# !@#\*&$! Computer is freaking out...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-is-freaking-out/82228>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 17, 2001, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-is-freaking-out/82228 "2001-09-17T18:55:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![catmandu42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@catmandu42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catmandu42)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-is-freaking-out/82228/1 "2001-09-17T18:55:20Z")

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I’ve recently upgraded my entire system to a PIII 1gz, and now it’s doing something strange. I play a few online games, such as Tribes 2 and Counterstrike, which I love, but now it’s hard to do so. The problem is this: When playing, the computer for no reason at all and with no prompting from myself, minimizes the game window. I have to click on the taskbar to bring it back up, and 9 times out of 10, this crashes the game. Anyone know of any reason this would be happening?

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**Author:** ![NutWrench](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nutwrench/32/20193_2.png) [@NutWrench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutWrench)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-is-freaking-out/82228/2 "2001-09-17T19:02:57Z")

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Does this happen after a certain period of time?  
Do you have a screensaver, power-saving software, virus checker or some other program that is running in the background?

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**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-is-freaking-out/82228/3 "2001-09-17T19:13:42Z")

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Do you have one of those Windows shortcut keys on your keyboard (a key with the Windows logo on it)? Hitting this key while playing games has been known to cause trouble. There is a way to disable that ‘feature’ but I can’t think of it right now. If you think this is your problem let me know if you need help disabling that key.

Also, CTRL-ESC will bring up your windows menu. I don’t see how but if for some reason your are hitting that key combination by accident then that could also be causing your trouble.

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**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-is-freaking-out/82228/4 "2001-09-17T20:28:21Z")

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You might try another keyboard as well. It would suck pretty hard to spend hours fiddling with driver and software configuration, sawing blowholes in the side of your case and swapping out hard drives only to find out it was a stuck key or a fly caught in one of the keyboard’s internal switches.