Applications stealing focus - reg key no longer fixes

Anonymous
2010-04-08T18:42:59+00:00

I want to prevent any applications from stealing focus in windows 7 (and Vista).  Tweakui used to modify the below Registry key to 0.  Then there was a key that affected the number of flashes a "want to steal focus" window would make in the taskbar.

ForegroundLockTimeout

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

This reg key is apparently no longer working.  Focus stealing is a major problem, from canceling/oking window that pop-up, to getting virus's from IE windows.  Applications are still written to do this, including MS Office 2007.  If you are typing an email something can pop up and get the next key stroke.  I need to fix this.  Any ideas, or has Windows completely removed a needed feature.

tags: steal focus apps active regedit

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Apps

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Anonymous
2011-10-23T11:13:03+00:00

I solved the problem in this way:

I noticed that just before the focus was "stolen", the PC got "busy" for a second (beside the mouse appeared the small circle indicating the processor is working hard on sth).

So I started the Task Manager and gave a close look at the processes. I noticed that one process took over a relevat percentage of CPU usage exactly an instant before the focus was stolen from the task manager window.

Since it was a process that I don't need to be active all the time (sth about Vodafone Mobile connection, which I rarely use) I just stopped the process and then didn't allow the process to be started every time I turn on the PC. I did this last step using Piriform's free software  "CCleaner", but I'm sure you can find different tools for this...

This was enough to fix it ...

Hope this helped!

Bye!

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-05-11T14:26:38+00:00

    Is there still no fix for this problem?  We are beginning to roll out Windows 7 clients where I work and am hesitant to put out Windows 7 clients on WSUS since the reboot prompt comes up and steals the focus.  So, are users will be in the middle of typing an e-mail or word document, or worse, modifying code in a database and will reboot their computer accidentally and will not have saved their work.  If anyone has heard of a solution please let me know.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-05-16T00:54:36+00:00

    None that I'm aware of.  However the reboot prompt shouldn't be too terribly impactful... I think it might even default to "remind me later".  If not, though, the user will still get full chance to save and close their work or even cancel the shutdown.

    Try it:  open notepad, type something like 'test", then leave notepad open and choose Shutdown from your Start menu.  Notepad asks if you want to save.  If you click Cancel, the shutdown is aborted.

    That's no excuse for this focus stealing, but it shouldn't totally bar you from using WSUS.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-06-05T10:38:16+00:00

    I also share the pain... but stumbled into a workaround: Created a new user account and the issue is gone, at least for now.

    BTW, tried all the suggestions in this thread with no significant improvement. My guess is that there are multiple causes for this behavior. My 'suspects' include Flash, Firefox, Live ID services, Skype, iTunes, Picture Viewer, USB drives management... Or these might just be the victims of a bug in Explorer/Aero.. Just a though.

    Hope this helps!.

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