Games Minimize themselves in XP

[Liquidman]

Hey, I have a problem with my games. Any game that I play will minimize itself at random times, simetimes once, sometimes in groups of 2 or 3 right after each other. I can restore most of the games and keep playing normally, but it is annoyig; and some games will freeze up after being minimized. I thought it might be some sort of adware popup or something, but there are never any windows open after the game minimizes.


P.S. I'm not a complete idiot so please don't try to tell me that im hitting the windows key or something stupid like that.

[The_Man]

I don't have an answer to your question, but my games sometimes randomly minimize but never two or three times in a row, that has only happened once when i ws using an older game. This might help when was the last time you ran a spywhere remover program? If it wasn't for a while that may be the problem but not likely.

[Tebow2000]

Make sure you are not using the combination alt+tab

[Liquidman]

I have scanned my computer with spybot S&D and Sophos Antivirus, and I am definitely not pushing any keyboard shortcuts in. Most of the games I play don't even use the keyboard; so there is no way I am pressing anything by accident. There seem to be some other forum posts around referring to problems caused by windows hotfixes. Could this be the problem?

[The_Man]

Maybe, i think there is only one window's hotfix for a game and that is allowing muiltiple users be able to play a game if they aren't on an admin account. Is your computer fully updated (i'm sure it is and don't reply if it is) so then in that case who knows because mine is fully updated and i have no problems

[Liquidman]

I still haven't really gotten anywhere with the hotfix idea; but I did find another peice of helpful information. I recently downloaded and installed the original grand theft auto game from rockstar's site, and after playing it I realized that it never minimized. When I think back, all of the other games that I play require the game disc to be in the drive in order to play. This leads me to think that there may be a problem related to the disc drive.

[Airfern]

I also have that happen quite often - regardless of whether I am playing a new or fairly old game on XP. On some of the newer games (like Vampire: Bloodlines) it happens almost every 5-10 minutes, making the game unplayable. Even games with fairly modest requirements (Diablo) cause random minimizations on a fairly frequent basis.

My computer, while not "State of the Art" more than meets the minimum hardware requirements for all of these games.

If it is a disc drive issue (as was suggested in the last comment), can it be circumvented by copying the game discs onto the hard drive (I have plenty of free space)?

Thanks
Airfern

[Liquidman]

I've played some games that don't require the CD in to play, but they still minimize. It can't be the disc drive...but what is it then?

[Forsetti]

I too have this problem with all my games. From HL2 to old games. I also notice that when I am in any other windows they will loose focus while I am working in them. If anybody out there has anymore suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.