Full Screen Games Are Auto-tabbing Out On Me
So here's my problem: Whenever I'm in a full screen game (World of Warcraft, Fallout 3), the game will automatically minimize and I'll be returned to the desktop. This can happen two or three times in a row, and could occur as often as every 15-30 minutes. As you might imagine, this is infuriating and it's making it impossible to play.
This started happening maybe a week or two ago, after I was keylogged and had my account in World of Warcraft screwed with. I downloaded the free BitDefender trial and got rid of the malware. Now I don't know if my current problem is being caused by something screwy in BitDefender's settings, or an issue with my registry (I had to delete some files BitDefender quarantined, and I didn't have any backup).
I need to know which is the cause of my problem, if either, so that I can properly address it. I like BitDefender and if it's the cause of my problem I'd like a way to fix it. If it's my registry, then I need to purchase a registry cleaner capable of restoring things to working order. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Comments
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I've got same problem.
It happens 2-3 times. Not only in fullscreen games. My current window loses focus 2-3 times too.0 -
Hello Premonition2035 and MethoD,
Please try this workaround before BitDefender releases a fix. Start BitDefender switch to advanced view now it depends what BitDefender solution you are using I mean BitDefender Antivirus,BitDefender Internet Security or BitDefender Total Security. If you are using BitDefender Total Security you must go to the tweaks section in other BitDefender versions it is named game/laptop mode.
Now uncheck enter game mode when in full screen. After that press on manage games now navigate to the installation folder of your games and select the executable to start the game select enabled press on ok. Now when you want to play a game you need to right click on the red BitDefender icon near the system tray and press on enter game mode. If it still fails uncheck automatic game mode.
Kind regards,
Niels0 -
Thank you, Niels. I tried messing with the game mode settings before, since it was an obvious contender for problems, but I'll follow your directions to the letter and see if that helps. But I'll tell ya, between this and the trouble BitDefender has allowing Windows Vista updates, it's caused quite a bit of frustration. Oh well, no anti-virus program is perfect, and at least this one is actually capable of protecting your computer!
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Thank you, Niels. I tried messing with the game mode settings before, since it was an obvious contender for problems, but I'll follow your directions to the letter and see if that helps. But I'll tell ya, between this and the trouble BitDefender has allowing Windows Vista updates, it's caused quite a bit of frustration. Oh well, no anti-virus program is perfect, and at least this one is actually capable of protecting your computer!
I followed the directions to the letter and World of Warcraft is still leaving full screen mode at irregular (but frequent) intervals. Is there an ETA on a fix? I upgraded to BD AV 2009 recently and between this and the update issues I had at install I definitely wouldn't recommend the product.0 -
Yeah, I can't get it to stop auto-tabbing out on me. I'm still only on the trial, and if I can't get it fixed soon, then I'll be on the market for a new anti-virus program. BitDefender just isn't worth this kind of hassle, no matter how good it is. That said, are there any more suggestions as to how to overcome this? Or suggestions for another program that can give me this kind of protection minus the ridiculous hassle?
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The problem is rather new and don't know anything about it. I'll ask around to find out if anything is going wrong with game safe module and I'll get back to you ASAP.
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The problem is rather new and don't know anything about it. I'll ask around to find out if anything is going wrong with game safe module and I'll get back to you ASAP.
Florin please look here also ,on the romanian forum: http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=9355
Read also the XPC link topic ,to see how strange it appears.It may be related to Nvidia drivers
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I've got same problem.
It happens 2-3 times. Not only in fullscreen games. My current window loses focus 2-3 times too.
The same problem here. It has been happening since my "upgrade" from IS 2008 to 2009. Even Media Player Classic switches from full screen to a small window informing that it lost focus because of seccenter.exe which is a part of BD IS 2009. Very annoying.0 -
I've got same problem.
It happens 2-3 times. Not only in fullscreen games. My current window loses focus 2-3 times too.
The same problem here. It has been happening since my "upgrade" from IS 2008 to 2009. Even Media Player Classic switches from full screen to a small window informing that it lost focus because of seccenter.exe which is a part of BD IS 2009. Very annoying.
I've noticed this before myself, though perhaps only once or twice. The only other thing I do besides playing computer games is surfing the web or typing in Microsoft Word or BlueJ (Java IDE) for schoolwork, so it's not nearly as noticeable as being forced out of a game screen. But it is there. Anyway, thank you, Florin, for whatever support you may be able to give. I've got 11 days left on my trial, and I'm not upgrading until this nonsense is either solved or there's word of a fix coming soon. $79.95 for 3 licenses for 1 year, when I can hardly even play my computer games? Silly BitDefender, no cash for you!0 -
I bought the new anti-virus today, and I can't play any game anymore, because the auto-alt-tabbing is way too frequent and random. I really need this fixed, is there anyway I can shut down the antivirus temporary until im finished playing games. I really need a solution...
