Problems with titler window losing focus

Question

I'm using PP2.0, running on windows XP x64. It's been running since it was last re-installed in December 2007 (after a problem with codecs that broke PP2), and I've made no changes to it or to any of the support processes it uses, nor any changes to the OS (apart from service packs). There have been NO driver changes, window layout changes, workspace changes, or any other changes (apart from entropy). The mouse I'm using is a [oxymoron]Kensington Expert Mouse Pro[/oxymoron], with their latest (i.e. 2007) drivers, and XMouse ver 1.37.0.0 (i.e. their latest x64 driver), but this happens regardless of the mouse or keyboard I use.
To set the scene... I use a "standard" title template for all my video work, with predefined text fields and colours and so on. There's nothing bizarre or extraordinary about these templates, they're actually super simplistic in terms of what most users here use their titlers for! The entire title is completely static - there are no scrolling or moving anythings, the title is overlaid on black video, there are just a dozen simple text boxes and one standard logo (bmp format), that's it. I use only Arial fonts, with no special settings or kerning or spacing or anything more complex than colour. I haven't touched or modified the original titler template since I set it up in December 2008. The problem I'm seeing happens to any titles, not just the known working template, so it's definitely a PP2 problem, not a titler problem.
The problem is that recently (in the past 3-4 months, over maybe 5 projects in that time) the titler window loses focus while I'm using it, and the PP2 main application becomes active.
When I bring the titler window up (using any method) and start editing, that window loses focus (window frame reverts to the background windowframe colour) and I can't type or do anything else in the titler window.The PP2 app window suddenly become the active window, and remains active until I shut down the titler.
My workaround is to click and hold in the titler window, on or around the text I want to edit. So by pressing and holding the left mouse button, I can insert text just fine in any existing text frame. And by selecting text with the left button and then holding it (like I'm starting a drag operation), I can _replace_ the selected text - but as soon as I release the mouse button, the focus leaves the titler and I can't do anything again.
I've reset the workspace, changed mouse and keyboards, but the problem isn't a hardware or driver issue. PP2 is the only application that behaves like this, and it's the only Adobe application that behaves like this - Photoshop (5.5 and CS8) and Audition (1.5 and 3.0) all work perfectly normally.
This behaviour occurs with titles I've used and saved in previous working projects, it happens with new blank titles, and so on.
What I've noticed most recently while trying to fix the problem, is that sometimes I can actually type a couple of letters or hit an editing key or two in the titler window normally, but then the titler loses focus and keeps it lost permanently after that. That doesn't always happen, and it doesn't appear to be related to process flow. So restarting PP2, or closing and reloading a project, don't affect the arbitrary nature of the "sometimes starts to work" behaviour. I can sometimes re-edit a title in the same project after editing the title with the focus lost, and suddenly the first few keystrokes are normal, but then the focus reverts to the main app.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions to try (apart from reinstalling the application again or upgrading), I'd be most grateful.
-PCPete

Answer 1

I think you're right, it's starting to look like another problem within the "new" PP2 installation. It's such a complex app, it's not surprising it gets lost.
Since this is the only app that has this problem (and because of the nature of the problem), I know it's not a graphics card or driver issue.
This appears to be a high-level windows function problem, to do with the way the PP2 app is handling the modal form. It's probably not the mouse driver, since I don't move the mouse outside of the child window, but that doesn't leave much else. I don't have popups or any other asynchronous applications (like email warning windows or balloon-type reminders or notifications) either.
I really don't want to go through the horror of yet another reinstall of an Adobe product if I can possibly avoid it, but pending no other useful ideas, that is an absolute last resort.