Opening apps in a multi-monitor setup

[lanux128]

i want to kind of gather feedback & ideas from regular users of multi-monitors for some of my queries on this matter..

1. with the extended desktop dimension, what can be done about apps opening off-screen or on the other monitor, instead of the primary monitor?
2. sometimes, i place some windows on the 2nd monitor & the apps remember the settings which is fine, until i disable the 2nd monitor (for gaming purposes) then the apps appear off-screen again. can a program be trained to check the availability of the monitor before coming into view?
3. finally, what are the tools you use to enhance the multi-monitor experience? i know of only two - MultiMon Taskbar and UltraMon..

[jgpaiva]

3. finally, what are the tools you use to enhance the multi-monitor experience? i know of only two - MultiMon Taskbar and UltraMon..

GridMove! GridMove! GridMove!

[Ralf Maximus]

GridMove! GridMove! GridMove!

GridMove, you say?

[justice]

Let me answer that in reverse order:
3. I used to use ultramon but now I don't use any app. I didn't want to pay for it so I discontinued use, so now I just have a doubleheight taskbar to make the space.
2. I think point one is a result of point two, why do you disable the second monitor? I can play games fine on the dual monitor setup here, the game uses the primary monitor and I can check IMs on monitor two. If you no longer disable the monitor, then all programs generally will open where you want it.
1. see above.

[mwb1100]

1. with the extended desktop dimension, what can be done about apps opening off-screen or on the other monitor, instead of the primary monitor?

I used to have a laptop configuration that included a second monitor when docked.  There were a fair number of applications that would reopen on the non-existant 2nd monitor when I was undocked.  Annoying to say the least.  I didn't look for a software solution (I imagine one exists somewhere); my solution was to:

• open a bug with the software's vendor
• until the bug was fixed (if ever), I would move the invisible window to the visible monitor by using Alt-Spacebar-M, which is the standard 'Move' menu option for a window.  Then using the arrow keys and/or the mouse I could usually get the window back on screen.

[lanux128]

thanks for the replies, sorry jgpaiva, it didn't occur to me that GridMove would be useful in a multi-monitor setup too and maybe this thread can be used to collect all possible multi-monitor tools..

as for justice's points, even though some games work ok but other games & educational programs insist assiduously on a single monitor. and also like mwb1100, i'd prefer a docking type of system because sometimes my wife or kids use the pc and i didn't want the dual-monitor to be overwhelming..

mwb1100, i thought of emailing devs too about support for multi-monitors but that would be a crusade and i haven't the energy for that.. btw, i also use the Alt+Space+M combo for the time being..

[PhilB66]

Nvidia's nView or ATI's Hydravision if you have the card.

[tinjaw]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned GridMove. 

[lanux128]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned GridMove. 

right up there, mentioned twice in fact..

[J-Mac]

I used Ultramon for a while here, but it had some conflicts with Nvidia's NView - even when I disabled NView.  Not sure if they were battling over DLLs, or some other registry conflict, but it could get pretty hairy when they did collide.  Since I don't know how to completely get rid of NView, like Justice I didn't want to spend the money for Ultramon and find I couldn't resolve the conflicts.

I'm presently battling "Full Screen Video on Secondary Display" problems here also.  Driving me crazier than I already am!  (All video properly plays full-screen on the second monitor as desired, but if I minimize the app playing the video it switches to full-screen on the main monitor -- and I can't get back to anything else on the main monitor - requires a push of the "Reset" button, crashing all that was open. I am wondering if it all worthwhile!)

Thanks!

Jim

[lanux128]

i think there are documented cases of conflicts between nView & Ultramon and also i found nView quite lacking so haven't tried it yet.. but your account of full-screen video is quite frightening, i'm might try to see what happens on my pc, what media player are you using?

[J-Mac]

i think there are documented cases of conflicts between nView & Ultramon and also i found nView quite lacking so haven't tried it yet.. but your account of full-screen video is quite frightening, i'm might try to see what happens on my pc, what media player are you using?

Several - WMP11, Nero, Applian's FLV Player, or even if I have my security camera views up on my monitor. That's a good example:

My security cams have a screen that has four shots at once, or you can view one cam in a larger window with the other three in smaller blocks, or one at a time. It is also showing full-screen on my other display - and that monitor apparently can't handle this video as it keeps flashing and blinking rapidly. First time I had that open I minimized the camera viewer application on my main monitor and all of a sudden the full-screen disappeared on the second monitor and appeared on the main monitor - and I couldn't get rid of it! Can't restore to a smaller window, can't minimize it again, can't Alt-Tab out of it -- nothing gets it off the screen till I reset the PC.

I haven't been able to make any progress with this. Frustrating!!

Jim

[yksyks]

Force Window Visible is a simple free utility that helps in the worst cases of off-screen apps. It saved me a lot of times.

http://www.compendiumdev.co.uk/forcedisplay/index.php

[cranioscopical]

Force Window Visible is a simple free utility that helps in the worst cases of off-screen apps. It saved me a lot of times.

http://www.compendiumdev.co.uk/forcedisplay/index.php

Thanks, yksyks, that's a good one to know about.

[lanux128]

J-Mac: i don't seem have the problem that you mentioned (touch-wood!), maybe it's card-specific? btw, mine is nVidia 7600GT.