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I thought the purpose of game mode was to minimize the impact of the resident programs so they don't interfere with the game performance? I have my setting disabled and I haven't had any problems running full screen programs and losing the focus back to the desktop.
Can someone post a screen shot of the message indicating the seccenter.exe caused the game to lose focus?0 -
Yes, RobbyG, I would think that the purpose of the game mode would be to minimize BitDefender's impact while playing computer games. However, things don't always work as intended. That's beside the point now anyway. As I think we've been getting at, this problem is not specific to playing games, as you will lose focus in whatever window you are currently working in. Indeed, I have game mode off, and the problem persists whether I'm playing a game or, just now, writing this response in Word (twice in a row!).
And why do you need a screenshot? As confirmation? This problem started as soon as I downloaded the free trial, and I have nothing else on my computer that would be causing the problem. There are others here who will tell you the same thing. Besides, I wouldn't know where to look for confirmation that it was BitDefender causing the problem. I don't have anything giving me feedback like that. Leon108, on the other hand, mentioned that Media Player Classic gave him a message saying that it was seccenter.exe that caused the program to lose focus. He can give you a screenshot if you need proof.0 -
I thought the purpose of game mode was to minimize the impact of the resident programs so they don't interfere with the game performance? I have my setting disabled and I haven't had any problems running full screen programs and losing the focus back to the desktop.
Can someone post a screen shot of the message indicating the seccenter.exe caused the game to lose focus?
This is a very strange bug.Sometimes the gaming mode works as supposed and the detection works properly ,without anoying minimizing,sometimes turning off the autodetection solves the problem with the minimizing(althoug the annoying miinimizing happens when autodetection is on) and sometimes even turning off the autodetection in the interface has no effect ,the setting being ignored (minimizing occuring all the time).
I installed BD 2009 twaice on the same computer(some driver issues) and the behaviour was different.The only differences were that i used another Nvidia driver and the fact that i started a game before updating BD 2009(the antivirus was the pure outdated trial version and in a clean install).
The driver was Forceware 178.13 on the bug install and 175.16 on the good install.
The link i provided express a issue of someone that had no problems with an Nvidia 8600 but while he upgraded to a 9800GT overclocked had the issue.The drivers somehow influenced in his case the frequency of occurence.He tried a lot of troubleshooting because of the minimizing(which did not occured while using 8600)but the only solution ,while using a 9800GT,to get rid of the problem was uninstalling BD.
On the other hand minimizinf to tray occures generally (not talking about a system with BD) when there is a problem with system RAM,Direct X installation ,video driver or VIDEO CARD OVERHEATING.
Having in mind that every new Nvidia driver brings new features with the price of Celsius degrees plus we may think the somehow there may be a relation between the GPU and BD ,maybe CUDA ?!!(just a theory)0 -
Thanks for the info Sm3K3R. I have BD installed on my laptop which doesn't have an Nvidia graphics chip so maybe that is why I don't see the problem. I run another AV program on my main computer that has a Nvidia 9600GT chip, but based on this thread I don't think I'll be installing BD on it anytime soon.
Hopefully the devs will be able to resolve the problem soon!0 -
I am having the same problem. My graphics card is Ati Radeon HD 3850 not overclocked.
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Same here, same problem but i have grew to ignore it
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I dont understand, disabling anything about game mode doesnt work,.. this particular problem is on for at least 2 months and its not alone. How come most things are still at the point zero. Why dont u have beta version for a year then so its tested+fixed well enough before u give out the final product. I still have 270 days, but i doubt anything will be changed till then. I love BD, but this focus-loosing-thing is so annoying. I know you guys r doing hard job on it, but reading this forum.. it looks like there are many major bugs still in it.
PS: I know this one looks too harsh. Had to bring this out. Sorry.
Have a nice day, zbe.0 -
Having the same problem here, trying different things out. Today I tried disabling "automatic vulnerability checking" . Played for 40 minutes and no alt tabbing. Since the problem is random, all post here it the problem occurs. Tried disabling real time protection and antiphising protection but problem still occurs. Disabling automatic game mode also does not work. So it probably has nothing to do with these options. Keep trying out each option and let you know if one works. Until they do a fix that's the best we can do.
