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Back again: focus flicker ...

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barney:
Just thought of something I should have added.

Frequently, when I call forth a window that is system/application modal, e.g., a configuration window, it will draw onscreen, then immediately move behind the application from which I called it.  Now I cannot grab the title bar and move the application because the other window is modal, but cannot bring the other window to the fore since is smaller than, and covered by, the application window.  Sometimes I can switch to another window, then use the task bar icon to move back to the application in question - the modal window appears and stays on top.  Other times, I have to use a task manager tool to abort the application, then restart it.  If the called window is truly system modal, the latter course of action is the only viable one.

Meant to mention this before, but forgot to do so, sorry.

barney:
@mouser,

Video acceleration properties haven't seemed to have any affect one way or the other.

Yep, title bar changes color - but that doesn't always mean another title bar changes color to show getting focus.

Reliably reproduce?  Not exactly.  I never know when it will happen, but it happens often enough that I think I could say it reliably reproduces itself  :o.

The flicker is not always from one visible window to another ... at times the only visible evidence, other than typing glitches, is the alternating color of the title bar of the window I'm trying to use.  And I think I've seen that alternating title bar at times when I was not actively using a window, but I cannot be certain of that.

I've checked the event logs to see if anything would jump out and slap me, but have found nothing glaring to date.

IainB:
@barney: In my comment above, I made the implicit assumption that the focus flickering was governed by the system registry, but I suppose that it could be governed by the video graphics processor settings or process priority (or maybe a mixture of these?).

I Googled "steal focus in Windows 7" and came up with lots of items. It's evidently a problem for some Windows 7 users, and the usual fixes seem to be to change the registry settings or the video graphics processor settings. Some of the articles try to con you into running some dubious free "This'll Fix IT" PC tuning  software (I wouldn't touch 'em with a bargepole), but there are some useful tips as well.

In case you have not already seen this particular tip, I have copied below from a post by mirandalee at sevenforums.com, here.
Windows 7 - window focus issues (windows 7 pro x64)
1. Open Start >> Run and type regedit
2. Navigate to the following path:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
3. Modify the existing value named ‘ForegroundLockTimeout’, modify the value to 0. (this value will cause the application to take the focus instantly.)
4. Exit everything and restart Windows and hopefully it fixes your focus problem like it did for me.

--- End quote ---
However, if the above assumption (that the focus flickering was governed by the system registry) is wrong, and if you have drawn a blank with that anyway and with tweaking the video graphics processor settings, then that could leave the process priorities as being worthy of checking. They might, I suppose, somehow be fluctuating, resulting in priority interrupts as the priorities of different processes change. Or maybe a hardware interrupt? The only tool I use for monitoring stuff like that is Microsoft Sysinternals' Process Explorer. You could test whether process priority was a factor by setting the process priorities using Process Explorer or DonationCoder's ProcessTamer (it's a really useful tool) and observing the results in Process Explorer and by checking the behaviour of focus in the process windows.

barney:
Sorry to be so dilatory in responding ... slight medical emergency, ER visit(s), mostly age-related junk, kinda got in the way.  Funny, but ERs aren't too wild ab. having a laptop in use <sigh />.  And it was a no-no in the room, as well.

OK, back to the flicker.

Flicker may occur once, twice, or many times - as high as ten, so far - and while it usually flickers back to the previous focus, that is not always the case.  In a significant number of instances, there was no visual evidence of the element that grabbed the focus.  When flicker occurs, it can actually interrupt a pre-copy (mouse drag) highlighting in progress - ! - as well as affect keyboard input.  I've pretty much given up on a cure, save through serendipity.  However, I will continue to post [new] symptoms as they occur.  Will also post a resolution should one evince itself - not hopeful, though.

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