Windows 7 Explorer freezes when alt tabbing from fullscreen program.

[Archaic]

Hey guys.

I just bought a new computer running Windows 7, and it is a great operating system.

However, I am having one minor problem. When I am running a fullscreen game such as counter-strike or left 4 dead and I minimize by either Alt-Tabbing or hitting the windows key, it partially shows my desktop (most of it is blacked out except for the taskbar and sometimes another fragment of the desktop) and it freezes there. The computer is still responsive though, I can move my mouse, and when I press Ctrl+Alt+Del and open up the Task Manager, Explorer appears fully and is completely responsive.

This isn't a horrible problem as I can fix it by opening Task Manager, however it is an annoyance to have to do that every time, so I was wondering if you guys had any ideas on how to fix this.


My specs are:
Windows 7 Home premium
AMD Athlon dual core 2.9ghz
4 gb of ram


Thanks in advance,
rob

 

[kemical]

Hi Rob,
don't you find that alt-tabbing depends on which game your playing? Some seem to alt-tab quite easily whilst others get a bit 'sticky'... I was trying to alt-tab out of the Avatar demo last night and it just wouldn't play ball so I ended up using the task manager to do the same thing...

 

[Archaic]

I think it may only be for bigger process heavy programs, I just fullscreened a small 2d MMO (which I usually play window mode) and it can alt tab out of that just fine.

It's just Steam games that I have this problem with.

 

[kemical]

I must admit I've never tried it when I've had steam running but if I try with Stalker:CS then no problems at all.. I'll have a go with steam in a short while and tell you what i find..

 

[Archaic]

Thanks alot

 

[kemical]

I just tried it playing 'Portal' and no problems with using alt-Tab... I'll load up something else later and see if it does the same...

 

[Archaic]

Hmm.

Alright, thanks.

I'd really like to get this solved ...

 

[kemical]

What are your drivers like? Are they all the latest versions for your machine?

 

[Archaic]

Device manager says they're all up to date.

This computer just came in last week, would the drivers not already be at their latest?

 

[kemical]

Not always the case I'm afraid.. If you give me a full list of your spec, motherboard ,graphics, sound and so on, I'll give you the links for the latest drivers..
The motherboard bios may also need updating but lets get the drivers sorted first..

 

[Archaic]

It's this computer right here, you can just click the specifications tab.

Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2019 Athlon II X2 245(2.9GHz) 4GB DDR2 500GB ATI Radeon HD 4350 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs

Thanks again for your continued help.

 

[Archaic]

Any ideas on drivers?

 

[kemical]

Sorry have been away...

 

[kemical]

Unfortunately the link you gave is just not enough info really so please download this app:

Link Removed

Using this you can get the info on the motherboard and all other hardware..

 

[Archaic]

Oh, sorry about that.

Hopefully this will be what you need:

Computer Type ACPI x64-based PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon II X2 245, 2780 MHz (14.5 x 192)
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce 6150SE-430, AMD K10
DIMM1: Kingston 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (6-6-6-18 @ 400 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz)
BIOS Type AMI (09/25/09)

Display:
Video Adapter ATI Radeon HD 4350 (512 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon HD 4350 (RV710)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter ATI Radeon HDMI @ ATI RV710/730/740 - High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Adapter nVIDIA nForce 6100-400/405/420/430 (MCP61) - High Definition Audio Controller

If you need any more information, let me know.

 

[kemical]

Great, that really helped..
Your motherboard drivers are here:

NVIDIA DRIVERS 15.49 WHQL

Graphic drivers are here:

Link Removed

If you check the screenshot you'll see where you need to click to get the info I need (both arrowed) This is for bios purposes, just to make sure you've got the latest version..

 

[Archaic]

Great, downloading those now.

Under motherboard name it says:

MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 (MS-7309)

 

[kemical]

Nice..
Your mobo is found here:

Link Removed

The bios updates (with instructions on how to use) can be found here:

Link Removed

I'll be in a little later so let me know how it's going...

 

[Archaic]

Alright, after updating all of my drivers that you posted it definitely does it alot less.

It does it on occasion every now and then, but much more rarely now. which I can live with.


Thanks alot for your help