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[lise]

I'm having major issues with MC dialog boxes.
If I click anywhere on the screen when a dialog box is open, it gets hidden behind the main interface and there is no getting it back.
During that time MC seems to hang. Sometimes it performs the operation in question and comes back at the end with the dialog box saying the operation was completed and sometimes it just stays hung and I have to kill the app.

The Import box is the worst culprit (and it was also the first to display this behaviour). Oftentimes once I select something form the import box, say "import from a single folder", the customization box behind it never comes forward. One click on the screen and off goes the import doing whatever was selected the last time you did an import.


My video drivers are up to date as is my OS (Win7 64 bit Home edition), but the import box also has this issue on my older XP machine.
All my machines use Noire as the skin.

[Matt]

So you do Tools > Import, and then click back on the main program, and the Import dialog jumps behind?

Do you have any other floating windows open?  Do you run any window management programs (Stardock, etc.) or security software that might hook our Windows?

[lise]

Here is what happens.

I do Tools > Import and make a selection, say "import a single folder" and hit next. If I wait about 10 + seconds, the box immediately behind it appears asking me for the details.

If, after selecting next, I click anywhere else on the screen during the 10 second waiting period, the current box loses focus (it turns light blue), my cursor turns into a light blue circle that keeps turning, the box gets focus back, and I can count to 20 until something happens: usually after 20 seconds the dialog box just disappears and MC is functional again and all dialog boxes are gone. However, when that happens it means the the import just went ahead without my ever doing anything on that second dialog box (because it never came up).

 At other times after the 20 seconds I can get control back of the mouse but MC is locked because the dialog boxes are still open behind it. Minimizing MC and bringing it back often isn't enough, nor is alt-tabbing my way to it; I have to poke around with the View Desktop and choose MC again, or I have to minimize my other programs and at one point I may get lucky and get the dialog box.  

I just did it again with only this IE window open and MC, and never did get the dialog box back; it just disappeared after the 20 seconds, and went ahead and did the import that I didn't want.

Very similar issues occur when modifying a view scheme's rules, especially when opening the smartlist editor. The OK or Save confirmation dialog box is always hidden and a bit of jigery pokery is required to get it back.

I don't run any management program and I dont' run any anti-virus program other than Microsoft Security essentials.

[JimH]

We've seen problems with MSE.

More likely is something related to the screen.  Another program trying to always be on top.  Aero.  Etc.

I don't think this is an MC problem.

[Matt]

Clicking 'Next' should be instant.  I don't understand what could take 10 seconds.

Can anyone else reproduce this?

[JimH]

Detach everything you can from the PC.

[lise]

The only thing attached is my mouse!
I've removed a few programs, mostly related to syncing a phone with Outlook.

I would be tempted to agree that the issue is with Windows Explorer, because it often exhibits a huge delay whenever I click on my toolbars. I don't think it plays nice with them.  Maybe that's the issue? I have my toolbars at the bottom of my screen set to take up two rows, and to never hide.

Having said that MC is the only program that gives me issues with dialog boxes. Doesn't mean it's an MC thing, but it is nonetheless strange.

[rick.ca]

Can anyone else reproduce this?

I can't reproduce it or recall exactly a circumstance where it happens most often, but I have experienced the same thing for a similar period of time. Aside from the details, lise' description leaves no doubt it's the same thing. When it does happen, I compensate by waiting for it to do whatever it's doing (e.g., update the library for a modified expression) before doing anything else. If I don't, the usual dialog or confirmation will not appear—apparently having opened behind the main window—making the main window unresponsive. This is sometimes fixed by clicking MC in the taskbar to bring the dialog to the top, but often not. Usually more fiddling is required, even killing and restarting MC (although that's probably because my fiddling has compounded the problem).

I wonder if I'm not easily finding an example of the behaviour now because of recent speed improvements and related changes. In any case, if and when it happens again, I'll attempt to reproduce and document it. It seems to me that when it does happen, it happens consistently.

[lise]

Thanks for posting Rick.

I just did a system scan to look for and repair any corrupt MS files, and all was fine.
I lied when I said it was just MC. I remember now that one other program does it as well, ironically enough another MC (Movie Collector).

2 things happen with both programs: dialog boxes get hidden, and the search boxes usually require an extra click or two before it will accept characters. Also, still in the search box, it's like there is a substantial delay such that if I were typing Bob Dylan in eithe program's search box, I could only get as far as Bo before there is a hang for a couple of seconds, then it allows me to continue. that too is fairly consistent and has been occuring for the past few months.  But no other programs do this, not even the Windows Explorer search bar.

I'll keep searching for solutions, as the only other thing I can think of is to faversham the laptop, and I'd rather avoid that.

[MrC]

Can you share a list of the processes that are running?  Something may be stealing the focus.

[lise]

Can you share a list of the processes that are running?  Something may be stealing the focus.

Attached.
Oops. wrong thing attached.
I tried the XP instructions, ie tasklist>c:\list.txt  but it didn't give all the columns. Still trying.

[MrC]

That's OK, I happened to grab the file before you removed it.

There's a lot of "bloatware" running on this system, too many things to attempt at a quick list of things to kill for testing.

If you can, starting by quitting as many of the task tray processes as you can, and extra stuff.  Keep a record of these.  Try MC again while these are disabled to see if you can reproduce the error (or not).  If you can no longer reproduce reliably (where you were able to previously), then you can probably assume one of the items in the list may have been the cause.  Repeat the process instead by eliminating only 1/2 of those from the list.  You should be able to quickly narrow the focus down to a single process by using this halving technique.  If the first list failed to have any affect, try a second set and perform the same procedure.

I posted elsewhere about having a similar problem.  I turned out to be some updater process that was stealing the focus.  I can't recall which program it was, but am thinking it might have been an adobe updater.

[JimH]

I've seen screwy things when Adobe's updater was trying to do something.  After a reboot because of a problem, the updater is often asking to do something.

[Matt]

I've seen screwy things when Adobe's updater was trying to do something.  After a reboot because of a problem, the updater is often asking to do something.

I hate updaters that run all the time.  iTunes and Adobe are some of the worst offenders.

Maybe Microsoft is partly to blame for not allowing other vendors to hook into Windows Update.

Still, check for an update when I actually go to use the program, not continually in the background!

[lise]

I've removed everything that doesn't seem system oriented from my services -- or I should say I changed them to manual vs automatic, and ended a few processes but no change. I'll keep at it.  The thing is though that whatever is running was running all last year as well. But then again, no one else is affected as bad as I am, so it can't be Win updates or MC.  I hate these sorts of mysteries.

[Matt]

Were you using the skin Noire Glass?

If so, it might be the same issue as this:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=71678.msg484559;topicseen#msg484559

[lise]

Were you using the skin Noire Glass?

No, I'm using regular Noire