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Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

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Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus
Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-03 01:41

The subject says it all.

At least from version 11.6 hotkey combos to submenus no longer works if an elevated window/app has focus.
I have to Alt-Tab to a non-elevated window to get the QAP submenu to trigger.

This works fine on 11.5.8.2 in my lab, and all previous versions to way back when.

Regards,
joeNOR

PS!
I am not talking about the main menu, but submenus below, assigned hotkey combos.

Upgraded one of my lab rats to 11.6, same problem.
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-03 08:31

I can reproduce the issue. Thanks for reporting this. I will investigate.
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-03 10:29

I investigated this. First, I must say that I was surprised that an admin level window let a submenu popup from a hotkey in previous release. In theory, it should not.

The change in v11.6 is probably related to the new hotkey exclusion feature (in Options, Launch Advanced options).

I tried to reproduce this situation again. I've been able to do it with pre-v11.6 release when the hotkey uses a Alt modifier (example Alt+Space) but not when the hotkey uses a Win modifier (example Win+Z). Were you able to do it with any hotkeys combinations before?

On another note, is this a critical feature to you?
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-03 10:56

Thanks for your investigation Jean!

I've posted about this in several posts before, an elevated window will block the main menu, but not the submenus.

Yes, this is a very critical feature for me, I've mapped three hotkey combos, Ctrl-Win-X, Win-Z, and Win-X to QAP menus. As I've also posted before, the Win-X defaults to the standard when an elevated window has focus. If not, I get my highly tweaked (Win-X) QAP menu.

But, if I'm the only one where this is a problem, and a roll-back would bork the new QAP funtions, do not do it.

I'll try to find a way around this pita (pita = pain in the a....)

Cheers
Joe
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Horst > 2023-02-03 14:02

An elevated process should never be reached by a pop-up of QAP
or any other tool running with normal rights.
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-04 01:26

It doesn't. This is not how process management in Windows works. QAP can not interfere with a high level process, and I never claimed that it did.

But, a hotkey may perfectly well trigger a process running at a lower level (user) even if a higher level process (admin) has focus on the desktop.
AHK can be used to create some great tools (QAP is an example of that), but in and of itself it's a bit of a mess. Even on versions older than 11.6 I frequently had problems with QAP not responding/delayed response to hotkey combos.

And, something was obviously changed in v.11.6. If this can't be fixed I probably roll back to an older version and stay there.

-jN
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-05 22:27

@joeNOR: Could you give a try to this beta release:
https://www.quickaccesspopup.com/beta-do...11.6.1.9.1

The only difference in this release with v11.6.1.1 is that the verification of the hotkey against the list of blocked applications (Options, Launch Advanced Options) is bypassed, making QAP behave as it was in v11.5.10. This new feature is the main difference between v11.5.10 and v11.6 that could be related with the issue you described.

Test it with your hotkeys Ctrl-Win-X, Win-Z, and Win-X opening QAP submenus. If they work, we do not have final solution but we have a confirmation of the direction to go.
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-06 04:38

Thanks for the beta update!

Ctrl-Win-X now works even if an admin level window has focus.

Win-Z does not work, but I can live with that, that is menu I don't use as often as the one above.

Win-X works as expected, ie the default menu pops up if an admin level window has focus.

Regards,
joeNOR
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-06 08:27

This is good news :-) There is no reason from QAP point of view why Win+X would work and not Win+Z. Anyway, I'd like you to do two more tests, when you have a few minutes:

1) Open your quickaccesspopup.ini file and, under the [Global] section, check if an entry already exists with the name "DiagMode=", like this:
DiagMode=1
If yes, make sure, its value is "1". If not, add the entry as above, under the section [Global] .

2) Run QAP with the beta release v11.6.1.9.1.

3) Hit Win-X on the target admin window (this will collect info in the diag file) and quit QAP.

4) Reinstall v11.6.1.1 and repeat step #3. This will add info to the diag file.

5) Send me the diag file at support@quickaccesspopup.com.

When you restart QAP with 11.6.1.9.1 (until I have a permanent fix), turn off the diag mode.

Thanks!
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-07 11:24

(2023-02-03 14:02)Horst Wrote: An elevated process should never be reached by a pop-up of QAP
or any other tool running with normal rights.

This issue needs a bit of explanation. As I understand it, with previous version of QAP (pre-v11.6), the active window is not accessed when a hotkey is opening a menu (or launching an application, etc.). So, these hotkeys work even if the active window is running in elevated mode. This window is not concerned or affected by the hotkey.

