553939 - Firefox steals focus from games when Ff is minimised

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[enjay001]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-GB; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6 GTB6 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-GB; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6 GTB6 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

If I have Firefox minimised to the taskbar then start a full screen game, The game will immediately minimise.  If I then alt-tab to restore Firefox, I can then return to the game and it stays in focus.  Starting the game with either Firefox running and not minimised or not running at all allows the game to start and remain in focus.  I think that this has only existed since Firefox 3.6

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Run Firefox and then minimise it
2. Start a Game (I have found it to happen reliably with Zdoom ( http://zdoom.org/ ) but many other games show the same problem
3. Alt-Tab to Firefox and restore it
5. Alt-Tab to the game and it will now run without minimising itself.
Actual Results:  
As soon as the game starts, it will minimise and I am left looking at my desktop (ie Firefox does not restore its window or anything).

Expected Results:  
The game should start and remain in focus and full screen.

I have tried disabling all add-ons, no effect.

I have run the games windowed, problem solved.

I have run the games with Firefox running but not minimised, problem solved.

I have tried disabling Windows Aero, no effect.

The link below is to a forum where other people have reported similar problems.  Ignore the first few posts about Aero and transparency - that made no difference to me.  The culprit for me is definitely Firefox and only when Firefox is minimised.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistagaming/thread/a682766a-5e82-4f34-ae53-22e87bc8874f

However, I have asked a few people I know about the problem and it doesn't happen for them.

Sorry if this is a repeat report.  I did try and search for it but I didn't find it.

Comment 1

[enjay001]

Still present in 3.6.2

Comment 2

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Reporter, are you still seeing this issue with Firefox 3.6.13 or later in safe mode? If not, please close. These links can help you in your testing.
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles

You can also try to reproduce in Firefox 4 Beta 8 or later, there are many improvements in the new version, http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Comment 3

[enjay001]

I no longer have this problem.  However, I have moved from Windows Vista to Windows 7 and have also changed graphics drivers and other things about my computer so I am unable to confirm whether it would still happen in the original configuration of my machine.

I think it is safe to close this though.