I've written a little utility to address this issue. It's still very thrown together, but opensource, so you can compile from sources if you've got any security concerns.
Hope it works out for you!
Windows 7 Dual Monitors - Turning off a monitor causes desktop to rearrange resulting in significant amounts of lost productivity.
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Anonymous
I have 2 monitors connected to a nVidia FX 580 card running Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. One monitor is connected via DVI and the other via DP (Display Port).
If I turn off the DP monitor, I hear the windows sound indicating hardware was "removed". When I turn the monitor back on, I hear the new hardware sound, windows re-detects the monitor as if I just installed it, and my entire desktop icon layout and any windows I had open are then all rearranged and takes a significant amount of time re-organizing to get back to where I was.
I leave my PC on 24hrs a day for several reasons - and for years have always just turned my monitors off when not in use.
I need to be able to turn off my monitors without windows deciding that I have "removed" a monitor.
I work for a medical imaging software company where we provide complete hardware and software solutions for use in Radiology departments in hospitals. These systems typically have 3 or 4 monitors connected, all via DP these days. Because of the possibility of the users desktop getting messed up if they happen to turn off a monitor, we are unable to install systems with Windows 7.
While many may see this as nothing more then a inconvenience, this is a show-stopper as far as we are concerned. As of yet I have not found a workable solution to this issue.
So here's the question: How do we disable this new behavior in Windows 7 and allow it to understand that the monitor hasn't gone away and that the desktop should not be rearranged simply because the monitor was turned off?
Thank you.
Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
2011-01-15T23:37:27+00:00 This problem does not happen if you are using monitors that are connected to a 15 pin analog RGB connector. It only seems to happen with HDMI connectors, as they can detect the type of monitor attached to the computer and also if that monitor is turned on.
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Anonymous
2011-01-15T17:52:58+00:00 This is an issue with your setup / configeration of multi monitor, I run multi monitors under win7, as I have in previous win versions, powering off a monitor does not result in the desktop being reset. (I'm using Nvidia drivers/multi monitor set up)
Iso13818 post stating its nothing to do with drivers is incorrect
In previous win versions of Nvidia muti monitor setup it was possible to save several different set up configerations, and switch between them.
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Anonymous
2011-01-15T16:40:33+00:00 This has been a huge problem for me in windows 7 as well. I have a television that is used as a monitor only sometimes, and every time someone turns it on, windows stops everything and detects it as a monitor and enables it. Windows then start to open on the new screen, and of course I can't see them because it is being used by someone else as a TV, not a monitor.
The response above from the microsoft representative is way off the mark. Why can't they understand this problem? It's not bad drivers, that is for sure. Turning off PNP, even if it works, will prevent windows from detecting other hardware changes that should be acknowledged. This is a valid bug of windows 7 that should be acknowledged and addressed. Just because a monitor is turned off, does not mean you want that desktop configuration to change. This should be an OPTION in the screen resolution settings to allow a particular configuration to PERSIST, until you specifically change it.
I have been looking at third party options like ultramon to see if they can control things better than the windows 7 OS does. Ultramon has an option to ignore enabled monitors, and you can setup multiple hardware configurations. This may be the only answer until MS figures out that they really have screwed up in this case.
Why can't someone at MS figure this one out? There must be millions of users who are being annoyed by this trait of windows 7.
BTW, I am having a similar problem with audio. when the tv turns on, the default audio stream switches to the HDMI port, and now I lose all my sounds as well.
Somebody fix this please!
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Anonymous
2011-01-11T21:08:46+00:00 try disabling pnp in the bios