Hi!,
I had the same problem and I came here today.
Using groups worked fine. But, I think having to put two actions in order to hide/deactivate a popup window (for example) is not good for readibility.
I understand why is that and how construct deals separately sprites and events. But it should be a better way I think. Like having in some way the three options: (HIDE, DEACTIVATE and HIDE_AND_DEACTIVATE).
PD: I'm new to Construct2 so let me know if I'm misunderstanding something.
Saludos!