Opening a WinForm with TopMost=true but not having it steal focus?

Question

I have a form that pops up on a user's screen and has TopMost=true, but it steals the focus. How can I get it to not steal focus when it first appears?

Answer 1

Paste this code in your form:

protected override bool ShowWithoutActivation
{
    get { return true; }
}

Answer 2

I tested the below code using a timer on form1 to instantiate and show form2 with form1 as owner.

In form2's Shown event I then set focus to the owner, which is the current active form.

I have a textbox on form1 and was able to continuesly write in the textbox without loosing focus during this process.

My timer code in form1:

private void timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Form2 popup = new Form2();
    popup.TopMost = true;
    popup.Show(this);
    timer1.Enabled = false;
}

My code in the Shown event of form2:

private void Form2_Shown(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    this.Owner.Focus();
}

You can do this or simply set TopMost to false and use the override of ShowWithoutActivation as Hans Passant stated.

Edit: (Or use p/invoke as seen in Hans Passant's additional comment I missed while I wrote this)