livingdecay,
Well, I'm not boasting myself as a great windows programmer, but I'll just add my $0.02 and you can do with it what you want.
First, Windows does not _seem_ to keep a copy of what is actually on the screen except for in video memory. This means that when your window is obscured, "poof" -- there goes your graphics into computer oblivion. You cannot rely on Windows to remember what you have displayed on the screen. Windows only erases the screen and then sends commands to redraw items. It does not restore overlayed windows internally.
Second, there are a few different ways to overcome this. One way I prefer from being an old-time DOS game programmer is to use an off-screen buffer. This isn't always the best way to do things in Windows, but it does _work_, as opposed to other methodologies. Basically, the idea is to make a representation of your screen in memory first, then copy that to the screen through GDI or something like that. It's been a while since I've played around with this, and if I remember right GDI is too slow to redraw the stored screen pixel by pixel, but like I said, I can't remember.
Another way (and probably the better) is to wait for any WM_PAINT messages sent you main window proc's way. These are the same messages the rest of the window is responding to and rebuilding itself from (i.e. the caption bar, the border, etc.). Simply waiting on a WM_ACTIVATE message will only redraw the window when it is selected, not when another window is moved to unobscure yours.
Since you said that might be a pain to do, think about doing this. Place all your drawing code into WM_PAINT and then send a WM_PAINT message to your window whenever you need the screen drawn. It all kind of depends on how your graphics loop is set up, or if you're using a loop at all.
Regardless of how you've got it set up, there's no way to get around the fact that other windows are going to erase your graphics and you're going to have to rebuild them. Static graphics are a no-do on Windows, since your graphics aren't kept when another widnow obscures yours.
Hope this helps, I'm sure it's clear as mud, but hey, it's worth a shot.
Best wishes,
Stephen
"Live long and program......or at least do _something_ with all that time......"
