Windows 8 Weird problem.

MikeHawthorne

Essential Member
Microsoft Community Contributor
Hi

I've never seen this before and I don't know how to fix it.

For some reason, when I click on something that opens a new window, the new window is opening behind the current window.

I was just trying to copy a file, and paste it into a folder I have open in Windows Explorer.
I tried it 3 times and didn't get the confirmation "Do you want to replace the existing file?" message.

I finally realized that I had 3 messages open behind the Explorer window.

I've noticed this other times in the last few days as well.

Is there a setting for this someplace?

Mike
 
I've experienced the same thing for the last several months with Win 7. New windows I open get opened on top but new windows opened by Windows or software are all buried behind anything already open. It's frustrating to do activity to be productive while another program or process is running, complete it, and then discover that some prompt has been waiting for my reply for the last half hour so what I was waiting for was on hold the whole time.

Maybe Microsoft added a "gravity" setting--we need to increase it so the new windows float to the top.
 
Hey Mike, what are you referring to as a "new window" opening? An explorer window or a browser window?
 
What he said!

But the weird thing is that I've been running Windows 8 for years and this just started happening.

I'm talking about popup windows for things like the "Do you want to replace the files in the folder" kind of thing and some that should pop up in front for some software.

They always popped up in front before, unless you accidentally clicked in the background at the wrong time.

Mike

Ps. I just tried it with the same file, copied to the same location (one that already has another copy of the file but with a modified content) and it worked normally.

I'll see what happens over the next couple of days.
 
"Bummer, my mouse control doesn't have such a setting. Hope it works for you. "

Are you saying you do NOT have that option, in the "Ease of access" centre.
fwiw. It should, in any case, be unticked by default.
 
What he said!

But the weird thing is that I've been running Windows 8 for years and this just started happening.

I'm talking about popup windows for things like the "Do you want to replace the files in the folder" kind of thing and some that should pop up in front for some software.

They always popped up in front before, unless you accidentally clicked in the background at the wrong time.

Mike

Ps. I just tried it with the same file, copied to the same location (one that already has another copy of the file but with a modified content) and it worked normally.

I'll see what happens over the next couple of days.

That seems to be the pattern. The problem apparently goes back through all versions of Windows even to XP. It works as it should for years and then suddenly starts to misbehave for some people and not others. Interesting that your problem in Win 8 started about the same time mine did in Win 7. It almost has to be related to some update, but maybe it isn't windows, itself.

It's possible that if the code incorporates stuff from, say Java, and Java is updated, that could be what's changing the behavior, and whether or not the popups misbehave could depend on a system setting that isn't the same for everyone. But not behaving the same way each time? Gives new meaning to "the ghost in the machine".
 
"Bummer, my mouse control doesn't have such a setting. Hope it works for you. "

Are you saying you do NOT have that option, in the "Ease of access" centre.
fwiw. It should, in any case, be unticked by default.

I was looking under "Mouse". Didn't think to look under "Ease of access", but darn if you ain't right. There it was. And it was unchecked, so guess we can write off that fix.
 
Hi

Here's a screen shot...

Popupbehind_zpsf5ebe868.jpg


I was trying to delete this old Dungeons and Dragons Online folder from my Users folder.

The Conformation Window you see sticking out from behind the Explorer window appeared behind it.

I couldn't see it until I moved the window over.

Mike
 
Mike, maybe the solution is to get those X-Ray glasses they used to sell in comic books. Then we could just look right through the windows in front.
 
Hi

When I was a kid we used to get this catalog from Johnson Smith & Company.
It had all kinds of things like that in it.

X-Ray Glasses, fake alligators to put in the swimming pool, "Sure to scare your friends!", hand buzzers, sneezing powder etc.
I really wanted those X-Ray Glasses!

http://www.thingsyouneverknew.com/product/x+ray+glasses.do?from=Search&cx=0

I did buy one thing from them that I still have today.
A Carbide Cannon, I was the big man in the neighbor hood for months after I got that.

They still make them.

http://www.bigbangcannons.com/product-i15021-The_Vintage_Artillery_Toy.aspx

At first when I saw this page I was shocked at the price now.
But then I remembered that in 1950s money that was about $7.95.

It's hard to believe if you haven't lived through it.
In 1969 I bought my first BMW a 2002 for about $3,500, brand new!

There I go, talking about the good old days again.
But you did prompt me to order some ammunition for my cannon.
I'll get it out for the 4th of July.

Mike
 
Yeah, today, even nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

When I was a toddler, I had a "Bluestreak"--a little car that you sat in and peddled to make it go. The steering worked. The car was all metal. They sell ones similar today for over $200, all plastic.

I got my first car somewhere in the neighborhood of 1969, also. A top of the line Toyota Corona for $2,700.
 
BTW, those joy buzzers were a fraud. You wound them up and hid them in your hand. If you could actually squeeze someone's hand hard enough to push in the release, they made a little buzzing sound. There weren't any lightning bolts and the victim didn't even jump, let alone be propelled off the floor.

Also, that "throw your voice and trick your friends" with a little gadget you hid in your mouth--you had to read the fine print. It was a pamphlet on how to be a ventriloquist, and the gadget was a stupid noise maker (like a little duck call if you didn't choke on it), that was thrown in as a premium.

Actually, pretty much all of that stuff that you've spent your life being disappointed that you never bought because it would have made you the life of the party when you were a kid--it was all a con to steal money from the parents of the little kids. None of that stuff really worked, with the exception of that cannon.

So do you remember when Cracker Jack prizes were actually pretty neat?
 
I do remember when Cracker Jack prizes were real things made out of metal and glass, not printed on paper.
I remember sending off to someplace to get a Sky King decoder ring too.

Makes me think of the movie, A Christmas Story.

I do still have a real, 1947 Daisy Red Rider BB Gun, in perfect condition, and it still shoots too.
I can still hit a know in the tree from our back porch, about 30 feet away.

That reminds me I need to order some BBs from Amazon. LOL

Mike
 
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