Taskbar bug, doesn't bring programs to front.

[qpingu]

This is the second time I've gotten this bug, and it seems to occur roughly two weeks after a fresh install.

Long story short, I pin all of my favorite applications to the taskbar and when I click on a running program, I expect it to bring focus to that program (bring it to the front). Instead, it flashes yellow and the window that I want stays behind every other window. The only program that does not do this is Digsby for whatever reason. Basically, the only way to see an existing window is to minimize all of the windows in front of it and only clicking on the window itself will give it focus. That's partly a lie, because I've discovered that a series of clicks on the taskbar icon will do it, namely: right click, left click, right click, left click. I don't want to have to do four clicks when one normally works.

I am running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit acquired through the MSDN program for students (Academic Alliance or something). I do know that I never had these issues in the beta with Ultimate edition.

Thanks.

 

[StevenS757]

Me too.

I am also having this problem. I'm using Windows 7 Professional 32-bit and am having the same symptoms. Clicking a program on the taskbar doesn't bring it to the front, it just blinks yellow/orange. I have to Win-tab or minimize windows in front of the program to get to it. Any help on this would be most appreciated.

 

[richc46]

Go to search type cmd

Then right click on cmd and run as administrator.

Then in cmd type this sfc /scannow. If errors are found and it is not fixed. Run it again. It repairs one error at a time.

 

[surfasb]

It helps to specify the offending program(s)..........

 

[seekermeister]

Go to search type cmd

Then right click on cmd and run as administrator.

Then in cmd type this sfc /scannow. If errors are found and it is not fixed. Run it again. It repairs one error at a time.

This is something that I have been wondering about, because with XP SFC was a quite different critter. It required having the CD (unless it had been copied to the drive, and the path to it had been set), and it checked all errors sequentially. The greatest problem with it was that it would sometimes replace a newer file with an older one, which of course is often undesirable. Therefore, I'm wondering exactly what it uses for a reference, and how it deals with updated files?

 

[StevenS757]

It helps to specify the offending program(s)..........

It's all programs, the bug is in windows itself. I've tried multiple combinations of apps. Here is a more detailed description of what happens.

Say I have 3 programs open. I have IE at maximized, AIM behind IE, and Notepad minimized.

If I click on the AIM bar label, it blinks orange and doesn't bring AIM to the front. My only way to get to it is to minimize IE.

If I click on the Notepad bar label, it restores notepad from minimize and brings it in front of IE. If I then click on IE and put notepad behind IE, then I can no longer click on the Notepad bar to bring it back to the front. It just blinks yellow. I have to minimize IE to access the program.

This may be a bug specific to the Win7 Aero GUI, I haven't tried turning it off, nor am I willing to accept that as a valid fix. There must be some reason its doing this. I hope this additional description is helpful.

 

[Ztruker]

Have you per chance disabled the Aero preview that normally shows when you point to a running program icon on the Taskbar? If so, maybe that is causing the problem?

 

[gerardete]

Use ALT+SPACE

After selecting the application that does not show up, press alt+space, then maximize. Worked for me.

 

[Closed account xxx]

You can give this idea a try: Newly opened program/email does not open in front

Set the decimal value to 0. Worked for me!

 

[Woodchuck]

Similar problem solved

Go to search type cmd

Then right click on cmd and run as administrator.

Then in cmd type this sfc /scannow. If errors are found and it is not fixed. Run it again. It repairs one error at a time.

Thanks for the suggestion, richc46
I had the same problem, scanned my system with sfc /scannow, it found many problems and repaired them although the result was that "Some of the problems couldn't be repaired" or something similar.
Then I restarted my system and everything works perfectly good. No problems with loosing focus to programs (especially Google Chrome) and having to minimize the ones I am working to get to them, the taskbar hides itself correctly and some other problems are gone too
Thanks once more

 

[richc46]

You are very welcome, glad that you got it sorted.

 

[Woodchuck]

Unfortunately the fix didn't last even a full day.
All of a sudden the problem came back and it's exactly as it was before applying the fix...
Do you richc46 or anybody else have a permanent solution to the problem or at least know w way to troubleshoot what is causing it?
I would be very grateful for your help cause I am using my PC many hours a day and it slows my work and is quite annoying.
Thanks in advance

 

[LPWallaby]

This is a new problem for me, well over a year after the last post in which no solution was found. I wanted to post here for anyone else searching that a very simple solution worked for me: restart Explorer. In Task Manager, highlight explorer.exe and click End Process. Then click File > New Task (Run...), type in explorer, and click OK.

I'm not sure what the underlying issue is, though given various weirdness I've experienced with Explorer through all incarnations of Windows, I would not be surprised to find Explorer itself is the problem. It could be because I always have the Explorer window open because I constantly access my files through it, but every once in a while it just gets totally confused. As I said, this is the first time I've had this problem, so only time will tell if something else is corrupted and will cause the problem to recur, but it has returned everything to normal for now.

 

[hivernal]

Hi,

Got the same bug about 1 month ago. I've tested a lot of things to resolve this issue

If there's someone in the same case, hit F5 on the destkop to Refresh. It will work for about 10 to 15min, unfortunatelly...
So, launch your favorite search engine and look for one of those apps that let you combine the mouse's middle button, for example, and F5, so you can refresh faster.

one bug one click

cheers

 

[N1755L]

Same problem, sfc /scannow didn't resolve the problem, as no errors were found, and Alt-Space didn't do diddly-squat for me.

Bob K's article has moved to here: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...t/fe587f90-5815-4d4a-81b5-55325019af1d?page=1

I killed all instances of explorer.exe in Task Manager and then clicked (in Task Manager) on File -> New Task (Run), and typed explorer.exe to get a new Explorer task, and this seemed to resolve the problem for some of the tasks in the Taskbar (some now pop up when I click on them in the Taskbar, but still kaput for some of the other ones.

I have not restarted the computer since trying these solutions, however... will report back once system has been restarted.

 

[flyinhawaiian]

Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by richc46 View Post
Go to search type cmd

Then right click on cmd and run as administrator.

Then in cmd type this sfc /scannow. If errors are found and it is not fixed. Run it again. It repairs one error at a time.

Mahalo, richc46! I joined the forum just to say thanks!

Was having the same issues where I would select another program from the Windows Taskbar and the program icon would flash, but not give focus or bring to front.

Ran the scan and windows found corrupted files and repaired. Did a restart and everything is back to normal! Now, back to work!

 

[richc46]

Glad that my suggestion helped. Happy New Year

 

[flyinhawaiian]

Happy New Year!

Glad that my suggestion helped.

Me too! Hahaha! Happy New Year to you too!