[How to Fix included now] Steam games in full screen randomly minimizing

[cmh175]

I seem to have fixed the issue with games in full screen minimizing now. I tried a few things though so I cant say as to what exactly fixed it, so here's a fact sheet on things you can try if you're experiencing the problem too. The first two are the most likely but the other two could help if the problem persists.


1) Check your startup applications first (Start Menu -> Search bar type msconfig). Switch off unneeded applications. If you're unsure if something isn't needed or not than best to leave that one alone. The ones I can suggest though are Adobe and Java update managers, and NvTmru (checks gameplay optimization settings for Nvidia users). For an example check the screen shots below of my startup applications.


2) Try reinstalling the Steam client. Make a copy of your games installation directory first so you don't have to redownload all your games! Directions from Steam Support on how to do this listed below:

-1. Write down your Steam Account name and password - you will need them to log back into Steam once you have reinstalled

-2. Logout of Steam

-3. Exit Steam

-4. If you currently have any Steam games installed that you would like to keep, please copy the Steamapps folder from C:\Program Files\Steam to your desktop or another directory.

-5. Delete the Steam folder in the default location C:\Program Files\Steam

-6. Hit windows key + r ( run at the start menu ) and type regedit

-7. Delete HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Valve and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Valve (or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Valve on 64-bit Windows)

-8. Reboot your computer.

-9. Download and install a fresh copy of the Steam installer from http://store.steampowered.com/about/

-10. Run the installer and re-test the Steam client.


3) Check the task manager that you don't have Adobe Creative Cloud running.


4) Try removing and reinstalling your video card driver.



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Hi I need some help figuring out this issue so figured I'd see what the open community thinks. I'm having a problem with full screen games minimizing while playing. It's not just one game either, it seems to be pretty much all of them. I haven't made any real changes to my pc, I only built it for gaming. I've already tried disabling the Steam overlay, and I already have a selective startup set in msconfig, so I'm pretty sure it's not a random application running in the background. It doesn't seem to effect Origin games, so it's something that effects Steam particularly or maybe it's Steam itself. Either way it's driving me insane, any help is appreciated.

My specs:

i5-3570k 3.4 ghz
32 gb DDR3
EVGA GTX 660ti SC 2gb
OS drive: 250gb OCZ solid state
Data drive (game installation location) 2 tb WD Black with Raid1 with firmware raid
Windows 7 64 bit
Asus z77 sabertooth mobo

My startup applications:

https://scontent-1.2914.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t1.0-9/10403230_228995860643579_6655629902692221769_n.jpg

https://scontent-1.2914.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t1.0-9/10481170_228995873976911_1136020098975972754_n.jpg

https://scontent-1.2914.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t1.0-9/10419941_228995890643576_2305212655766139853_n.jpg


~Figured I'd update the first post with what's been tried so far so new comers don't have to read the whole thread. I have a pretty strict selective startup list, so for the most part only necessary applications are running. I disabled adobe and java updaters so they aren't running as well. I don't have Adobe Creative Cloud, which is known to cause the issue too. I also found Dreamscene and Shadowplay aren't relevant to the issue. The minimizing issue still persisted. Steam support suggested uninstalling Steam and removing registry entries and reinstalling the application. I'll be testing if this worked later today.

[Laptop]

Untick whatever you don't need to be starting up in the msconfig?

[cmh175]

Yup, I pretty much only have necessary applications booting. Mostly microsoft and nvidia, the screen shots show the list (couldn't resize window to fit into one). I just unchecked java updater, adobe manager, and nvidia geforce shadow play though. I don't think that'll fix it but couldn't hurt, and they don't need to be booting at startup anyway.

[cmh175]

I've heard some recommend Razer Game Booster to help disable unneeded applications while gaming, but also seen others mention it causing more issues than it fixes. One person even commented it erased their hard drive! So I'd rather avoid it. I could try the original game booster iobit had but cant find a download for it anymore. Any ideas?

[Kröll]

Razer Game Booster shouldn't cause any problems, and should difinetly not delete your harddrive. Razer Game Booster is still made by iobit.

