I could be typing this reply and the key strokes would simply not register after awhile. No other keys hit, cursor remains in target area - it just stops typing.
Interesting possibility. Is the Malwarebytes free version good/deep enough?One "out of the box" consideration is that you have a "keylogger" maliciously installed and it is not functioning as well as the hackers would like it to. When a keylogger is installed on your machine, your keystrokes are intercepted long enough to record them and then they are sent on their merry-way to the target application. If the keylogger is "misbehaving" it records your keystrokes, but, then does not send them onto the target application.
I think a really good/deep virus scan is in order on top of all the other very fine suggestions.
Thanks. Just ran it. No joy, but a good resource.Keyloggers are almost always installed as "rootkits". I am not sure if rootkit detection is available in MalwareBytes. However, Malwarebytes has a free "anti-rootkit scanner available from their website at this link...........
https://www.malwarebytes.com/antirootkit/
Also, when you download this software from Malwarebytes, the default rootkit signatures file is from 2014. Take the time to press the "Update" button to get the 2016 version. It only takes a few seconds to download.
This seems to work. What would that tell me?Hit Alt-Tab twice: switch away from your active application, and then back.
See if that does anything.
Would the task manager also show the culprit due to the large amount of memory being used?If you are not "up to" learning how to use Process Explorer, another way to see which application is "stealing focus" is to just wait for it to happen, and then look down at your taskbar. One of the icons will be "brighter" than the others. That application may have "taken focus" but the dialog box it is trying to present is not showing. Click on the application icon once or twice and it will probably bring the dialog box forward so you can confirm the issue is with that application.
Worth a look, a process with high CPU load and or I/O operations can also be a candidate.
Do you have a
[list of] plausible candidate? => google its name or post it here. If its fairly harmless to stop just shut it down and see if that fixes the issue.
[Edit] Before you do, check first. Some processes are essential and stopping them can cause harm.
The second highest user beyond Firefox is Avira System Speedup. I tried uninstalling it, and now need to see if it was the culprit.
I think I've solved my problem. I recall now adding this free program about the time the issue showed up, but did not notice the issue right away and forgot about the added program.
Thanks for all the patient answers from my friends, here.
Good idea.In the heat of the battle, always good to take a step back and consider when the issues starting showing up and if any changes were made.
For my system backups with Macrium Reflect, I set 60 days worth of backups (oldest backup rolls off each day). That way, when I come into a situation where I'm scratching my head not knowing why something isn't working right, at least if I know when things started acting strangely, I have 60 days back to play with .