MPC-HC won't stay on top when I select Save as in MS Paint classic

Hello!

I am doing some work in Microsoft Paint classic (I installed it with Winaero, I don't like the new modern app). While working I watch a movie in a small window using Media Player Classic (MPC-HC). I have set it to stay on top when playing video or to always be on top. This works if I switch between applications including File Explorer and also when I drag and drop the image I want to edit in MS Paint classic. However after I make some changes, like cropping the image, I go to File menu and select Save as so the modification is on a separate file, Microsoft Paint classic gow in the foreground and hide MPC-HC window. I have to click on the MPC-HC icon on the taskbar to bring it again on the front. This happens every time I select Save as. I Googled it and Google AI suggested to use the Always On Top tool of Microsoft PowerToys. This has exactly the same bug. Doesn't make any difference at all. Also switching from Enhanced Video Renderer to MPC Video Renderer made no difference. Do you have any workaround? Please don't suggest to use another image editing application or another media player. I already tried VLC, didn't make any difference.

Thanks

If VLC behaves the same way, this may be more about how the classic Paint Save As dialog is handled by Windows rather than an MPC-HC-specific issue. One thing I would check first is MPC-HC's Options > Player > Keep history / Always on top setting and make sure Always on Top is set to Always, not only while playing. As a quick test, does the same thing happen if you open Paint's Save As dialog while the video is actively playing, rather than paused? Also, if you open a normal File Explorer window instead of Save As, does MPC-HC remain on top? Those two tests should help narrow down whether the problem is specifically the Save As dialog/window behavior or MPC-HC losing its topmost state.

This is a 3rd party app type of solution.
Try DeskPins.

fahimbah said:

If VLC behaves the same way, this may be more about how the classic Paint Save As dialog is handled by Windows rather than an MPC-HC-specific issue. One thing I would check first is MPC-HC's Options > Player > Keep history / Always on top setting and make sure Always on Top is set to Always, not only while playing. As a quick test, does the same thing happen if you open Paint's Save As dialog while the video is actively playing, rather than paused? Also, if you open a normal File Explorer window instead of Save As, does MPC-HC remain on top? Those two tests should help narrow down whether the problem is specifically the Save As dialog/window behavior or MPC-HC losing its topmost state.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. Yes, it doesn't make any difference if I set "on top while playing video" or "Always on top", the MPC-HC window always goes in the background when I select Save as from the File menu. Neither makes any difference whether is playing a video or paused. I tried to use the modern Paint app to see if it makes any difference but due to some bug, probably with Mica for Everyone, all the menu area is transparent and I cannot easily see the buttons/menus! I will have to fix this bug first before trying with modern Paint app. I suspect the issue with MPC-HC happens with any "traditional" Win32 desktop application. Probably modern Paint app will behave differently since it is a UWP, although it is not convenient because some idiot decided to move half of the buttons to the right. In Microsoft Paint classic all buttons are on the left side.

pepanee said:

This is a 3rd party app type of solution.
Try DeskPins.

Click to expand...

I will try it tomorrow, thanks.

Thanks for testing it and reporting back. That makes sense - if the same behavior occurs regardless of the Always on top setting, it does sound more like an interaction between the classic Save As dialog and MPC-HC rather than that setting itself. Hopefully someone familiar with MPC-HC can confirm whether it’s a known issue or suggest a workaround.

I have done it before, I was watching a video while working in Word. However I don't remember using Save as. Probably just pressing CTRL+S to save changes in the same file. That's why the video stayed on top.

That’s a useful clue. If Ctrl+S keeps MPC-HC on top but opening the Save As dialog causes it to drop behind, then the issue seems specifically related to the Save As dialog rather than normal saving. It may be worth testing Ctrl+Shift+S in Word as well, since that should invoke Save As. If that reproduces it consistently, it would narrow the issue down quite a bit.

Classic Paint from Winaero comes from Win10 I see.
To rule out some possibilities, I did some tests back on Win10 (22H2 19045.6466) x64 using the built-in Paint program.
Old MPC-HC v1.9.14 x64 behaves
New MPC-HC v2.8.1 x64 behaves
--> Paint Save-As window does not come on top of the Player.
So on Win10 all works fine.
There might be some new things from Win11 UI layout interfering.
I assume you use x64 version of both Classic Paint and MPC-HC.