Windows not coming to the front

Anonymous
2015-02-24T16:02:00+00:00

Recently, when I click on a running program in the taskbar, it is anyones guess if it will come to the front.  Google chrome behind Blizzard desktop launcher, neither clicking on the program in the taskbar nor clicking on the parts of the window visible to the side of the launcher bring it to the top.  Malwarebytes window open, world of warcraft on top of it, click it and it won't come to the front for several clicks.  Once it is on front, now clicking on wow wont bring wow to the front.  GOM media player, 3 windows open, click torrent client, comes to the front on top of 2 out of three of the gom windows.  Windows explorer windows open browsing files, bring chrome to the front on top of it, clicking explorer in the taskbar will not bring it to the front.  It seems to be totally random.  I ran malwarebytes and got rid of some adware, and for a minute it seemed like that had fixed it.  An hour later and it is happening again.  Spotify on top of file folder window, clicking explorer does not come to the front.

Any help?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2016-01-02T09:36:13+00:00

I had same problem under windows 10 x64

Tried scf/scannow but no results, the below link solved the problem(although SCF showed corrupted files) 

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-windows\_programs/newly-opened-programemail-does-not-open-in-front/fe587f90-5815-4d4a-81b5-55325019af1d

1.      Go to start and type regedit.exe.

2.      Navigate to the following location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.

3.      Double click the 'ForegroundLockTimeout' key. Change the notation to decimal.

4.      The default value should be 200000 millisecond in decimal, or 200 seconds. Click OK.

5.      Restart your computer and check if the issue persists.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-03-30T22:33:43+00:00

    Yep, that fix works sometimes - and only briefly! Soon goes again.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-03-27T19:35:00+00:00

    I have this problem on Win10, it seems to have been happening since the 1511 release, and it persists on 1607.  I hadn't realised until now that the problem was as prevalent, nor as long standing, as it is.   Looks to me like there's a defect in the Windows Window Manager that is causing it to lose track of the Z-order.

    For me this problem occur most often when I use File Manager's SendTo context menu item, the selected program sometimes doesn't come to the top.  But it has happened when I open file in File Manager, e.g. a DOCX, Word remains stuck behind File Manager. I am pretty sure the Window that should be on top, is actually at the bottom of the pile. 

    It happens randomly irrespective of whether the selected program is already running or not.

    It also happens randomly irrespective of whether a browser is running or not.

    It also happens randomly irrespective of which program shortcut I select from the SendTo list.  The items I've added to the Send To list, were originally added when I was running Win7 where this problem never manifested.  And yes, I have tried recreating the shortcuts under Win10 - made not a blind bit of difference.

    I have never installed Real Player on this computer, nor would I ever do so. I once made the mistake of installing it on my old XP system, devil's own job to get rid of it -- IMO Real Player a POS.

    I run sfc /scannow every week.  Last time there was a problem was shortly after I installed Windows 10 in Oct 2015.

    I tweaked ForegroundLockTimeout to 0, 500,000, and 1,000,000 - made no difference whatsoever, it's back to  200,000 now.

    I can't be bothered trying Safe mode, because I would not be willing to forego using any other program to get rid of this problem.   For me it's an no more that irritant, I just use WinKey+Tab to get to the program I expect to be on top.   I won't be coming back to this threat, maybe MS will fix it one day.

    MS - if you opened sourced Windows, like you've done with .NET, someone would probably find the cause in a trice and submit a patch for you to distribute in the next Patch Tuesday updates.  Imagine the cred you'd earn on the street if you did that.

    RP

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-03-12T22:17:48+00:00

    That does not work.  It appears to work at first because when you restart your PC it goes away and then comes back when you start a browser. I tried that and everything else. My suspicion was correct. It was the Real Player that has plugged itself to browser, so when you watch a video (youtube) it locks it. Since I uninstalled Real Player the problem has completely gone away for three weeks now.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-03-12T21:48:59+00:00

    perfect solution even for Win 10. in Win 10 , right click on "ForegroundLockTimeout' key then click Modify then change notation from Hex to Decimal and keep the " 200000" as it is. Restart your PC. Everything will be fine and coming to the front. Thank you 

    AH

    Ahmed_Yassin

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