Opening programs already opened in taskbar (not going "on top")

[Guest]

Sorry about the strange "subject" but wasn't sure what to put. New to XP but
have never experienced this before. Here's what is happening. If I have 5
programs opened up (say Internet Explorer, Word, Winamp, Visual Basic.NET,
and Notepad) and am using one full screen (say Word). If I click on one of
the other programs in the TaskBar, that program does not "open up" (or move
to the "top" of the other programs). It just blinks (orange). So, in the
scenario I set, I'm using Word and decide I want to skip to the next song in
WinAmp, I should be able to just click on "WinAmp" in the taskbar (because
the program is already running). But when I do that, instead of WinAmp
moving to the front of the other programs (Word, in this case) on the
desktop, the WinAmp button on the taskbar just starts blinking. So I click
it again, and it stops blinking. Then I click it again, and THEN it will
move to the front (or top, or whatever).

I'm running a dual PIII 1 Gig machine, 1 gig of RAM, 64 MB video card ... so
there shouldn't be a problem with system resources. I've got XP SP2. I've
run my A/V (NOD 32) and don't have any viruses. Also, I've run Ad-Aware and
SpyBot and SpywareBlaster .... nothing is coming up as corrupt.

Does anyone have any idea what is causing this or what I need to do to fix
it. I just recently moved to XP from 2000 and this is the first problem I am
seeing.

Thanks for any and all help you can give me.

 

[Guest]

It happening to me too from time to time.
All I have to do is reset my windows and it goes away.

 

[Guest]

OK. Does it continue to happen a lot or is it sporatic? Just wondering
because I routinely have 6, 7 or 8 programs running and would hate to have to
keep restarting my machine whenever it happens. Thanks again for the
information.

 

[Guest]

I can not tell you that it happening regularly or because of something that I
do.
All I can tell you is that it happened couple of times before and I have no
idea why.

 

[Kelly]

Hi,

This sounds to be a focus issue:

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

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

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