Active window suddenly 'deselects' & goes inactive.

[skytop]

While I am using (for example) Outlook Express and typing text in an email, suddenly, the Outlook Express window will 'deselect.' It is just like something selected another window to become active. The OutExp title bar on top goes gray and I cannot enter any text. I click on the Outlook window to select it and it becomes active for 1 second and then goes inactive again. I have to go through this for about 5 times until the window remains active and I can continue typing. It has happened in other programs as well.

This only happens once or twice a day during an 8 hour period so I doubt that it is a virus. Is there possibly a Windows shortcut that uses the CTRL key and a letter that I am accidentally striking while typing?

I have not changed any hardware since this before this started happening. I cannot figure out what is causing this 'deslecting' activity. Anyone with any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks!

[BipolarBill]

This is called "stealing focus". Another application is doing it. Kill off any new programs that may be running in the background. Look in the system tray for them.

Here's a good tip:

http://www.certificationsuccess.com/index.cfm?pageid=289&siteid=1

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22stealing+focus%22

[skytop]

Hi Bill:
Thanks for naming the problem and the links. I am tracking down a possible solution now.

Best/ skytop

[skytop]

Stealing focus:

I downloaded Tweak UI and followed these directions. Hopefully, this will help:

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Ever get annoyed when programs will jump up at you and grab focus, and sometimes what you're typing? Ever accidentally IMed somebody who's just popped you message?

There is a solution, if you're running Windows XP:

Download and install the TweakUI Powertoy
Open TweakUI, and enable General > Focus > "Prevent applications from stealing focus"
OK
That's it!

Also, Bill referred me to:

Prevent other Applications from Stealing Focus
To prevent applications from stealing the focus from the window you are working

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop
Edit the key ForegroundLockTimeout
Give it a value of 00030d40

and lastly......from http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/sampchap/6232.asp#102

Focus
When an application needs your attention—or when it simply wants to annoy you—it steals the focus from the application in which you’re currently working. This leads to frustration as you flip back and forth between windows. The settings in the Focus category prevent that scenario by causing applications to flash their taskbar buttons to get your attention rather than stealing focus from the application in the foreground.
Table 5-2 describes the settings in the Focus category. The default value for ForegroundLockTimeout is 0x00030D40, or 200000. This value is the time in milliseconds before Windows XP allows an application to steal the focus from the foreground application. To convert 200000 to seconds, divide it by 1000 (200 seconds). You see the value ForegroundFlashCount in the table twice, because setting it to 0 causes the taskbar button to flash until you click it; otherwise, the taskbar button flashes the number of times you set in ForegroundFlashCount.

Table 5-2 Values in Focus

Setting Name Type Data
HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop
Prevent applications from stealing focus ForegroundLockTimeout REG_DWORD N
Flash taskbar button until I click on it ForegroundFlashCount REG_DWORD 0x00
Flash taskbar button N times ForegroundFlashCount REG_DWORD N