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New BD AV 2009 user here. I bought this the other day because of its high rating as far as virus/malware handling efficiency goes, plus the promise of non-interference with games.. "Game Mode"....
... and I've been struggling with Game mode ever since.
The sudden minimizing of games is fairly frequent, sometimes a couple of times in a few seconds, more often 3 or 4 times a game. Other apps, such as my browser, simply become non-current (I'm guessing that's the "lose focus" people on this thread are talking about) These are frequent enough to be irritating/aggravating.
Solution attempts.. I took all steps reducing the "Automatic Game Mode" right down to disabling it entirely, but it STILL automatically goes to game mode when I launch a game. And if anything the game minimizing is somewhat more frequent now.
I noticed that "Laptop Mode" was on by default, I have a desktop, so I turned that off. No help.
I've gone through all of the settings throughout the utility and have switched some off temporarily, and checked, but the problem continues. I can't find anything that this utility does that should cause it to need to become the current app on such an irregular but frequent intervals.
We should not have to disable features for which we bought this utility in order to get it to function correctly. (but when we do, the feature should become disabled!) I'm posting here partly to keep this thread bumped up, hoping someone will come up with the solution that works for everybody, and to keep the BitDefender people aware that it is an ongoing problem, causing concern for a lot of new customers.
The rig I use this utility on is over 3 years old, has been rock solid all this time, no issues at all, certainly no game/network issues using the same router/dsl connect. (ZA+AV was previously used for protection, but it seemed to be becoming more intrusive/less effective for me, had to disable it more often, and finally uninstalled it)
Hope we can figure this out, I'll post back if I find something that helps.
-FreeLance0 -
...PLUS....
If/when it becomes necessary to temporarily disable/kill BD entirely in order to get some peace from these minimizing problems, it should be easy and intuitive to temporarily turn BD off entirely. It is NOT.
Perhaps Game mode should offer this as an option... if you to go game mode, it suspends ALL BD activity completely until Game mode is turned back off. This could be a partial solution until they find out what the underlying problem is.
Luck to us
-FreeLance0 -
Ok.. I tried CHJunior's solution.. and disabled "Vulnerability CHecking"... and it worked
perfectly. No minimizing, no loss of focus, back to normal.
I didn't think that would work because why would Vuln. Checking be THAT active.. to give SO many of these instances of minimizing? and so irregularly? But that indeed seems to have been the cause.
Fact is, it is something I can easily live without... who needs an update on whether their admin password is weak SO often and badly enough to warrant all this trouble? I already KNOW I haven't installed every dang thing Microsoft wants to do to my rig's OS. So... I'll leave it off.
But.. why does Vuln Checking have to be that active? Given its tasks, and the nature of its output, it could easily be left as a "Scan for Vulnerabilities" button on the General page.. leave it as an on demand thing. Not evey little thing has to be automated.
Anyhow... thanks CHJ
-FreeLance0 -
Have been trying disabling the Automatic Vulnerability Check in the advance view mode for more time now. And looks like it really fixes the problem. But there is another problem, sometimes the vulnerability enables itself back again. When a just minimize the bitdefender window it keeps disabled but sometimes when I close the window it simply turns back on. So be careful when testing this. Make sure the vulnerability keeps disabled. Bitdefender support should look for a fix in vulnerability to stop alt-tabbing, it does not have anything to do with game mode.
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Ive got the same problem too..its so annoying...playing world of warcraft it just alt tabs out of the game and shrinks it....if im watching a movie full screen ....it alt tabs out of full scr mode......and yea its completely random! sumtimes it happens like every minute for about 20minutes? sometimes it doesnt happen at all for half the day...but it only seems to happen when you are connected to the net...so far as i can tell....
also!....ive been trying to trace some kind of dirt it mite leave behind or anything ..when it happens...and what ive found is.....well for me...
when im playing world of warcraft...im so used to the alt tabbing now that my fingers are already on the alt tab buttons before the screen gets to fully shrink! so that i can bring it up asap......but when im quick enuff to alt tab before its fully shrunk...or pretty early!!...got my finger on alt ...tap the tab button....finger off tab....and keep finger on alt!!! and youll see the world of warcraft icon AS WELL AS the mystery INTERNET EXPLORER icon!! thats been popping up and shrinking our screens!!! its there for a split second then its GONE! but thats the only visual evidence ive discovered about its existance and form....
therefore up till now ive been scrounging around the net trying to look for ways to disable internet explorer in the hope that that will make a diff...if not...then i need to find sum kind of logger that will tell me what it was when it pops up...
oh well...hope this helps....ill check bak every now n again...0 -
Same thing happens to me in world of warcraft. It is erratic, but has occurred both on my Dell Laptop and my custom-built desktop. I've added WoW.exe to the list, but it doesn't stop it (although, it seems less frequent.) This is ironic, as one of the main reasons I bought BD was it's "game mode" option.
