KVM switch + Windows 7 creates monitor switching nightmare

I have a Switchview KVM, Win 7 Pro 64, two monitors. What is silly about this "feature" is that Win 7 doesn't detect immediately the switch to the other PCs: only when I switch back to it, it fails to detect the second monitor and places everything into one monitor. It would be ideal that Microsoft would release a tweak for this.

I have found a work-around.

Using Sysinternals ProcessMonitor I found that Windows was accessing the following Registry path;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Configuration

My system had three entries;

DELF003YY7707BR0MUL_30_07D7_6A^9A3774EB79DEE3E3E38496CC7DF4D936

QHD32000001_31_07D6_D5^63E1ABDD175E7871DCAEB710418A0F75

SIMULATED_8086_2A42_00000000_00020000_1010100^CDE365D1B3F0942F0CF38BFB8E127AB4

Under each is a tree called "00" two of the keys are

PrimSurfSize.cx

PrimSurfSize.cy

Under "00" was another branch also called "00" two of the keys are;

ActiveSize.cx

ActiveSize.cy

The first two of the configs (ie DELF00... & QHD3...) the above keys were 1440x900,

so they were not involved.

The third (SIMULATED...) were set to 1024x768.

I changed these to 1600x900 and the problem was solved.

Further I changed resolution (via control panel) to 1920x1080, the moving/resize issue returned,

but the lower right corner was set to 1600x900, ie the SIMULATED... settings.

So for some reason one of the configs does not get set correctly.

I don't know why there are three configs, I have only ever used one monitor.

Worked for my non KVM switch issue, may help your issues.

This worked for single monitor system w/ IOGear KVM & Nvidia graphics card!  However, the registry key I had to edit was:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Configuration\KVM

Odd side affect: the other system on the KVM is a laptop w/ Intel chipset on XP.  It was switching to single screen (the laptop monitor) then back to dual screen with the KVM.  Now it's retaining the other monitor and doing the same thing as the Windows 7 system was doing.  (This is more probably a side affect of resetting the KVM during troubleshooting - didn't notice until after this change).

Any direction on this key for XP?

Edit:  It seemed like it worked, but not consistently.  I can't figure this out.

2nd Edit:  I purchased a DVI cable, ripped out pin 16 (as Starguy suggested) for the laptop.  The laptop has the "Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for mobile" which automatically changes the displays when a new one is found.  Not finding anything new keeps that computer from remapping the display.  When I went back to the desktop with the Nvidia card, it did not resize.  After a couple of times back and forth it finally did resize.  Trying the patch on the next page.

Oh, did I mention, you don't have to buy a new KVM ;-)  BUMP THAT!

No way I was going to do that, I have a dual monitor 4 switch KVM I scored off ebay for $50, to buy one of these new with some Win7 compatibilty would be insane.  (KVMs are like a wife, they are very expensive, you just can't trade them in and buy a new one).

If you lose a monitor right after reconnecting your cables back up, simply go into screen resolution in Windows and click the Detect button and you're golden. I'm tempted to make a video showing the difference between Windows 7 KVM monitor ****, and then back to the way it should be and should of been from the very start, by simply pulling this pin and killing the monitor query line and this 'smart' feature.

If you do in the future need monitor auto detect again, simply remove the extender cable out of the loop and connect your monitor directly back up to your KVM.

No mod or damage done to your expensive monitor or KVM at all, they retain their resale value.

FOR THOSE WITH KVM Problem (SOLVED FOR ME):

Summary:  Buy a cheap (ebay $4) VGA (or DVI) extender cable for each of your monitors, rip PIN 12 for VGA (or Pin 16 for DVI) out of the male end of the extender cable, place between your monitors and your KVM, and you're done.

STEP BY STEP

1.  Buy a VGA Extender Cable male to female, one for each of your monitors.

VGA extender cables are only about $4 each on ebay, and you only need one per each of your monitors connected to KVM, not one for each computer.

I.e., if you have one monitor going to your KVM, you only need to buy one VGA extender cable.  If you have two monitors (dual view) going to your KVM, you need two cables, etc.

Search for "vga extension cable male female":

Ebay:  http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=vga+extension+cable+male+female&_sacat=0&_sop=15&_odkw=vga+extension+cable&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

Froogle:  http://www.google.com/search?q=vga+extension+cable+male+female&tbs=shop%3A1&aq=f#q=vga+extension+cable+male+female&hl=en&tbs=shop:1,p_ord:p&sa=X&ei=U5dxTeW6N4KUtwfxtriGDw&ved=0CAoQuw0oAQ&bav=on.2,or.&fp=563c33928d93abad

Note: if you are a real cheapskate or can't wait, you can rip pin 12 out of your monitor cable male end, but I don't recommend this as its irreversible.  That's the whole point of buying the VGA extender cable - if it doesn't work for you or you screw it up, its to a cheap $4 cable that you can toss away, and like me, you may already have them lying about your IT shop.  My monitors are far away, so I already had two between my monitors and my KVM already, so I was set to go immediatly.

2.  RIP PIN 12 out of the VGA extender cable male end with some needle nose electrical pliers)!!!!    Takes all of 10 seconds

To see where pin 12 is, look at this website already mentioned:

http://nookkin.com/content/allowing-any-screen-resolution-on-vista.php

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/\_N66od8KlQks/TD-St9qyYEI/AAAAAAAAAVU/K5fH6O4jx-o/s1600/vga\_pinout.jpg

The above links have the correct view for the male end, where you you will be pulling out pin 12.  Note that the female end, which you won't change, will have a mirror view of the pins.

3.  Plug VGA extender cable in line in between your monitors and your KVM switch.   You're done.  That's it.
4.  No more desktop resizes, flicker, flutter, window and gadet moving, USB disconnect reconnect sound 10 second waits heart attack night mares every time you switch screens.

In fact, its now nicer than it was under XP, because the video card never shuts off or thinks the monitor has disappeared, so switching between screens has no black out or pause or flicker at all, period.  Its instantaneous, like flipping between tabs on a webpage or a picture book, its that fast.  You can also turn your monitors off when you walk away from your computer, and nothing happens.  Bliss.

For DVI monitors:

If you have a DVI monitor, I imagine, using the same method... buying an extender cable, and ripping out the appropriate Hot Plug Detect pin 16 on a DVI extender cable may work for you as well.

Note that I have not tried the DVI Pin 16 rip out myself, so read further through the posts here and verify someone else has tried it and it does / does not work before you proceed below...

For DVI:  instead by a DVI extender cable for each of your monitors, and rip out DVI pin 16 instead (of vga pin 12):

DVI pinout diagram:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/DVI_pinout.png

Ebay:

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvi+extension+cable+male+female&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Froogle:

http://www.google.com/search?q=vga+extension+cable+male+female&tbs=shop%3A1&aq=f#sclient=psy&hl=en&tbs=shop:1%2Cp_ord%3Ap&q=dvi+extension+cable+male+female&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.&fp=563c33928d93abad

I agree that Win 7 is a very solid release and a big improvement over XP An Vista. Also little things like this do turn an overall great experience into something much less...

Daily, I have to endure this problem and it is just maddening. It makes me want to punch the monitor or hurl it across the room.

I too have tried most all of the "fixes" suggested and none have worked.

Is this really the experience that MS would like for users to have?