Stop Windows XP applications from stealing focus
2013-07
FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
I have Windows XP Profesional here and it gets very annoying when an application that I launched five minutes ago finally brings up its main window and steals focus from the email that I'm writing (or other currently focused window). Is there any way, native to Windows XP, that I can disable this? I know some applications will just blink their title bar on the Taskbar rather than stealing focus, but they don't all behave this nicely.
I am working in a corporate environment, so there may be a limit on what extras/tools can be installed. Also, I am not sure I have access to regedit (and even if I do, Helpdesk will probably not be amused if they find I'm using it).
Darth Android
As provided by this tips & tricks article:
To prevent applications from stealing the focus from the window you are working in:
- Start Regedit
- Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop- Edit the key
ForegroundLockTimeout- Give it a value of
00030d40
You should have permission to modify this as a regular user (a corporate administrator could still lock down the setting if they really wanted to - I wouldn't see why, though). If editing the registry is not something you're comfortable with, you might also look at the program TweakXP and search for an option titled "Prevent other applications from stealing focus"
pufferfish
Is there a way to "hide" a normal windowed application in Windows?
I'm looking for something that removes it from the taskbar and possibly puts an icon in the system tray instead.
Specifically, I am looking for something that works in Windows XP.
Sebastian
Take your pick. They all minimize applications to the system tray. They're all free and work with Windows XP.
alex
I use Process Manager for this. It has a lot of other options besides putting an app in the system tray, but I use this the most.
Peter Mortensen