Solved Applications Stop Receiving Input at Random

Good afternoon all. I have a 4-year-old HP computer running Vista Home Premium 64-bit with a 500GB Hard Drive. I got it brand new in '08 and it has worked great with a few quirks over the years. Lately, mostly at night, the program I am working in would stop receiving mouse scrolling and keyboard input at random until I click in the window. Then it will be fine for a time and then stop again. It is as if the window loses focus from another program popping up, but that is not the case. This has happened 8 times so far while composing this message. I run Mckafe Antivirus along wtih other system maintenance programs such as Advanced SystemCare etc but none of the programs are able to solve this issue. Someone suggested it might be a ventellation issue. I know all of my devices are plugged in and working fine. Any suggestions on how to fix this would be appreciated. Thanks!

Welcome
Update your anti virus and run a full scan
Download and run a full scan with malwarebytes.
Stop using the computer mainenance programs (except the AntiVirus). We will tell you how to easily maintain your computer
If that does not help, try a clean boot and follow procedure
Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup - Windows 7 Forums

Thanks for writing back. I updated my copy of McKafe antivirus and ran a full scan. It took all afternoon but it ran without finding any viruses. I also updated my MalwareBytes and ran a scan with no infections found. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but when this happens, also my screensaver will start up on its own. Once I move the mouse or press a key it goes away. I have tried closing applications from the system tray with no change in the problem.This included my Advanced SystemCare. It is a very weird problem, mostly occuring at night but yesterday it happened during the day so I guess the time of day doesn't matter. Thanks for your help. God bless!

richc46 said:

Welcome
Update your anti virus and run a full scan
Download and run a full scan with malwarebytes.
Stop using the computer mainenance programs (except the AntiVirus). We will tell you how to easily maintain your computer
If that does not help, try a clean boot and follow procedure
Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup - Windows 7 Forums

Click to expand...

Is it a laptop, because on my laptop sometimes when I type, my hand accidentally brushes against my touch pad and takes the focus away from where I want it to be. Or, it could be that you have some sort of notification set up, like email or update.

Mcafee has been known to cause problems. Many here recommend Microsoft security essentials. It does sound like something is consuming your cpu. Try opening up the task menu and watch cpu usage. When it maxes out see what program is taking up the most.

I use McAfee and I don't experience those problems.

Hi all. It has been a while since I posted here. Today I did 2 things which hopefully will work.

1. I ran chkdsk /f and restarted. I hadn't done this in a while.

I also ran "sfc /scannow" (system file checker) which found and fixed some corrupt system files. I am hoping these steps will solve the issue. So far no problems tonight. That sfc is a handy little program. I never knew it existed before today. This is not a laptop and no, it's not another window popping up. The current window would just refuse to accept input and then at times the screensaver would come on for no apparent reason. I'll be in touch with any developments.

Did you check for processes consuming the CPU?

I did that early on. I exited most of the programs running in the system tray. It still happened after that. This machine has 4GB RAM.

When this happens is CPU usage at 100%?

That is a good question. It happened again last night and yesterday afternoon I was chatting on facebook and suddenly had a BSOD. I will keep the task manager minimized and look at the CPU usage meter next time. I will write back with the results. Thanks guys.

It just started happening again. It always happens at night with a few exceptions. I checked the CPU usage meter and it is fluctuating a bit but does not get far beyond half way up.

correction I just saw the CPU usage shoot up to full and then go back down

I ask again what is using the most CPU? That could be the key to your situation.

I have no idea...how do I go about finding out??? All I see on Task manager is a list of processes.As I said before, I am legally blind so could very well be missing something that's right in front of me. Bear with me.

Do you have a wireless keyboard and mouse?

No the keyboard and mouse are both connected by cables to the computer.

When you look at Processes in Task manager, one of the columns is Memory. That will tell you what is the most active process.

Aside from a game I am currently playing, DWM.exe is taking up the most memory. The problem is not happening as frequently tonight as other nights.

Earlier tonight I noticed my hard drive had only 49 GB of free space available. I increased that to over 78 by getting rid of some old radio project files I no longer need and programs I don't use. I did some research on dwm and apparently it is the desktop window manager for Vista and it takes up more memory with more windows being open. I have 3 windows open right now which include a game, this browser, and a program from my cable/phone/isp provider. I do have several programs in the system tray.

I opened like 10 windows and the DWM.exe (it is what you said) is only using like 1500 Kb. I don't know what it says for that on yours. Did you click on the Memory tab so that it reports highest to lowest?

By the way, I suggest running the Disk Cleanup utility from Windows Accessories and rebooting to clean out temporary files and the recycle bin. I mention this because you were running low on disk space.

Have you disconnected and reconnected both your mouse and keyboard from the computer?