windows 8 can't focus on task manager when a game hangs

this is a problem i have been having(win8pro, amd 4850, whql drivers)

when/if a full screen game or 3d stuff hangs up, on windows 7 you can open the task manager (by any means, ctrlshift esc, or ctrl alt sup, or alt tab and right click task bar)and end the process, but on windows 8 the games keeps some kind of lock on the desktop and i can't kill the process because i can't get focus on the task manager.

I can see the task bar, i can alt tab, and with alt tab i can see what's going on the rest of the windows, but i can't input anything on them, except on metro apps and start screen, so i can't access the task manager and kill the app.

When something like that happened on win 7, you could still open the task manager above the game and end it
I have to log off and log on in order to kill the application

anybody got info on this behavior?

[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

I had the same thing happen to me today while playing Crysis 3. I chalked mine up to dual monitors, because the task manger opened up on the 2nd screen and couldn't access it to kill the process. Ffs, I can't remember how I got it to kill it....but I did. Damn.

looks like folks have the same issue here Task manager doesn't work when a game crashes - Microsoft Community

i'll try with always on top to see if it fixes

edit2: according to a comment from youtube always on top fixed it for him
Windows 8 - Full Screen Program Crash [RTM] - YouTube