winXP and alt+tab

i recently upgraded to winXP professional from win98se. the problem is now i can't alt+tab. the computer doesn't freeze or anything, it just doesnt respond to the command. any help would be greatly appreciated.

thnx,
-kevin

Well I am using XP Pro and Alt tab works fine for me. A few things you should check are
A. Is the tab key broken?
B. Is the Alt key you're trying to use broken?
C. If this isn't a fresh install you may have already gotten a piece of spyware/adware/trojan/virus/worm
or
D. Something in the OS got corrupted somehow and is a possible error/not working for Alt + Tab

If it happens to be the 3rd reason look on the board at the stickied threads. They have all the information you need to remove those nasties.

You could also try the Alt-Tab power toy for Windows XP. It may tell you that you have a bad XP Upgrade - sometimes upgrades do not perform all the changes needed or some changes get messed up due to other existing system problems.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx

If the upgrade went bad, you may need to backup your files, format and reinstall. You can install XP directly if you have your 98 disk. The install will realize you are trying to upgrade and ask you to insert a disk for a qualifing product. Simply insert the 98 disk when told and switch back to the XP disk when told. This is the best way to perform an Upgrade install as it is similar to a clean install.

I second RR's saying.
I wouldn't upgrade unless it was a mission critical server, and had to...

Clean install is the way to go, expecially from a 9X to XP or W2K system.

Before you go through all that, that power toy RR mentioned is nice, gives you a picture of the program, too!

Good luck!:)

yeah i had already tried that power toy thing, still nothing. also it is a fresh install, and the keyboard i am using is brand new, both alt and tab work alone and with other keys.

-kevin

I thought you said you upgraded from 98se. Does this mean you bought an upgrade disk and installed with 98 installed first or did you completely format the hard disk and install XP. (I assume format since you said fresh)

Are you sure you don't have a program installed that is stopping the ALT-TAB from working? A system ploicy etc....

Your keyboard doesn't have one of those F-Key things thats causing your alt or tab key to be assigned a different keystroke, does it? Have you customized anything on your computer?

looks like i was wrong about the problem. the alt tab works fine MOST times. but when i am playing a game, it stops working... :mad:

Quote:

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Originally posted by kblrx
looks like i was wrong about the problem. the alt tab works fine MOST times. but when i am playing a game, it stops working... :mad:

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Many games disable ALT-TAB or even sometimes windows disables ALT-TAB when the game is run. Everquest is a good example. When XP was released switching out of the game caused it to crash so it was put on the incompatible list and Windows disabled switching out of the program. Updates have made it work with ALT-TAB. You games may have a similar update.

The is a compatibility administrator for XP that will allow you to modify game settings if it is Windows Disableing the switch, but the games may crash.

yeah everquest is the game, how can i go about doing what you said with the compatibility administrator

Here is the Sony instructions for fixing the problem, this can be found by performing a serch in their knowledge base.

Here is the solution: EverQuest: How do I get Alt +Tab to work for Windows XP
Windows XP keeps a list of program compatibility information. Up until recently, EverQuest was not built to allow Alt + Tab, and so our executable ended up in this list explicitly preventing the Alt + Tab functionality. Obviously that has changed. We are working on getting that changed. But in the meantime, if you are using Windows XP and you would like to enable Alt + Tab, there is a way to get it to work.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit. It's nearly 7 megs.

You'll need to download and install the toolkit. Then:

Open the Compatibility Administration Tool.

At the top go to Search - Query.
Search for EverQuest.
Double click the item the search finds.
Right-Click the EQGame.exe entry and choose Disable.


Here is the problem or goal:
EverQuest: How do I get Alt + Tab to work for Windows XP