New program window appears behind all other open windows on a Windows 2000-based, Windows XP-based, Windows Server 2003-based, or Windows Vista-based computer

When you start a program from another program, the new program window may appear behind all other open windows. For example, when you use Microsoft Word to open a Word attachment file in Microsoft Outlook, the new program window may appear behind all other open windows. Additionally, the new-window icon flashes on the taskbar. This symptom occurs on a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer, on a Windows XP-based computer, on a Windows Server 2003-based computer, or on a Windows Vista-based computer.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To resolve this issue, use either of the following methods.

Modify the registry

To resolve this issue, modify the value of the ForegroundLockTimeout registry entry in Registry Editor. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
3. In the right pane, locate and then double-click ForegroundLockTimeout.
4. Under Base, click Decimal, type 0 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
   
   Note The default decimal value for the ForegroundLockTimeout registry entry is set as 200000.
5. Quit Registry Editor.
6. Restart your computer.

Use the Tweak UI utility

To resolve this issue, use the Microsoft Tweak UI utility to change the default windows settings. To do this, follow the steps for your operating system:

Windows 2000

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Tweak UI.
2. Click the General tab, click to clear the Prevent applications from stealing focus check box, and then click OK.
3. Close Control Panel.

Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Powertoys for Windows XP, and then click Tweak UI.
2. Expand General, and then click Focus.
3. Click to clear the Prevent applications from stealing focus check box, and then click OK.

To download the Tweak UI version 2.10 utility for Windows Server 2003-based or Windows XP-based computers, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Important You can only install the Tweak UI version 2.10 utility on Windows Server 2003-based or on Windows XP-based computers. You cannot install the Tweak UI 2.10 utility on Windows 2000-based or on Windows Vista-based computers. Microsoft does not provide support for the Tweak UI utility.