[cmh175]

I didn't think it would delete anything, more than likely that's user error. More than likely though it wont really improve performance since I already set what applications boot at startup, and others have actually mentioned a drop in frame rate with the booster running. If it doesn't include a detailed report of what services it's switching off during gameplay it probably wont help much. I'm thinking it maybe a setting somewhere else, either with Steam or possibly Nvidia. I switched off most update managers (java and adobe mostly) in case they're having popups come up and causing games to minimize. I don't care about screen capture recording so turning off nvidia shadow play may have helped too. Just in case I'm going to check my performance monitor (it's either Asus or Nvidia) I'm wondering if I set something too low and it thinks my pc's overheating, and minimizing games.

[Kröll]

Please report back, if you still encounter the issue.

[cmh175]

I'll probably have some time to test this out later. I do notice it doesn't happen within the first hour or so of gameplay so I have to play for a bit, but that could also just be coincidence. My pc doesn't get used for anything else and is shutdown otherwise. Disabling Java and Adobe update managers seems like such a minor thing, though I suppose it's usually minor things that cause such issues. I doubt it's the performance monitor since I've been using it since I first built the pc (just cant remember if I fiddled with it recently), and it's certainly not overheating with the ridiculous number of fans I have running (cool master, still super quiet lol) plus there should be an alarm that'll go off. Really don't know what the hell is wrong lol. Anyone else having a similar problem or have any ideas?

[cmh175]

I haven't been able to do any serious gaming yet to test it. It hasn't happened again since disabling java and adobe update managers and nvidia shadowplay, but two hours usually wasn't enough. Has anyone had issues with update managers of any kind running in the background? Or does anyone have experience with Nvidia's Shadowplay?

[Kröll]

I would be suprised if Shadowplay was the origin of the problem, as its created 100% for gaming. Update managers like Java Updater and Adobe update is known to minimize games when a popup window is shown.

[cmh175]

Very cool, I was thinking that was more likely thanks. I also have a small hack to run Windows Dreamscene on Win7, but I've used that too for over a year without issue. I don't care about screen capture recording so I'll probably leave shadowplay off. After I confirm the issue's really gone I'll switch Dreamscene back on and see if it keeps working.

[Kröll]

Originally posted by Snowboardpunk17:

Very cool, I was thinking that was more likely thanks. I also have a small hack to run Windows Dreamscene on Win7, but I've used that too for over a year without issue. I don't care about screen capture recording so I'll probably leave shadowplay off. After I confirm the issue's really gone I'll switch Dreamscene back on and see if it keeps working.

Never heard of Dreamscene since XP, gotta go look that up!

[Blaine]

task manger > creative cloud

if thats running end it, sometimes makes some of my games minimize

ending it makes these games work

[cmh175]

Originally posted by Blaine:

task manger > creative cloud

if thats running end it, sometimes makes some of my games minimize

ending it makes these games work

I'm not even sure what that is, don't recall installing Adobe Creative Cloud. I'll have to check that out too, cant imagine what I'd need it for anyway, thanks for the tip.

Originally posted by IamStephano:

Originally posted by Snowboardpunk17:

Very cool, I was thinking that was more likely thanks. I also have a small hack to run Windows Dreamscene on Win7, but I've used that too for over a year without issue. I don't care about screen capture recording so I'll probably leave shadowplay off. After I confirm the issue's really gone I'll switch Dreamscene back on and see if it keeps working.

Never heard of Dreamscene since XP, gotta go look that up!

Yeah it's pretty cool, don't use much memory or anything either. Check it out here:
http://windows7themes.net/en-us/how-to-use-dreamscene-in-windows-7/

[Sysgen]

Had this exact problem. Unfortunately I never solved it and had to refresh my PC[h10025.www1.hp.com].

[cmh175]

Originally posted by Sysgen:

Had this exact problem. Unfortunately I never solved it and had to refresh my PC[h10025.www1.hp.com].

As in reformat and reinstall? Eesh that's rough. I've been there after a windows crash, damn OS broke, no idea why. Made my pc super redundant with a SSD OS drive and frequent backups. I've seen this issue is semi common but not much is documented about it. Once I figure out my issue I'll try to put together a post with commonly known issues that causes games to minimize and fixes for them. It seems like such a minor thing but nothing's more annoying than games minimizing during game play or cutscenes, particularly those that don't automatically pause.