City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Win7: ALT-TAB not working in full screen?

Bill Z Bubba

By Bill Z Bubba,
Posted on: 2010-04-23 07:21 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs

 

Posted

Good morning:

I'm still stress-testing a Dell box I picked up last week with Win7 installed. In XP, I was able to alt-tab easily between multiple applications, even if they were in full screen mode (COH, for instance). I could also hit the Window key to bring up the Start menu.

In Win7, I'm unable to do that. COH stays perma-on top basically, preventing me to shift focus from COH to something else (Chrome, IE, Notepad, etc). Win-Tab is also likewise disabled.

I have a feeling this is an easy question. The only other post I saw in relation to this problem recommended going into maximized desktop mode - this can't be the final answer, is it? I was able to do this w/o issue in XP for six years running.

If there's a thread or post where this is discussed in detail, please direct me and I'll head there for investigation. Thanks.

 

Posted

Make sure you're using an Aero theme. If not, choose one of them, then retry. I had to enable an Aero theme to get alt-tabbing to work on my new rig with Win7.

Be well, people of CoH.

 

Posted

I have the same issue and using an Aero theme didn't fix it. I've worked around it by using ctrl alt del to pull up process monitor and thus regain control. I wish I knew why the aero theme fix didn't work for me

 

Posted

Emberly, are you running the 10.3s from ATI?

Be well, people of CoH.

 

Posted

Reverting to one of the default Desktop themes, fixed this for me as well. You may have to re-enable Aero. Also, what kind of video cards do you have? If it's ATI, I've heard that the upcoming 10.4 drivers may solve this issue.

Edit: Just spotter Bill Z's question to Emberly. I'm still running the 10.1 drivers.

 

Posted

When it comes to ATi's drivers, one thing I've pretty much always stuck to is this:

Run the latest drivers unless they actually break something. I didn't consider the "change shadows in game, have FPS plummet" a break, especially when using /reloadgfx fixed it.

Be well, people of CoH.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba View Post
Emberly, are you running the 10.3s from ATI?
Yep, running the 10.3 drivers.

I think something's up somewhere because when I start the game, it shuts off Aero effects and goes right to basic, but when I go into display properties it shows Aero as being enabled. When I exit the game, Aero re-enables itself. So to recap, Aero theme enabled, starting CoX disables the Aero effects but does not change the theme, and closing CoX re-enables Aero effects.

It's an issue with both my machine and my wife's, both running 10.3 drivers, both running 5xxx series cards, both using dual monitors. This issue has persisted through a reformat and a full reinstall of CoX so I have basically accepted it, but I sure would love a fix. I have tried running maximized windowed mode but it's just not for me.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emberly View Post
Yep, running the 10.3 drivers.

I think something's up somewhere because when I start the game, it shuts off Aero effects and goes right to basic, but when I go into display properties it shows Aero as being enabled. When I exit the game, Aero re-enables itself. So to recap, Aero theme enabled, starting CoX disables the Aero effects but does not change the theme, and closing CoX re-enables Aero effects.

It's an issue with both my machine and my wife's, both running 10.3 drivers, both running 5xxx series cards, both using dual monitors. This issue has persisted through a reformat and a full reinstall of CoX so I have basically accepted it, but I sure would love a fix. I have tried running maximized windowed mode but it's just not for me.
As Bill said, install the 10.4s when they come out (should be next week). I'm running a preview version of them right now, and am able to alt+tab while in fullscreen regardless of whether or not I have Aero enabled.

Positron: "There are no bugs [in City of Heroes], just varying degrees of features."

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Goliath Bird Eater View Post
As Bill said, install the 10.4s when they come out (should be next week). I'm running a preview version of them right now, and am able to alt+tab while in fullscreen regardless of whether or not I have Aero enabled.
Oh nice I had no idea that there was a preview out. I will have to grab them and test (on my wife's machine bwahahaha).

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emberly View Post
Oh nice I had no idea that there was a preview out. I will have to grab them and test (on my wife's machine bwahahaha).
If I were you, I'd wait until the official release version. Like I said, it should be next week sometime. I just installed the preview version because I'd already tried every other Catalyst release during the I17 closed beta.

Positron: "There are no bugs [in City of Heroes], just varying degrees of features."

 

Posted

Yeah, switched back to a default Aero theme, disabled/re-enabled, still no effect. If I'm in COH, I can't alt-tab or win-tab. I can in STO and MW2 so far, I think.

Looks like the 10.4 drivers are the win here. I'll be watching and will update when released. Thanks for the tips, all.

 

Posted

I've had odd issues with CoH and alt-tabbing in Windows 7 with an nVidia card. It seems that when the game loads, unless it goes to full-screen then Aero is disabled. When that happens, alt-tabbing from CoH to another program and back causes the game graphics to freeze until alt-tab back and forth again.

@Demobot

Also on Steam

 

Posted

Alt-Tab stopped working under Win7 for me as well.

As was stated by another previously, I use Ctl-Alt-Delete to bring up the process monitor, which also gives me access to my taskbar. Sometimes, though, I notice ProcMon will not display over CoV, and I have to click the set of keys twice - but eventually it will work.

I would revert desktop themes, but I like the one I have and this work-around isn't too much trouble.

-mouse

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by IncredibleMouse View Post
Alt-Tab stopped working under Win7 for me as well.

As was stated by another previously, I use Ctl-Alt-Delete to bring up the process monitor, which also gives me access to my taskbar. Sometimes, though, I notice ProcMon will not display over CoV, and I have to click the set of keys twice - but eventually it will work.

I would revert desktop themes, but I like the one I have and this work-around isn't too much trouble.

As previously indicated, if you have an ATI card, try updating to Catalyst 10.3 or 10.4. It fixed the issue for me.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by drogoh View Post
As previously indicated, if you have an ATI card, try updating to Catalyst 10.3 or 10.4. It fixed the issue for me.
10.3 here, ain't working for me. Holding out for 10.4 though, it's just another week.

 

Posted

Bumping because the 10.4 drivers have fixed my alt+tab issues; hope they do the same for you Turgenev.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emberly View Post
Bumping because the 10.4 drivers have fixed my alt+tab issues; hope they do the same for you Turgenev.
Ah, very nice. I was watching yesterday morning/afternoon, but in the evening, I kinda was focused on badging. Thanks for the tip, I'll try this and test it out tonight/tomorrow!