Max Payne 3 is pausing itself randomly

Question

I just purchased Max Payne 3 from Steam. This game pauses itself randomly (the same behaviour as if you were to hit the escape key on your keyboard), and I don't know what the issue with because I have not experienced this with any other game (and I have a lot of games). It's not just me that is experiencing this: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2728936. Here are my system specifications:

Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Alienware
       System Model: Aurora-R4
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 02/08/12 15:27:32 Ver: 04.06.05
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3960X CPU @ 3.30GHz (12 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
             Memory: 16384MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 16336MB RAM
          Page File: 3296MB used, 29374MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
 Card name: AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series  (i use two of these in CROSSFIREX mode)
       Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
          Chip type: ATI display adapter (0x679A)
           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_679A&SUBSYS_0B001002&REV_00
     Display Memory: 1670 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 1950 MB
      Shared Memory: 3816 MB
       Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (120Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
      Monitor Model: S27A950D
         Monitor Id: SAM079F
        Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (119.982Hz)
        Output Type: Displayport External
        Driver Name: aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
Driver File Version: 8.17.0010.1124 (English)
     Driver Version: 8.961.0.0

Answer 1

The recently released patch should alleviate the issue, if not, try using msconfig to disable sound drivers you aren't using on startup (Startup tab). If that doesn't work, go to device manager and disable sound devices you aren't using.

Answer 2

I tried all the fixes posted online as well as the ones suggested by RockStar with negative results.

Finally I figured out what was causing my"Pausing Issue".

Simply disabling Microsoft .NET Framework 4 didn't appear to have any effect on the game. It would still pause during game play.

What finally worked for me is complete uninstall of Microsoft .NET Framework 4. I then reinstalled Max Payne 3 and had not experience a single pause.

Answer 3

I have crashplan installed and Max Payne 3 pauses every time crashplan starts a backup or scann files. I workaround the problem by telling crashplan to sleep for some hours.