Windows 7 New windows open BEHIND existing windows

Nisko

Senior Member
I use Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. Frequently, new windows open BEHIND existing windows. If I can grab the top of the new window, I can drag it. However, I cannot bring it to the top. Any fixes out there?
 
The first and most simple answer would be that you have a window active marked as "Always on top". That's hardly the issue, though, I guess.

It seems to be somewhat of a problem for many, although I've never experienced it. All I can say right now is, install any important / critical updates. Another option could be, go back to a restoration point before the time you estimate the problem began.

Sorry, can't do better right now.
 
Hi

Does an icon for the open window appear on your taskbar?

If so you should be able to click on that to bring it to the front.

You can minimise the top windows to get at it, or you can grab the top of the windows and drag it to the side to format it to half screen.

Just drag until the cursor hits the side of the screen.

As to why new windows open underneath I'm not sure, it seems that my windows usually open on top.

I did find this don't know if it will work or not.

I have the same problem so far it's my only problem with Windows 7. I found that if you right click on the taskbar and going to property's you will find an entry for taskbar buttons change this to (combine when taskbar is full ) and this will fix the problem.

Mike
 
So far, I have no solution. I even checked all my filters to see if I had one that would cause the problem No dice!! Still looking for help..........
 
Hi

Here are a few things that I've found, I didn't read through all of this but they do relate to your problem which seems to be a fairly common one.

I have no idea if these work, be careful messing with the registry.

You might want to use CCleaner to create a registry recovery point by running the registry scan and saying yes when it asks you to do so.

You can then use CCleaner to restore the registry if you need to.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I've dealt with this issue quite frequently over the last 5 years or so.

The following will often fix the problem but probably not always.

Go to Windows Explorer and select Tools>Folder Options>View> and check the "Launch folder windows in a separate process" check box.
Hope this helps.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would suggest checking for some registry settings and if you have any variations from the default value you may change them to default and check if the issue resolves –

1. Choose Start and then click Run, and type regedit in the Open text box then click OK.
2. Open the key -
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Now in the registry editor window in the right pane you will find the keys Foreground Flash Count and Foreground Lock timeout.

Refer to the below links and check for the default values on your computer.

Check if you have the same values as mentioned in the below links -
ForegroundFlashCount
ForegroundLockTimeout

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.

REGISTRY EDIT DISCLAIMER:
Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, 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 backup and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows:How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP

Hope this helps.
Thanks,

Meghmala – Microsoft Support

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Windows 7, window pop-ups are control by FOREGROUNDFLASHCOUNT and FOREGROUNDLOCKTIMEOUT in the REGISTRY (You need to CLICK ON the START ICON at the leftest of your TASKBAR, and type REGEDIT in the SEARCH PROGRAMS and FILES field). Go to the REGISTRY EDITOR and it is at this path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\CONTROL PANEL\DESKTOP.

One click on the DESKTOP (Manual Display), and your will see the detail populate at the right side of the REGISTRY EDITOR window. Go to find the FOREGROUNDLOCKTIMEOUT, and double click on it.

The EDIT DWORD small window will pop-up. Change the VALUE DATA to ZERO.
Yes, you must restart your PC in order for the change to apply.
Here is what is telling us in the Windows 7 manual: ForegroundFlashCount
ForegroundFlashCount

2 out of 6 rated this helpful - Rate this topic
HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop
Data type
Range
Default value
REG_DWORD
Number of flashes in decimal
3
Description
Specifies the number of times the taskbar button flashes to notify the user that the system has activated a background window. If the time elapsed since the last user input exceeds the value of the ForegroundLockTimeout entry, the window will automatically be brought to the foreground.

Related Entries
Yes, if the DOWNLOAD timer in the FOREGROUNDLOCKTIMEOUT (SHOWING 30D40 Hexadecimal) is longer than the 3 FLASH(Default), then you will see the new WINDOW pop-up behind your mother window or your application. Set the VALUE DATA to ZERO, sooner than the 3 FLASH of the FOREGROUNDFLASHCOUT, the the DESCRIPTION above is applied.

Good luck

Leng
 
Somewhat silly question, is it a new problem? Started at date xx? You write "frequently", and what I mean, is it perhaps also "recently"?
 
Modal Dialogs are opening in Background and invisible and Transparent

Resolution:
We had been struggling with modals opening in background since 6 months and the following settings has resolved it for all our clients:

Change the cache behavior in IE from “automatic” to “Every time the page changes” and you will never face this quirky issue :)
 
Back
Top