I am also having critical error crashes with BD IS 2009, so this isn't my only issue.. I wish they'd get these issues straightened out.
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I have a 2 year license and it would be awesome if they fix the minimizing issue.
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We are still trying to fix this but due to no replies with proper logs to the support and lack of data we cannot track the issue and replicate it.
Everybody that was contacted by support please send the logs and all the things necessary so that they can evaluate and fix this. If you haven't contacted yet support please do that.
This is not a support forum and people are not qualified for technical answers, but I and the other moderators are reporting all that is present here.0 -
We are still trying to fix this but due to no replies with proper logs to the support and lack of data we cannot track the issue and replicate it.
Everybody that was contacted by support please send the logs and all the things necessary so that they can evaluate and fix this. If you haven't contacted yet support please do that.
This is not a support forum and people are not qualified for technical answers, but I and the other moderators are reporting all that is present here.
Man..i never thought i encounter most of the bugs in bitdefender, 1st there is a false positive problem (solved), and then undetected malware (Unsolved, although it have been promised to be solved), the third one is unresponsive updating service (partially solved) and the 4th one is this ? I experienced that too..i thought it was normal the windows keep on minimizing.
Ok,..enough babbling, here's the real question:
I try to make logs file using sysdump utilities and fileinfo2008,..the thing is, is it normal the sysdump utilities keep running for about half hour and not closing at all (the progress bar seems not move at all).
Cheers0 -
Hi again all.
Strange story evolving here, related to the SAME problem.
I got an email on Friday requesting information about this problem, but it hadn't occurred for so long that I had forgotten about it. I checked through B.D. settings to answer questions, and replied.
And the problems came back with a vengeance. Out of focus a LOT. But no game minimizing. And... I know why now.
I have "automatic updates" set to check every 24 hours. It is, instead, checking and updating FAR more often... at present, it runs 4 checks/updates an hour or so.. two in one or two minutes, then a half hour, then another two in one or two minutes. And while it is updating, even though it is supposed to run silently, it takes focus away.
Why no game minimizing? Because I had found the setting to skip updates while game mode is on.
Once it skips one update because of that, it discontinues trying to update that frequently. But if you hit "Update now" it resumes the crazy schedule.
So this auto update thing is running amok, and I will turn it off for a while after checking a bit further for logging purposes.
Does this mean "Vulnerability checking" is not the problem? I"m not sure. If Auto Updating is supposed to run in the background, but is in fact interfering with the games and other apps, then possibly other features are doing the same. And if the "time elapsed" scheduling is malfunctioning for auto updates, maybe it's not working for other tasks either.
So.. just about all automatic "background" features of B.D. are now shut off on my computer, and auto updates will soon be as well, which is sad. I hope they put all these "periodic" tasks on a definable schedule, instead of a time elapsed schedule. So I can schedule them when they'll interfere the least.
-FL
P.S. I have written 4 update emails to BD tech support this weekend, outlining my recent experience with this issue.0 -
Just for further info....
I sent along the two files located in:
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BitDefender\DTrace\
called livesrv.log and upgrepl.log
... but the link that was sent to me in Friday's email regarding another
utility that was supposed to generate information wouldn't work.
Seeing in other places on this forum that a file called "sysdump.exe" was needed to do troubleshooting, I went to the website and downloaded it.
I ran the executable, but it popped up an error message saying it couldn't find a file on the CD... so I hit "Browse" and directed it to the directory where it was unpacking to.. and that did not help, the file it was looking for was not there either. So.. I cancelled the execution of the file, and so I got no completed installation and therefore no results from it to send along.
-FL0 -
Ok...in addition to my last msg...ive managed to track down the urls of the pop up that leaves no trace wen it pops up and shrinks the screen...
Im no computer wizz or anything so the rest i leave into your guys fully capable hands to find out exactly what the ###### these ppl are doing =o
so plz analize these sites if u could and let us no how u get on plz !!