With v11.6 and v11.6.1, because of a new feature blocking hotkeys on selected applications (Options, Launch Advanced Options), QAP must check what is the active window before executing a hotkey. Because this window is elevated, I suppose it does not respond to QAP and QAP is reacting by blocking all hotkeys, even if they would not affect the target elevated window.

I'm waiting for some more test results to confirm this assumption. Then I'll be ready to take a decision on this.
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-07 14:52

@joeNOR: Could you run more test (hopefully the last one), please:
https://www.quickaccesspopup.com/beta-do...11.6.1.9.2

If your exclusion list is empty (in Options, Launch Advanced Options), this should handle hotkeys as in v11.5.10.
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-08 11:48

11.6.1.9.2 behaves similar to 11.6, ie no hotkey combo works when an admin window has focus.
Tested on both Windows 10 and 11.

Regards,
-jN
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-08 17:49

(2023-02-08 11:48)joeNOR Wrote: 11.6.1.9.2 behaves similar to 11.6, ie no hotkey combo works when an admin window has focus.
Tested on both Windows 10 and 11.

Regards,
-jN

So, we are back to square one regarding this issue. At first, I thought I was able to reproduce the issue. But the main difficulty for me is that I can't reproduce having hotkeys working when an admin window has focus with any version (including pre-v11.6). I did these tests with Notepad running elevated and QAP v11.5.10, beta v11.6.1.9.1 and the latest beta v11.6.1.9.2.

I also tested with the simplest AHK macro to see if it would work and it does not when Notepad is running as admin.

Code:
#SingleInstance Force #requires AutoHotkey v1.1 Hotkey, !q, GuiShow ; Atl+Q to show dialog box return GuiShow: Gui, Add, Button, gQuit, Quit Gui, Show return Quit: ExitApp return

So, unless I can find something in your specific settings (following up on my email), I can't understand why this ever worked for you with v11.5.10?

Any help or ideas accepted.

This being said, v11.6.1.9.2 solved another issue related to hotkeys exclusion. I will release it as v11.6.1.2.

Jean
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-09 01:04

In my initial post I stated that it works on 11.5.8.2 (the Ctrl-Win-X combo does).
But, I rolled back from the latest beta to 11.5.8.10 and Ctrl-Win-X also works with that one.
Win-Z does not work on any version I've tested so far, both pre and post 11.6 when an admin window has focus.

Win-X behaves as normal on any version, that is:
Showing the custom menu with non-admin and the standard menu with admin windows.

Did a quick test with 11.5.8.2 and the hotkey combos Ctrl-Alt-F9 and Ctrl-Alt-F8 (combos I use).
Both works when an admin window has focus.

I have very limited time atm to do in-depth trouble shooting and follow-ups (work in particular and life in general biting me in the arse..), but if you are willing to "waste" the time and energy we can circle back to this at a later time if it suits you?

Regards,
joeNOR
PS!
I've replied to your email

Edit:
I think the Win-z combo is used by Windows. Found this after some searching:

Windows key + Z Switch input between the desktop experience and Windows Mixed Reality.

I have no idea what the "Windows Mixed Reality" is, and couldn't be bothered to look it up.

Edit2:
Ctrl-Win-w is another combo I use a lot and it also work on 11.5.8.2 when an admin window has focus.
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-09 08:35

I have the same results (hotkey not working) with 11.5.8.2.

I'll wait for your follow up when you have more time.
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-09 08:41

Are you referring to WIN+z ? (as the other hotkeys are working fine on 11.5.8.2).

My guess is that WIN+z will not work regardless of what you try, it is the same with WIN+x.
Both combos are in use by Windows, and gets an override in admin context.

-jN
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-09 09:33

Sorry, I meant the "same results as in my previous post" (https://forum.quickaccesspopup.com/showt...27#pid6227).
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-10 07:34

Win+z on Windows 11 opens the Snap layout menu as default.

-jN
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

joeNOR > 2023-02-27 10:26

Hi Jean!

You can "close" this case.
I've solved it by using a secondary AHK script running in the systray.
(I actually added to my QAPhelper script).

By using QAPmessenger, all my main menus can now be opened with a hotkey combo, regardless if the window with focus is running elevated or not.
Tested on 11.5.8.2 and 11.6.1.4.

Thanks for all the follow-ups, and time spent on this problem.

Regards,
joeNOR
RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

Jean Lalonde > 2023-02-27 16:18

Thanks for the follow up :-)
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Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

RE: Hotkeys to submenus no longer working if elevated app has focus

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