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Active Window Does Not Come to the Top from Taskbar or When Clicked

Anonymous
2015-02-14T15:34:19+00:00

Since the last Windows 8.1 upgrade (on 2/11/15) I have had this problem.

When I click on an open window icon from the task bar, it seems the focus does switch to that window but the window does not come to the top.

If I click on a portion of that window, while showing as active, it still does not come to the top.

The only way I can expose the window is to minimize anything on top of it.

Alt-Tab will show a list of windows, but even then when I click on the desired window it does not come to the top.

Any solution would be appreciated.  It is very time consuming to operate this way.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-02-17T08:16:22+00:00

    Hello Michel and Faithful,

    Thank you for your replies.

    I am sorry for late response.

    I appreciate your time.

    I would suggest you to create a new user account(Local-Administrator) and check the issue in that accountas the issue may be causing due to corrupt user profile.

    Please refer this article:

    Create a user account

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-8

    Please keep us updated on the status of the issue.

    Thank you

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  1. Anonymous
    2015-02-16T12:36:53+00:00

    I'm having a similar issue since installing the latest updates (2/11/2015)

    Indeed the issue only occurs to windows that are not minimized. So if I click on a window item on my taskbar which I minimized before it will successfully come to the foreground, but when I click on a window item on my taskbar that is still a window in the background then it doesn't get this one to the foreground.

    I also checked the registry settings and changed Foreground Flash Count from 7 to 3, but that didn't solved the issue with me either.

    I didn't installed any hardware or software either before this issue occured.

    I don't have Zoom text installed, so think it must be an issue in one of the updates.

    This is very time consuming issue when you use a lot of windows as I do.

    Hope it's possible to define the update that could cause this effect so that I can try to de-install it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-02-15T14:53:24+00:00

    I has an opportunity to do a little more trouble shooting.

    It seems the problem is a software called Zoom Text.

    (Most of my computer problems can be traced to them)

    So I will call AiSquared to see what they are doing about it.

    Meanwhile, can I reverse the recent MS upgrade to mitigate the problem.

    I cannot work without Zoom Text.

    Is "return to a restore point the best solution?

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-02-15T14:30:22+00:00

    I appreciate your response.

    First I will say I did all you suggested.  One of the keys was not set to the default, I changed it, it did NOT solve the problem.

    Second, to answer your question.  I have installed no hardware - or software - just before or after this problem.  My best determination of cause and effect was the major MS upgrade on 2/11.  When I shut down it was working fine, and said "wait for the upgrade."

    The next time I started it I had the problem.

    I remembered I had used CClean for file maintenance on 2/12 and ran the registry cleaner.  I restored from the backup made then.  It did NOT solve the problem.

    Further symptoms:  When I try to switch to a window from taskbar it will not bring it active.

    I must first minimize what is on top of it.

    If a window is minimized and I click on taskbar icon, the window will pop up on top.

    If part of the window I clicked the icon for is exposed, I can see it became active but did not come to the top.  If I click on that window, it  will not come to the top.

    If I hover on an icon and see the preview and click on that, it still will not come to the top (most of the time).

    Let me know if I can provide further information.

    This is an intolerable problem for I use my computer many hours a day.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-02-15T08:53:40+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for posting your question on Microsoft community.

    I would like to know some information about the issue so that we could help you better.

    Did you make any hardware changes to your computer prior to the issue?

    I appreciate you for providing details about the issue and your efforts towards resolving it.

    This issue may occue due to incorrect registy settings.

    I would suggest you to check registry settings and make changes in them if there is any variations in the default values.

    You may change them to the default value and check if it helps. Please follow these steps:

    a. Press Windows + R keys, type regedit in run window and press Enter.

    b. Locate and navigate to the following registry sub-key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

    c. In the right pane, you may find "Foreground Flash Count" and "Foreground Lock timeout" keys.

    d. Please refer the following articles and check for the default values of "Foreground Flash Count" and "Foreground Lock timeout" registry keys.

    Refer:

    ForegroundFlashCount

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc957205.aspx

    ForegroundLockTimeout

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc957208.aspx

    e. If the values differ from the default values, you may double click the names and change the values. Make sure you make the decimal selection and then change the values.

    Note: Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/322756

    I hope this information helps.

    Please do let us know if you need any further assistance.

    Thank you

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