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
    2010-01-08T08:07:16+00:00

    ...

    So, the auto detect for us is the problem- when I switch monitors, Windows 7 sees that the first screen is gone and resets.  I just need to be able to tell Windows 7 not to care about monitor detect.

    Any updates on when this will be fixed or do we need to stop the rollout to Windows 7?  My users are all upset with us in IT and think we are idiots because we are telling them we cannot upgrade, and they still think we are idiots because we first went with Vista when service pack 1 was released.  I feel betrayed by Microsoft on such a simple issue- how can this be such a hard thing to fix?

    I concur with this assessment and second the request for Microsoft to respond to the community on when a seemingly simple "no dvi detect" solution can be made available to solve this and the other problems caused by dvi detection linked in this thread.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-01-08T04:03:33+00:00

    I have similar issues.  My company has many two monitor systems that use a 4 port DVI switch (IO Gear GCS1764) to switch one of the monitors between 1 to 3 laptops and a desktop.  The desktop uses both monitors, one of which is set as monitor 2 and monitor one is set to go through the KVM switch.

    Old behavior under Vista 64 Ultimate:  Right Monitor always desktop screen 2 in portrait mode and monitor one switches based on KVM to show landscape as switched.  The right screen shows an application that the users need to always need to be able to see, and the left screen shows the KVM switch controlled single screen.

    New Behavior under Windows 7 Ultimate: When switched, right monitor goes to landscape and shows desktop as screen one.  Left monitor works as expected.  When I switch back to Desktop, all goes back ok but windows are all resized and moved to screen one as if it was a 800x600 monitor and not a 1920x1200. 

    Problem- I can't read my right screen when I am not on the desktop (it is sideways) and each time I switch systems I have to resize and reposition my windows.  So, Windows 7 is useless to me and I need to go back to Vista (now that is a pain and also who could imagine that Vista is better than Windows 7.)

    So, the auto detect for us is the problem- when I switch monitors, Windows 7 sees that the first screen is gone and resets.  I just need to be able to tell Windows 7 not to care about monitor detect.

    Any updates on when this will be fixed or do we need to stop the rollout to Windows 7?  My users are all upset with us in IT and think we are idiots because we are telling them we cannot upgrade, and they still think we are idiots because we first went with Vista when service pack 1 was released.  I feel betrayed by Microsoft on such a simple issue- how can this be such a hard thing to fix?

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-01-06T19:04:09+00:00

    I tried W7 ultimate for a couple of weeks which worked fine with my KVM but when I installed W7HP, this problem started to appear.

    I doubt it's due to the change of W7 edition so my conclusion is that there is some way to make it work. Just can't figure out how what I've done different during this installation.

    Aten CS62DU

    NVIDA 9400

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-01-04T05:12:30+00:00

    Sorry this is my first posting here so forgive me if I did something wrong.

    This may be temporary but I tried the Regedit solution proposed earlier (Change from 1 to 0).  When I rebooted It did not work and my resolution was down from 1900x1200 to 1680 x1050 so I changed the registry again from 0 to 1 essentially enabling the TMM feature and rebooted again.  For some reason after the second reboot it started working and I am able to access two computers and keeps my resolution to 1900 x 1200.  This could be a total fluke and may not last long.

    Belkin KVM Flip

    NVidia GT220

    Windows 7 home 64 bit

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  5. Anonymous
    2009-12-31T05:50:14+00:00

    I am having this problem on my media center PC as well.  Then the monitor is not on the screen goes down.  WHen the computer boots as well without the monitor on the resolution gets all jacked up.

    When I do turn on the monitor, I have to reboot again.

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