KVM switch + Windows 7 creates monitor switching nightmare

Anonymous
2009-10-29T16:44:18+00:00

I have a problem with Windows 7 and my KVM switch (Iogear model# gcs1764) which is makes switching via KVM an absolute nightmare.  The iogear KVM does not use drivers nor are any available on their website.

Here's what happens:

I switch from Win 7 (2 monitors) to XP (1 monitor) via KVM.  When I switch back to Win 7 (2 monitors) sometimes Win 7 will throw my desktop to the 2nd monitor (1st monitor goes blank) and opening up display settings only shows the 2nd monitor as existing.  It's as if the 1st monitor is now unplugged which it isn't.  At this point I have to go into display settings, click Detect, and then it re-detects my 1st monitor and "extends" my desktop back out over 2 monitors.  All windows have now been thrown to my 1st monitor and i have to rearrange all my work back across 2 monitors.  This is why KVM switching in Win 7 makes my work life a living nightmare.  This isn't all of it either...

When everything gets thrown to my first monitor, it takes any windows that were maximized and resizes them to about 1/4 my screen size.  Due to compatibility issues between Win 7 and SQL Server Management Studio, Management Studio has a redraw bug that doesn't "re-size" the query window correctly.  So even though I maximize the app, when I start typing in the query window my text disappears about 1/4 the way across the whole window.  The only way to fix this is to save all my work, close the app, and then re-open the app with all my work.  So basically every time I switch computers there's about a 1/5 chance I have rinse and repeat everything I just typed above.  Fun times.

So are there any future fixes planned for this?  I have tried everything and nothing fixes this problem.  I have all the latest Nvidia drivers (my card: Nvidia GTS 250).

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-03-29T13:19:23+00:00

    I think this is a non-auto-detect issue.  (I do not use a kvm switch. But I do use remote desktop for these computers.)

    A couple of weeks ago I installed w7 on a wV computer.

    I do not power-on the monitors when the computers are started. (Not all computers are used every-day.)

    When I do power-on the monitors I find stupidity:

    One system (Clean installation) has the monitors set to default resolution and the shortcuts are moved.

    The other system (upgrade) has the monitors reversed, number one on the right, and default resolution, and the shortcuts are moved.

    I right-click, click screen resolution, click detect and all becomes as it should: display is moved to the correct monitors and resolutions are restored. But the shortcuts are not placed as there were.

    At the very least the monitors should be auto detected when powered-on, and the settings should be restored.

    YEA to all the new windows candy, but this issue, and the windows explorer idiocies, are fundamental functions, they should have been fixed immediately.

    J

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-03-27T05:38:50+00:00

    Then again, didn't I read MS averaged over 10,000 calls an hour (all languages, all countries)? 

    Apologies extended if my previous response seemed dismissive or offensive in any way - that was not my intent. Frustration seeping through perhaps

    1.  That's what I thought when the guy said they hadn't heard about it (but I kept civil and didn't snap :D).  With however many zillion support people they've got, they wouldn't necessarily know what other calls had been lodged.  Any calls might not have been logged properly in the computer for them to come up (assuming that's how it works).  I would assume that they must have some sort of quality assurance procedures as to what things are fixed, how long it takes, etc., because I got an email saying they were going to close it as fixed (!!!!!)  (I promptly emailed back not to close it.)

    2.  No, I didn't take it that way.  I hope my reply to you didn't make you think that I did.  I am equally annoyed and frustrated.  It's hard not to start a tirade every time I post.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-03-27T05:04:34+00:00

    I just thought that if all 77 of us hadn't yet lodged support calls that doing so might focus additional attention on the fact that many are affected, and unhappy.

    The problem as I see it is that it isn't just a question of new, unplanned expenditure to fix it (which, BTW, I have absolutely NO intention of doing - if it's a question of buying new hardware or returning the software, the software's going back), because it happens with single monitors as well .  It seems to me that only disabling the computer searching for monitors (that it doesn't find) will fix this issue.

    Well, you got me there, Higgy. 77 support calls in one day, all refering to the same social.answers thread might get some attention.

    Then again, didn't I read MS averaged over 10,000 calls an hour (all languages, all countries)? Maybe I need to troll MSDN to see if there's a thread over there on this, multi-monitor & KVM arrangements are sure to be more common in the development world.

    Apologies extended if my previous response seemed dismissive or offensive in any way - that was not my intent. Frustration seeping through perhaps

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-03-27T04:52:47+00:00

    Powerstip (Try 'n Buy) from EnTechTechtaiwan. Not sure I see a fix for the KVM aspect in there.

    Neat stuff, more info here (RamElectronics)

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  5. Anonymous
    2010-03-27T02:53:26+00:00

    Yes, I agree, iMentat but my problem is that I don't know how Microsoft works.  The Microsoft people who have responded on here may not have sufficient seniority to have made something happen, or they may simply not have bothered.  There might be those higher up, or more clever (or whatever) who can "get on the case" and do something about it. I don't know what attention this board gets or if actual tech support calls get better attention, or what.  I just thought that if all 77 of us hadn't yet lodged support calls that doing so might focus additional attention on the fact that many are affected, and unhappy.

    The problem as I see it is that it isn't just a question of new, unplanned expenditure to fix it (which, BTW, I have absolutely NO intention of doing - if it's a question of buying new hardware or returning the software, the software's going back), because it happens with single monitors as well .  It seems to me that only disabling the computer searching for monitors (that it doesn't find) will fix this issue.

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