hey,

I have a problem, lfs keeps jumping to windows (desktop) when ever some program has a msg (like nod32 updated, torrent download complete, icq msg, gmail notifier, rasmaster reconnecting).. it's not that it jumps to window mode (like shift + f4) it just minimizes itself and I loose control over the car.. when i click the icon in the taskbar it goes back. Now, most of you would say that the logical soulution would be to shutdown all programs.. well I tried that, and when there is no apparent program that would cause this problem.. it still jumps to windows.. this can happen like every 10 min or every 30 min but it is ANNOYING (last lap.. 1st position and then i hit a wall cause of the stupid "jump to windows")..

if anyone has any idea how to make LFS "always on top" please help.. my friend had a similar problem, and next time he formated his hard drive it went away.. but i'm not formating so plz keep spining some solutions.. thanx.

p.s. (it's not just in online gaming, it happens in single player, even if i'm just in the menu..)

I think it's not possible for any program (e.g. LFS) to tell Windows not to let other programs appear. This is an eternal problem with using a desktop computer as a games machine. And remember Windows is a bit of a bodge job, with new things always built on top of the old, by thousands of programmers who only communicate loosely with each other, sometimes, and that's why every new version of Windows consumes more of your system resources and is more and more difficult to set up the way you want it.

If you want to run software that pops up at you randomly, I guess you should run LFS a maximised window, not full screen.

But really, you need to shut down all those programs before running any game in full screen.

did u not read my post? it still happens after all of the programs are shut down..

Yes I read it. But it must be that not all the programs are shut down, or else there wouldn't be that pop-up that causes LFS to minimise. Even if that pop-up doesn't stay there, or you never see it at all, I think something is happening that you don't want to happen. It's definitely not LFS doing it. Something is causing Windows to minimise LFS.

You will need to investigate further and probably use some special software to really see what's running. But firstly - have you looked in the task manager (CTRL-ALT-DELETE) and clicked on the Applications tab? I hope there is nothing in that list (for starters). Then you'll need to have a good look in the Processes list. I don't know how experienced you are with Windows but maybe it would be good to post a screen shot of the Processes list and maybe someone here will be able to advise you what you need to shut down.

Press alt + space right after going from LFS to desktop. Sometimes this reveals program that stole focus.

I am quite experienced with windows and I did shut down all of the stuff in the applications list, including antivirus, yproxy etc.. only the internet connection "monitors" were left (and sound speaker icon).. i will try hackerx's idea and get back to you.. if that does not reveal the problem, I will post screenshots of the task manager.

Has the start of this problem coinsided with the installation of a firewall? You may need to take a good look at your firewall settings if you're running one - sometimes it decided that "program X is trying to access the internet" and gives a pop-up saying so.

I've never experienced LFS minimizing (with some of the programs you mentioned anyway - GTalk, MSN) but I've had other programs stealing focus and making my wheel revert to the default profiler settings - ie. wheel changes to 200deg rotation and all the button commands are reset to default - but Options -> Global Profiler Settings -> Apply Persistent Profile -> LFS seems to sort this out and you should do this if you want to run programs in the background whilst running LFS.

Scawen, are you sure that there is no way to stop other programs from stealing focus in LFS? I know that in Quake 3 it is somehow disabled (you can't even alt+tab), but it doesn't work when not in full screen either. If there was a way to force LFS to be in focus when in full screen but not when minimized, that would be great. Doesn't bother me much either way but it might be helpful for others.

I had an install about 6 months back, that would always steal focus from whatever the active program was. I couldn't figure out why, I ran it with minimum (not even explorer was running) and it still would lose focus. I ended up just going "Sod off" and reinstalling windows (non-format) and that fixed it.

I would eliminate all the unneeded services and additional programs running at startup with msconfig to see if the problem vanishes, then put them back using the same msconfig. If that fails, I would take a look at some of the programs to show hidden windows and even hidden tasks. I can't remember at the moment the name of the diagnostic stuff I use for the hidden windows, I seldom use them, but you have plenty of options for processes: icesword, gmer, process explorer and a wealth of other tools.

I have a similar problem. I suspect its HP printer software checking for updates.

My LFS concern is this: no other game kicks me out to the desktop. LFS is the only one that does not properly deal with this update program starting up in windows.