Problem with active window not displaying on top

Boot to Safe Mode with Networking and try it. If the problem does not occur then see here:

How to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot a problem in Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows Vista

winobob said:

My Dell Windows 7 Pro laptop has intermittent problems every day with clicking on a window (or in the task bar) to make it active but it wont display on top of the current active window.
Examples are MS Project not displaying on top of an excel spreadsheet, excel not displaying on top of Chrome, emails not displaying on top of the Outlook client etc.
Closing and re-opening the app displayed on top temporarily fixes the problem but it always come back ... usually in the same session.
Task Manager doesnt show any other apps running other than these common ones.
Help!

Hi winobob,

Welcome to the Sevenforums.

In addition to what Ztruker suggested you can also try the below steps:

1: Check if the issue persist in new user account.
Create a user account
Create a user account

If it works in a new user account then you need to fix the corrupt user profile. You may visit this link for the steps:
Fix a corrupted user profile

2: Also please have a look at the below article which might help you.
How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7
Use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7

Hope it helps.