Questions about AHII and Vista. AH minimizes but is still running...

[Heater]

Skuzzy,
I have a strange issue it's driving me crazy trying to figure out why.
Sometimes when I launch AH it will launch I see the clipboard come up then AH minimizes but is still running,
if I maximize the window again it minimizes again… the only way I can get this to stop is to re-boot then it works ok without problems..
This happens 3@4 times out of 10… any ideas?
I have checked for the usual spyware / virus type problem (system is clean) looking at the task manager nothing is interrupting the thread in as far as I can see…
I do not use auto updaters for any thing on this system…
looking at the firewall rules they are set to allow AH to pass thru (Both UDP / TCP on 2000 -6000).

System Spec:
ASUS P6T Deluxe/OC Palm
OCZ/ PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W Quad Black ATX 2.2
OCZ Platinum Low-Voltage PC6-10667 CL7-7-7-20
Intel Core i7-920, 4x 2.67GHz
Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366 CPU Cooler CPU Fan
MSI GeForce GTX280 Super OC - 1024MB
Running XP Pro 64bit and Vista Ultimate 64bit in a dual boot.

[Skuzzy]

Is UAC enabled?  Did you install the game in the default location?

Something is running in the background assuming focus, which causes the OS to minimize the game.

I have known Vista to do a number of odd things, but this is a first.

[Heater]

Skuzzy,
UAC was disabled 2 min after Vista was installed
AH is installed in a  D:\Games\AcesHigh... i.e. no default install here I decide where it goes
..one thing that may be causing this is the Vista Theme's although not active in as far as one is loaded.. I did change the background colors... I just noticed that when I launch AH (or any older application) the background colors change to the default colors first then the application launches....

[Skuzzy]

Hmmm.  Maybe try disabling the "Themes" service.  Would be odd if that is it.  It is odd the original background shows up when loading an application.  Would seem to suggest "Themes" is not running as a privileged executable, or the apps are running at a different level from Themes.

Not sure if that is possible.

[avionix]

I have had AH2 minimize when my CA Antivirus decides it wants to kick on.  Game keeps running fine but I have to click the little pop up box for the anti virus to close.  That is after putting CA in sleep mode.  Maybe I just try to get online too quickly.   

[Chalenge]

Heater you might want to right click the AH icon and then go to the Compatibility tab and make sure none of the 'disables' are checked that the Privilege Level is set to 'Run this program as an administrator' and try again.

Are you running any kind of compatibility mode?

[Heater]

Skuzzy..
Disabling the the themes service looks like it may have worked...
been able to launch 10-15 times with out AH minimizing.... very strange indeed as this should not have any effect at all but so far it looks it might be the cause,
if I enable the service and launch AH again it minimized...
I hate computers!

[Chalenge]

I believe you can also check the 'Disable visual themes' and it will restart when AH is shutdown.

[Heater]

I believe you can also check the 'Disable visual themes' and it will restart when AH is shutdown.

Correct you are...
Big question, I still have is why time to get out the debugger and attach to a few threads to see what they are doing

I still hate computers

[Skuzzy]

It makes no sense at all.  I look forward to hearing what you find Heater.

Computers are fine, it's the programmers at Microsoft that are the problem.

[Chalenge]

Your not running sidebar or the ridiculous animated background are you? Some gadgets will really mess things up.

[Heater]

Your not running sidebar or the ridiculous animated background are you? Some gadgets will really mess things up.

Nope that was the second change made right after installing Vista...disable the sidebar

[Heater]

OK...
a bit of digging and I have found the following:
the "Themes" service is the root cause.. in as far as it want's to change the "color settings" to the default and as I have the pop-up for this disabled it minimizes the application running etc... by disabling the themes service or setting the color setting to the default it works with out problems...

Still hate computers... but Mickey soft is right up there on the list !