Brining XP out of screen saver closes in focus application.

[Guest]

For quite some time now I've been having a problem that almost 100% of the
time when I allow my system to go into screen saver and then move the mouse
or press space to bring it out the in focus application gets a close signal.
It happens nearly every time but once and a while it doesn't seem to. And I'm
sure the application isn't being told to close until the screen saver is
exiting (or just after?) because occassionally an application is a bit slow
closing and I see the window as the screen comes back just before the
application closes. And I know the application is gettting a close signal
because if I leave something like Word open with an unsaved document I get
the "Save work before closing" prompt form Word. I've had no luck finding any
information on a problem like this and really don't want to re-install just
to fix it. Any ideas at all would be great.

 

[Kelly]

Hmm, interesting. Did you happen to notice this change after several
current MS updates? Reason being as of late there have been so many Focus
issue related posts. That said, I can only suggest from here in trying to
change your screen saver if it is 3D related and/or set it to XP for testing
purposes.

More info if needed and good luck!

TweakUI/General/Focus
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

Prevent Programs from Stealing Focus - Undo (Line 66)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

When a window that does not have focus is updated by its program, the
default setting prevents it from becoming the foremost (top) window,
instead, it flashes in the taskbar.

HeldUp is the easiest way to stop windows from disappearing behind other
programs. http://www.johnmacintyre.ca/HeldUp.asp

Programs May Start, Quit, Lose, and Gain Focus Randomly
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313176&Product=winxp

Customize Auto Hide Taskbar Settings (Line 190) Right hand side
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Tip:

Tool Tips Hidden Behind Taskbar (Line 321)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Guest]

Kelly,

Given the lack of info I gave some good suggestions. But, I am using the
simple XP screen saver "Windows XP'. Except for setting a background
wallpaper and setting the theme to the built in "Silver" I haven't modified
the look of XP. And the taskbar does not autohide. I have an ATI 9800 video
card with fairly recent drivers and they've been updated several times
without fixing the problem. It's XP Pro, SP2 with all updates Auto-Update has
pushed down. I keep everything pretty up to date driver/software wise. I'm
just hoping someone out there has ran into this before.

 

[Kelly]

Thanks for the great feedback. All sounds well except for the fact that you
are fully updated. Did you notice this behavior during a time of the before
stated?

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Guest]

Kelly,

If I had to say "when" then somewhere between 6 and 12 months ago. It's such
a strange issue that I didn't really notice at first. I don't always leave
things up when I walk away from the system. And then if I had I'd come back
and think that maybe I had but guessed I must have closed it. So I think it
actually took many weeks before I figured out what was going on. At the time
I did notice it I did not recall doing any updates that might effect it. At
least nothing major, but I likely apply several updates a week to keep
everything current. If you can think of anything I can do to try and track
down what's happening it would be much appreciated. I often forget to open a
blank IE (as a sacrafice so to speak) when I want something to stay open.

 

[Rock]

Kelly,

If I had to say "when" then somewhere between 6 and 12 months ago. It's such
a strange issue that I didn't really notice at first. I don't always leave
things up when I walk away from the system. And then if I had I'd come back
and think that maybe I had but guessed I must have closed it. So I think it
actually took many weeks before I figured out what was going on. At the time
I did notice it I did not recall doing any updates that might effect it. At
least nothing major, but I likely apply several updates a week to keep
everything current. If you can think of anything I can do to try and track
down what's happening it would be much appreciated. I often forget to open a
blank IE (as a sacrafice so to speak) when I want something to stay open.

:

Have you updated the video card drivers from the windows update site.
It's generally not a good idea to get driver updates from there, but
rather go to the device manufacturer's website.

 

[Kelly]

Thanks for the great feedback, as you seem to be abreast. As for Rock's
mention, I second that and would suggest trying a roll back via the Device
Manager for your display drivers. Good luck and keep us all posted. )

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com