When playing certain games the computer will frequently cut to the desktop without any notice. No error messages appear and we are not accidentally pressing the Windows key. However, it doesn’t close the game - we simply need to click the game icon on the task bar to make it reappear. What’s happening? A second problem is whenever Windows starts there are a couple of folders that automatically open. How can this be prevented?

The problem where games cut back to the desktop (without crashing) during play gives me the impression that something in the Windows background is running which is causing the game to lose focus so that the desktop appears. To narrow down the problem, try closing all background applications before starting the game. Close all programs (running applications as well as utilities in the system tray) gracefully through their own exit mechanism. Once you have closed all programs that you can, press CTRL-ALT-DEL and kill any background processes which may be running. If you are running Windows XP, click the ‘Processes’ tab and close any programs running under your user name. Should the problem cease, it is now a process of elimination to determine the problem application!

However, if the problem continues and you are running Windows XP, go back into the game and play until the problem occurs. Now we will open the Event Viewer to check for anything which may have happened which could trigger the problem. Go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Control Panel’ and open the ‘Administrative Tools’ control panel. Open the ‘Event Viewer’. Look under the different categories (Application, Security, and System) for events which occurred in the last few minutes (i.e. around the time the problem occurred). Should an event occur, this may give you a clue as to the precise cause of the problem. If you are unsure, email me the information in the Event Properties (even better, send me a screen-shot of the Event Properties box) and I will try to decipher the event details.

Another possibility is that you are actually pressing a key combination in the games which is assigned to another program, causing the desktop to appear. As you are constantly pressing different key combinations when playing games, try to track down the key combination you press just before the problem eventuates. Alternatively, you could start the game and not press any keys, and watch to see whether the problem happens. If it does, a dodgy key combination is obviously not the cause. In that event, please contact me again.

Regarding your second problem, it seems these folders have worked their way into the Run key in the registry. Go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Run’ and type ‘regedit’ (without the quotes). Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun. In the right-hand pane, look for any values which appear to be opening the folders in question. For example, ‘C:My FolderMy Sub Folder’. Once you have found the value(s), highlight the row (to delete the value) and press DEL. Now, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun and repeat the previous procedure. As a side note, if the folder which opens on startup is System32, you may find the following article useful: support.microsoft.com/?kbid=170086.