DONE: Move Window without it gaining focus?

[AndyM]

A feature I miss from OS/2 that I'm wondering if someone can give me
back for XP Pro SP2:

To be able to click and drag a window that doesn't have focus and not
have it get focus.  In OS/2 one could do this by holding down the ALT
key and dragging the window.  I don't remember if you had to grab the
title bar or if you could drag any part of the window.  Either way
would be ok with me.

If I have part of a window sticking out from under my active window,
it would be nice to be able to adjust it's position while still
leaving the active window on top.

Andy

[jgpaiva]

I already searched a bit for something similar to that, but couldn't find it
But imagine this:
You'd press alt+drag to move the other window, and when you released alt or mouser button, the focus would be returned to the last window active.
Do you think this'd do?

[wr975]

Guess there's a better solution somewhere, but I use a always-on-top toggle for such situations. Any keyboard shortcut application should offer such function. Here's the one I use in my Autohotkey shortcuts script:

Code

#a::
WinGet, ExStyle, ExStyle, A
if (ExStyle & 0x8)
{
   WinSet,AlwaysOnTop,off,A
   ToolTip,Disabled
}
else
{
   WinSet,AlwaysOnTop,on,A
   ToolTip,Enabled
}
Sleep,2000
ToolTip
return

Press WIN+A to toggle always-on-top on/off.

[AndyM]

Thanks jgpaiva and wr975 for your suggestions.

I have a "keep on top" toggle, both hotkey and titlebar button that I
use often.  I was hoping for an Alt-click alternative when I wasn't
keeping the active window on top.

  > You'd press alt+drag to move the other window, and when you
  > released alt or mouser button, the focus would be returned to the
  > last window active.
 
That's probably not worth the trouble, since the active window would
be temporarily covered by the window I was moving.

I thought about a method that would

1. Make the active window "keep on top"
2. Allow me to move an unfocused window
3. Restores focus to the original active window and toggle off "keep
    on top"

I can't figure out how to do step 1. when the first Alt-click would
change focus.  Is there a variable that would identify the last
(previous) window to have focus?

Now that I reread the posts, what did you have in mind when you said
"returned to the last window active"?  How would you identify that
window?

 

[skrommel]

Try MoveInactiveWin!

MoveInactiveWin - Move a window without activating it.

Features:
- Alt-Click and drag to move.
- Click anywhere within a window to move it!



You'll find the downloads and more info at 1 Hour Software by Skrommel.


Skrommel

[jgpaiva]

EhEh.. As always, here's skrommel working like 3 at the same time!

Thanks! It doesn't even activate the other window.. Good thinking.
Guess that solves the problem, right AndyM?

[AndyM]

Guess that solves the problem, right AndyM?

Perfectly!

SKROMMEL,  THANK YOU!!!!!

(Plus I get to learn a little about AutoHotkey Scripts by working thru the code)

[brotherS]

Hi AndyM, I don't understand how that function could be helpful - I never missed it but am interested in how it could help. Please tell me!

PS: Click on "quote" and see what happens

[skrommel]

I use it to move a captionless video window to my projector, as it always opens on my primary monitor. The not activating bit is just an added bonus.

Skrommel

[AndyM]

Hi AndyM, I don't understand how that function could be helpful - I never missed it but am interested in how it could help. Please tell me!

PS: Click on "quote" and see what happens

If you are referring to a list in another window, which you have sticking out from under your active window, but it's not sticking out enough.  Without Alt-Clicking, you have to guess where to position the "under" window, since it takes focus and you no longer know where the border created by the edge of the previously active window is.  Plus positioning the list is now a one step move.  Handy if you have pieces of many windows you need to see at once on a crowded desktop.

Don't use it all that often, but it was something I was accustomed to in OS/2, and year's later I still found myself trying to Alt-click and going "damn!".  Thanks to Skrommel, no longer.

[Laughing Man]

For some reason it doesn't work for me. I press alt and click (tried hold alt and click) and it doesn't move any windows.

[jgpaiva]

For some reason it doesn't work for me. I press alt and click (tried hold alt and click) and it doesn't move any windows.

It should, Laughing Man. Did you hold alt while clicking and dragging a window?

[Laughing Man]

I know why now..my Logitech Setpoint interferes with AutoHotKey scripts.

[jgpaiva]

I know why now..my Logitech Setpoint interferes with AutoHotKey scripts.

That's very strange... But might happen, the mouse software could not be allowing ahk to gain control of the mouser clicks.

[IvkovicD]

...just to mention......when you use alt+<click> to move windows around, the tool allSnap does not work... and vice versa....

Regards

[jgpaiva]

...just to mention......when you use alt+<click> to move windows around, the tool allSnap does not work... and vice versa....

That is a good point, IvkovicD, but you can always change allsnap's modifier to turn off snapping, or edit MoveInactiveWin 's code and change it's activation key.

[CrawlerBrinx]

I have only uncensored words to describe how awesome it is!