLockTimeout (there are conflicting values to have this set to, one is the original default of 20000, another is 0 which Microsoft recommends for use only to diagnose problems with some apps, but having it at 0 can "sometimes" cause more problems, so if it's at 0 change it to 20000). Be sure to reboot if/when you change these (or at least log off/log in the user).

I have REG_DWORD 0x0012f044 (1241156)

1 other thing to try would be to reset both your Start Menu and the Taskbars settings back to default. You can get that HERE from Kelly's Korner. Be sure to reboot after you run this, and see if it helped.

I haven't tried the (nodesktop.reg) file yet as I'm uncertain about the ForegroundLockTimeout. Do you want me to change (1241156) to (20000)?

Thanks
Chops

[Tipstaff]

Originally Posted by Chops

I have REG_DWORD 0x0012f044 (1241156)

Yes. That number is way too high. At the very least you could change it to 0 (although this might be too low), but I suggest the default of 200000 to start (might have to input it as a hex value, which should be 30d40). However I can't say that this will fix the issue you're having.

Edit: just realized I typed in 20,000, and not 200,000.

[Chops]

Hi Tipstaff:

I'm happy to say that the problem of accessing opened apps on the taskbar appears to be working via single clicks now. I changed the ForegroundLockTimeout to 20000, rebooted and all seemed to work as advertised.

Sometimes the little annoying things are the hardest to fix.

Thanks again for all of your help.

Chops

[skyreacher]

hey there,
I have read about the similar problem. Well, its somewhat different to your problem but it might help you out as that too is related to having problem in opening applications. You can check it out here:http://www.techyv.com/questions/how-fix-application-won%E2%80%99t-open-issue" I hope it may be some help to you

[Chops]

Originally Posted by skyreacher

hey there,
I have read about the similar problem. Well, its somewhat different to your problem but it might help you out as that too is related to having problem in opening applications. You can check it out here:http://www.techyv.com/questions/how-fix-application-won%E2%80%99t-open-issue" I hope it may be some help to you

Howdy Sky:

Thanks for the heads up. Fortunately I didn't have that problem or found my problem associated with any kind of malware or virus. I believe the bearing Tipstaff gave me, got me to the LZ of the problem. My ForeGroundLockTimeout had gone ballistic and changing it did the job.

Thanks just the same though for your reply.

Chops

[Tipstaff]

Originally Posted by Chops

Hi Tipstaff:

I'm happy to say that the problem of accessing opened apps on the taskbar appears to be working via single clicks now. I changed the ForegroundLockTimeout to 20000, rebooted and all seemed to work as advertised.

Sometimes the little annoying things are the hardest to fix.

Thanks again for all of your help.

Chops

Your welcome, Chops. Glad I could help.