Alt-tab window won't stay on top of other windows in Windows 7

Anonymous
2009-11-19T20:44:44+00:00

WHen I do an alt-tab in Windows 7, if I don't constantly switch window (holding down alt and quickly clicking tab) it will go into Peek mode.  Normally, I would expect the alt-tab window to stay on top when the Peek happens, but, instead my little alt-tab window disappears behind the windows being brought forward by the Peek.  I can still cycle through the windows by pushing alt-tab, but my window has disappeared.  When I tried this on someone else's Windows 7 box, it didn't do this.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2010-02-28T22:23:49+00:00

Go to Control Panel -> Advanced (or Advanced System Settings) -> in the section Performance click on "Settings..." button -> in the custom list of Visual Effects uncheck "Enable Aero Peek" -> click "Apply" button

Now the alt-tab window will stay afloat as long as you want.

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Anonymous
2011-02-13T05:18:48+00:00

I recently starting having this problem.

In my case, I've narrowed it down to the Windows Gadgets (i.e. sidebar.exe). Once I closed all my gadgets, the problem went away; alternatively, when I killed sidebar.exe, the problem went away.

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Anonymous
2009-11-20T17:44:29+00:00

Hi,

Welcome to Microsoft answers.

Which version of Windows7 are you running ?

I suggest you to update your display drivers, goto manufacturers website and download the latest drivers and install.

Also check use aeropeak to preview desktop, follow these steps:

  1. Right click on your desktop.
  2. Goto personalize.
  3. On the left bottom corner click on Taskbar and Start Menu.
  4. Check use aeropeak to preview desktop.

Let us know if you have any issues.

Thanks and Regards,

Azam - Microsoft Support.

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Anonymous
2010-01-05T19:32:31+00:00

OK.  I think I have the answer...I logged on to my computer with a different account and did not see the same Alt-tab problems I had before.  Assuming this was a profile issue, I logged in as an admin and deleted my profile (My Computer|Properties|Advanced System Settings|User Profiles|Settings).  I logged back in and don't have the alt-tab problem anymore.  You will end up losing a lot of your settings and don't forget to back up your desktop and Favorites, but, it works.

I would like to hear if this fixes the problem for anyone else.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-11-29T13:25:03+00:00

    Your solution seems unnecessarily complex for this problem. The problem the OP describes is easily worked around by:

    1. Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Performance Information and Tools\Advanced Tools
    2. Click on Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows
    3. Under the 'Visual Effects' tab, uncheck the "Enable Aero Peek" option.
    4. Apply or click OK.

    But this is just a work around. Aero Peek is a nice feature but this work-around disables it completely.

    The answer provided by kotpierdzibonk actually addresses the cause of this:

    1. Open task manager.
    2. End the process 'sidebar.exe'.

    Doing this should allow Aero Peek to function in a reasonable way. However, now you don't have gadgets anymore..

    This is surely a bug with Windows that apparently has not been addressed in over two years. The source of the bug seems to be a clash between SideBar and Aero Peek. It likely will never get fixed either, so I guess you must decide between SideBar and Aero Peek, or just live with the intolerably annoying guess-work to figure out which windows are open after the alt-tab window gets hidden by a preview window..

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