Automatic "de-selecting" and minimizing of windows/programs.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Hello everyone, I've been having this problem for a while now and it's
driving me crazy! Hopefully somebody here can help.

Basically I have a problem with WinXP Pro "de-selecting" any window or
program I am currently in. What I mean by this is: I have a window which I am
currently using open on my desktop. Then (at a seemingly random moment) it
will "go off" the window as if I was not using it.

I find it a little difficult to explain. But as I'm sure you know, the open
windows/program that you are currently using will have the blue title bar at
the top. Any other windows open in the background will have that bar in grey.

With me so far? Because the problem I'm having is that the window/program
I'm using will suddenly change to as if it were a background window (i.e:
blue bar turns to grey, and it no longer responds to any commands because it
now runs in the background). Regardless of what program/window is open (any
window while exploring the hard drives, Internet Explorer, Outlook e-mail
etc), I get this same problem. In fact while typing in this message, it has
already occurred twice. I can type away as normal, but then if the window
changes to background any words I type will no longer come up. I have to
click on the window again to bring it back to "active" as it were - this even
happens when using Word, where it becomes increasingly frustrating if I'm
typing out some work and then realise the last 10 words didn't show up
because Word suddenly became a "background program"!

It would appear that no windows have to be open for this problem to occur.
If I am playing a game on the computer, it will (again randomly) minimize
itself back to the desktop. I have to click on the taskbar to maximize it
again (or in some cases the game crashes completely!).

I have never encountered this problem before (I don't think the game
minimizing issue is due an error with the game - I am certain it is a
Windows problem). I am currently at a loss on how to go about solving this.

I apologise for the length of this message, but I was hoping to describe my
problem as clearly as I can. I greatly and sincerely appreciate any advice
that can be given.

Many thanks in advance.