[Bug] Cannot switch to full screen window when StartIsBack++ is running

[hellowindows]

While StartIsBack++ is running, there is a bug when trying to switch to a certain full screen application (a game called "World of Tanks").

Description

When I click on the taskbar icon of that program to maximize it again while it is already running, there is a chance that the screen displays the program only for a tiny moment (less than half a second) and then it disappears again. The program is still running, it's not closed, but it's instantly minimized again so it's just not possible to switch back to it. Often I have to try four or five times to switch back to my full screen application until it stays in the foreground.

Consequences

This makes it impossible to use StartIsBack++ because I'm regularly running the application that StatIsBack interferes with. It is not possible to switch between applications which means that I cannot use my computer in the way a modern computer is meant to be used. Nowadays, nobody runs only a single program at a time. It needs to be possible to use more than a one program on your PC and to switch between programs. For usability, it is inacceptable that it takes up ten seconds to maximize an different application after quickly looking up something on the Internet for less than a minute. It is inacceptable as well that during the long process of trying to maximize my full screen application the screen flickers black (it always becomes black for a moment when switching to my full screen application, that's the usual behaviour that happens without StartIsBack, too) and white (website in the browser/desktop background) all the time. This causes headache and pain in the eyes and makes it harder to continue reading text on the screen without pain.

Finding a solution

I'm not sure if this bug is reproducable with other full screen applications. Maybe the problem only occurs when a program uses a certain kind of software or hardware to render the content of the screen (f.e. DirectX, OpenGL). Maybe it is down to the way a program renders the content on the screen, whether it uses the GPU or not, or whether it renders 3D models or a 2D surface. My game renders 3D scenery using the GPU. In conclusion it's hard to compare this behaviour to other programs and to reproduce the problem.

Still this problem fundamentally destroys the usability of StartIsBack++ and therefore should be fixed because I think a software should claim to actually work. In conclusion I hope that this problem will be fixed. In order to do so, please tell whatever details are needed to find the root of the problem in StartIsBack++ and solve it.

I hope the creators of StartIsBack++ are capable of making there program work. Thanks.

Edited October 17, 2020 by hellowindows

[Tihiy]

This one is toughie

[Tihiy]

Seems that DXGI may consider SIB taskbar underlay as occlusion and break exclusive fullscreen. Should be fixed now in 2.9.7

[hellowindows]

On 10/16/2020 at 12:28 AM, Tihiy said:

Seems that DXGI may consider SIB taskbar underlay as occlusion and break exclusive fullscreen. Should be fixed now in 2.9.7

Hello,

thanks for going into this problem. I have updated StartIsBack++ to the new version and using it for one day now, I didn't experience any problems. This is not yet a proof, but it seems to be fixed. I'm impressed that you managed to fix (I think) a more complex problem within only two days. Also, I noticed another small visual thing was fixed that I mentioned in the StartIsBack++ 2.9 thread. I'm really happy about that, thank you!

Did you actually manage to reproduce the problem or did you figure it out just by thinking about it?

Best regards,

hellowindows

Edited October 17, 2020 by hellowindows