Powershell script only works if window is clicked - powershell

Question

This is the script which I created:
add-type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
$ie = New-Object -ComObject "InternetExplorer.Application"
$ie.Navigate("http://www.microsoft.com")
$ie.Navigate2("http://www.google.com" , 2048)
$ie.Navigate2("http://www.outlook.com" , 2048)
$ie.Navigate2("https://studer-ksg.intranet.koerber.de/de/nc/fritz-studer-ag.html" , 2048)
$ie.Visible = $true
start-sleep -Milliseconds 4000
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('{F11}')
do
{
start-sleep -Milliseconds 4000
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('^{TAB}')
start-sleep -Milliseconds 100
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{F5}")
}
While ($i -ne 0)
It opens an IE window with 4 tabs in fullscreen and switches between them. When I start the script, the window opens but nothing happens until I click in it. How can I make this automatically so you only have to run the script and everything goes by itself?

Answer 1

You need to bring the IE Window to the front so it has focus before the SendKeys will work:
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
Add-Type -Assembly "Microsoft.VisualBasic"
$ie = New-Object -ComObject "InternetExplorer.Application"
$ie.Navigate("http://www.microsoft.com")
$ie.Navigate2("http://www.google.com" , 2048)
$ie.Navigate2("http://www.outlook.com" , 2048)
$ie.Visible = $true
$IEProcess = Get-Process | Where { $_.MainWindowHandle -eq $ie.HWND }
[Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction]::AppActivate($IEProcess.Id)
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 4000
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('{F11}')
do
{
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 4000
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('^{TAB}')
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 100
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{F5}")
}
While ($i -ne 0)