Program will not restore from taskbar when clicked after minimized

[MLarsB]

VB.Net 2010, XP

I have a program which reads .xls, .doc, .msg, .htm, and .txt files searching
for a word or phrase and adds the findings to a grid.
After I minimize it, it will not restore when I click on it on the taskbar. It
just beeps.
I have added DoEvents in all places inside loops. That has not helped.

Ideas?

[Shaggy Hiker]

You were able to minimize it, which suggests that it isn't actually frozen....though the beep, and your actions, suggest that it is. Does it run fine when you don't minimize it?

[jmcilhinney]

I have added DoEvents in all places inside loops. That has not helped.

That does not bode well. Even apart from this issue, you almost certainly should be using multi-threading of some sort. Are you only processing one file at a time? If so then you might consider doing the processing in the DoWork event handler of a BackgroundWorker.

[MLarsB]

Shaggy Hiker,
The program runs fine when not minimized. I can restore it with Task Manager "Switch To" but not with alt-tab. When I get to it and release the buttons it just beeps. When it is restored, it shows that it has just kept running as usual.

[MLarsB]

I am processing one file at a time. I don't know how to do the processing in the DoWork event handler of a BackgroundWorker and I will not be learning while on this task.

Thanks, though.

[MLarsB]

I have a break point in each of these events, so I know they do not run: frmGridDisplay_Resize, frmGridDisplay_ResizeBegin, frmGridDisplay_ResizeEnd.

[Shaggy Hiker]

What I find interesting is that you can restore it, just not by some typical means. I don't know what difference there might be between Taskbar restore and the other means, but it rather suggests to me that the program is responding rather than being frozen, as I initially thought. Do you have any code that deals with minimizing the form? What I am looking for is anything that could be causing it to minimize as soon as you attempt to restore.

[MLarsB]

There are no "WindowState" usages in the code. Very occasionally it responds. It is in a tight loop much of the time. I tried sleep(1000) in the inner loop but it did not make a difference.

[MLarsB]

I added this code to the form and now it still beeps, but it does the restore:

  Private Sub frmGridDisplay_Activated(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Activated
    If Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized Then
      Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal
    End If
  End Sub