How to fix steam overlay and some connection issues!

Ok so ever since the latest steam came out i was tormented by my ingame overlay not working and getting kicked out of games at random moments with the message 'Could not connect to VAC servers'. At those moments i could also not access my loadout and had to exit the game and startup the game again. And then it would happen again

So, i contacted steam support and after a lot of replies they advised me this:

Please do the following:

Start Steam, but do not yet log in.

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open the Task Manager. Select the Processes tab.

Find Steam.exe, then right-click on it and select Set Priority... Set the priority to Above Normal, then click OK for the disclaimer dialog.

Once you have done so, please try logging into Steam.

And this works for me!
No more overlay and connection problems.

The only thing that remained was that i had to change the priority each time i restarted my computer again. So i found this solution:
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-permanently-set-process-priority-in-windows-task-manager/

I think this will help some more people because i know i'm not the only one having overlay problems.

I use TuneUp Utilities which does that automatic for me. Highers priority for programs I am using, lowers it for idle programs.

Yea i had tune up years ago but made my computer slower. Since then i have started disliking programs that claim to boost my pc performance but do a lot of stuff i'm not aware of.

I asked steam the same question on how to make it permanent and i just got their reply:

Hello Dennis, There is no built-in method in Windows to adjust the priority, however there are a number of third-party applications that will do so. We are aware of the problem and are investigating the issue further. For news regarding the latest updates and patches, please check the SteamPowered News page: http://store.steampowered.com/news/

Thanks Eraser! I have been experiencing bad overlay problems as well, my game would be operating with a decent FPS, then I hit the old Shift+Tab, and boom, 10 FPS. On top of that, the overlay takes 5 seconds to finally come up,and when it does, my FPS does increase, but it is below decent.

I tried your solution successfully, now I need only see if it works.

Since steam released a new client update a while ago i am having overlay problems again. Anyone else?

Also i was wondering if anyone knows how i can change the steam incoming chatssounds because those soft bloop sounds i just don't hear while playing the game.

Overlay doesn't even work on the mac if you touch it.

Hoboapple wrote:Overlay doesn't even work on the mac if you touch it.

Actually, Shift+Tab is the button you press if you are in-game and want to shut down. You press it, and viola! Your Mac doesn't work anymore.

Yeah, my overlay is buggy.

Well, it always has been. Didn't work at all til I installed XP SP2. Now it'll work if I spam Shift+tab and wait a few minutes, lol.