(BTW...this first link doesnt bring up a site for me wen i click it...but its the url of the pop up that pops up for me)
http://www.5181888.cn/client_geturls.php?m...;location_url=1
also i have a feeling that this next link has some kind of conneciton to the one above as well......
http://www.client-get-data.com/iphao.html
i scoped around abit to do with these links ...i didnt understand much of it but ...this nxt link i suspect is maybe what the program/ programs being used to cause us grief are....
and lastly....
heres a link to another forum that closed the thread pretty early coz of no response...but its got sum info that you might find useful...ok ...looking foward to what you guys come up with!!! GUD LUCK!!!0 -
4 months and this isn't fixed !! I just 'upgraded' from BD9 and this is a deal breaker for me. If it isn't fixed in 14 days I want a refund.
Company of Heroes tabbed out 6 times in 3 hours today - this is a critical issue for an application that trumpets its superior game compatibility.
Fix it NOW.
Contact me if you need logs etc.0 -
These problems aren't caused by game mode and there isn't a fixed pattern that can indicate what is leading to this. Developers are already wotrking on this. Please send all these type of problems to the support with all the logs that they're asking so that it can be properly fixed.
Also the first problem that was posted here was fixed earlier. In the mean time there seems to be a problem with something else and several patches are being tested and will be soon issued to users.
These problems aren't residing in BitDefender GameSafe and you can use that solution giving the fact that is a custom product for gamers.0 -
I've got reports that this problem isn't related entirely to BitDefender and that is a case of updating windows. FreeLance gave a lot of feedback to the support and apparently only by updating your OS the problem went away by itself.
So everybody that still has this problem and has already updated their windows installation with latest patches please go to support and help them in getting more information about this.
Also it would be nice if you provide some logs to the support so that we can track the update/patch from Windows that resolved this in the first place.
Thanks.0 -
To Orbit.... but for all....
I play Company of Heroes as well, and when my game was Alt-Tabbing out.. (minimizing) it would sometimes do it 3 times in 5 seconds... so I hear ya. A REAL nuisance, especially when someone's trying to overrun you and you need to micro like wild...
But hang in...
I am no longer having any kind of issue like this at all, and though I'm not certain yet what has fixed it, and though I'm really that confident yet that I won't see it again in the future, I have tried enough things that ... the problems have disappeared.
Try doing these things...
1. Run Windows Update.. direct it to install ALL "critical updates" and as well, any driver hardware updates such as may be listed in the Windows Update utility. (I did NOT install service pack 3 as yet)
2. Go into the B.D. utility interface, switch it to "advanced view", hit the "Update" tab on the side, choose the "settings" tab at the top, and set the timing of updates so it SHOULD be updating every ... 24 hours or so.. (multiple of that if necessary, so it SHOULD do the update at a consistent time) and at the bottom as well, make sure you have checks in all 3 of the bottom lines especially where it says "Don't Update if Game Mode is on".
3. In the B.D. utility as well, I went to the Game Mode tab on the left, and unchecked Automatic Game mode. I also changed the setting that says "Scan task" to "Skip task". Game mode still comes on automatically even with that setting when I launch CoH, so nothing lost. I would turn Game Mode on manually before playing ifit wasn't.
4. In the B.D. utility, I also went to the Vulnerability tab on theleft, and unchecked the selection there, so that Auto checking for Vulnerability is Disabled. I tried the other day to turn it back on, (just to test that function now that something else may have solved hte issue) but it seems to be refusing to save that setting, so it stays disabled. Fine-Ok
5. In the B.D. utility, hit the "Antivirus" tab on the left, and hit "Virus Scan" tab at the top. Click on "Full System Scan" and two icons will show up on the right. Click on the one with a clock, and set your AV to run "Periodically" and set the frequency.. ie every two days or whatever. Also set the time... 05:00 am doesn't bother me, and my system runs 7/24, so that works for me. Keep in mind one anomaly of B.D.... that it seems to change the time you dictate BACK one hour when you save it for some reason. ie.. you set it for 05:00, next time you look it will show you chose 04:00 to run it. Strange, but not crippling. You might, if you want, choose to set up the schedule for "Deep System Scan" as well... maybe less frequently....?
Sooo... don't dispair, Orbit. If you are a good CoH player, it is because you work through resistance and persist through issues and find a way to win and never quit. Just use that mentality here too and you'll be fine
BD is a VERY effective AV solution, from what I've seen so far. Just hang in while they work out these problems. And know they ARE working on the problems, I've gotten lots of feedback and requests from them as we fixed my issues here. They're working a lot harder to fix BD than Relic is, trying to fix CoH!!!
-FL (StormVane in CoH)0
