Windows 10: Any ideas why 'Add a device' dialog will not [Cancel] or [Close]?

COMPUTER: Acer Predator G9-792-73UG running Win10 Home, Ver 1803, OS build 17134.165.

PROBLEM: 'Add a device' dialog will not [Cancel] or [Close].

THE CAST OF CHARACTERS:
'Predator Ports.png' (a picture I made identifying the Predator's ports),
TotalCommander (an excellent, Windows FileManager alternative),
'Add a device' (bluetooth targeting) dialog,
ProcessExplorer (a Windows TaskManager alternative, from Sysinternals, which is owned by Microsoft), and
Windows TaskManager.

SCREEN CAPTURES (originally 3840x2160 UHD, all have been reduced in size by half):
`18-08-10 1a TotalCommander, 'Predator Ports.png', 'Cast to Device' .png
`18-08-10 1b 'Add a device' .png
`18-08-10 1c ProcessExplorer (fingers TotalCommander) .png
`18-08-10 1d ProcessExplorer, TotalCommander, Threads (when 'Add a device' [Close] button is pressed) .png
`18-08-10 1e TaskManager, Processes, TotalCommander, 'Add a device', 'End task' .png
`18-08-10 1f TotalCommander, 'Predator Ports.png', 'Cast to Device' .png

MY STORY:



[`18-08-10 1a TotalCommander, 'Predator Ports.png', 'Cast to Device' .png]
When I brought up TotalCommander's context menu for 'Predator Ports.png', I noticed a choice: 'Cast to Device'. "Hmmm," I thought, "I wonder what this does." I highlighted 'Cast to Device' and saw that it detected my nextdoor neighbor's bluetooth device. I knew the device (chris's Fire TV stick) was not paired with my Predator. "Hmmm," I thought, "I wonder what will happen."



[`18-08-10 1b 'Add a device' .png]
An 'Add a device' dialog opened. Every time I tried to [Cancel] the dialog, it immediately (and spontaneously) reopened. I tried several times. "Hmmm," I wondered, "why won't this close?"



[`18-08-10 1c ProcessExplorer (fingers TotalCommander) .png]
I promoted ProcessExplorer to the foreground and dragged its 'target' icon to the 'Add a device' dialog to learn what process owned the dialog. As seen in the screen shot above, ProcessExplorer fingered TotalCommander. "Huh?" I thought, "'Add a device' looks like a Windows dialog, not a TotalCommander dialog."



[`18-08-10 1d ProcessExplorer, TotalCommander, Threads (when 'Add a device' [Close] button is pressed) .png]
(...As you can see above, by this time, the [Cancel] button had somehow become a [Close] button...) ProcessExplorer showed the following threads for TotalCommander whenever I clicked 'Add a device' dialog's [Close] button:

9440 shcore.dll!Ordinal172+0xa60 <-- fresh thread (green)
1864 playtomenu.dll+0x1ce0 <-- Cycles (previously zero) jump to 187,014,998
7740 ntdll.dll!RtlReleaseSRWLockExclusive+0x40 <-- Cycles (previously zero) jump to 1,812,226
6468 ntdll.dll!RtlReleaseSRWLockExclusive+0x40 <-- Cycles (previously zero) jump to 85,233,250
9500 msvcrt.dll!endthreadex_0x30 <-- fresh thread (green)
5644 DUI70.dll!DrawShadowTExtEx+0x18e0 <-- fresh thread (green)
4040 combase.dll!CoRegisterPSClsid=0x3c0 <-- fresh thread (green)
8728 combase.dll!CoRegisterPSClsid=0x3c0 <-- fresh thread (green)

(...Note: The threads listed above are the ones of interest...) Shortly following the click, the green tasks would turn red and disappear -- they closed -- and the Cycles would go back to zero. Since I didn't know what other threads to kill (or what the effects would be), I decided to consult TaskManager.



[`18-08-10 1e TaskManager, Processes, TotalCommander, 'Add a device', 'End task' .png]
(...As you can see above, by this time, the 'Add a device' dialog's compliant had somehow switched from "chris's Fire TV stick" to "your tablet PC"...) Whenever I used TaskManager to kill the 'Add a device' dialog, it disappeared and then very shortly -- within a second -- reappeared.



[`18-08-10 1f TotalCommander, 'Predator Ports.png', 'Cast to Device' .png]
Now, instead of "chris's Fire TV stick", the context menu for 'Cast to Device' says "No devices found" (but the 'Add a device' dialog is still there and still will not close). Closing and then relaunching TotalCommander had no effect. I had to reboot Windows.

IMPORTANT INFO:
This is not a permissions problem. I reran MY STORY using a different file on a drive that I totally own with the same result. Also, my Predator paired successfully with my cell phone a few days ago and they are still paired.

This looks like a deadlock situation on the thread that's supposed to dismiss the 'Add a device' dialog. This looks like a Windows problem, not a TotalCommander problem. Can any of you more experienced people tell me what's going on and what I can do?

-- Mark.

:)

 

Taskbar bug: switching to another window -will not appear at the front


Follow either of these steps to fix the issue with the Active window hiding behind.

Method 1:
I suggest you to disable window by hovering over it with the mouse and check if it helps. To do so I suggest you to try the below given steps and check if it helps:

• Press Windows key + X key and click on Control Panel.
• Select or click Ease of Access.
• Click or tap onEase of Access Centre.
• Click on Make the Mouse Easier to Use was uncheck Activate Window by hovering over it with the mouse.
• Check if issue is resolved.

Method 2:
I would suggest you to completely uninstall the touchpad driver and reinstall it. Kindly follow the below given steps.

• Press “Windows key + X” and click on “Device Manager”.
• In the list of devices, you should see the touchpad drivers.
• Right click on the device and then select "Uninstall".
• In the uninstall dialog, make sure you select the option to delete the driver package from the system. This causes the driver package installed earlier to be deleted.
• In the Action menu of Device manager, select “Scan for Hardware changes” option. This will cause the device driver to be reinstalled. Once the driver is installed, close all windows and restart the computer.

 

Taskbar bug: switching to another window -will not appear at the front


I have been trying to fix this for months. Your solution Method 1 seemed to work. THANK YOU!!!!

 

Microsoft Edge Close Dialog Box Inaccessible

I just thought I would post this as a discussion vs. a question as I'm not sure there's a question to be asked.

Tonight I was surfing the web using the new Edge browser and while surfing I moved the window down so I could work on another open window. As a result of this move only about 4 inches of the open Edge window was visible above the task bar. When I clicked
on the X close button in the top right corner of the window, the window darkened and displayed the dialog box asking if I wanted to close all Windows. The only problem was that the dialog box was centered in the window which resulted in the Close All or Cancel
buttons being below the task bar and totally out of view. Because the screen was dark and inaccessible, there was no way to move the window and the dialog box up to the point where the buttons were accessible. I tried Task View and there was nothing there
that would allow me to close the Window or cancel the close operation either so at that point, my only option was to kill Edge with Task Manager. Note that this is the second incident that I've had with the manner in which Edge allows or doesn't allow a user
to close the application that has involved dialog boxes appearing on the screen and the screen being dark gray.

Seems to me that this browser may still not be ready for prime time.