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
    2012-04-17T14:07:02+00:00

    Since you understand these issues, unless I am misunderstanding your answer, user_tim, perhaps then you could explain to us how that correlates to Windows resetting the resolution, and messing up Window sizes and icon placements, whenever a switch to a station that's off (or in my case, a non HDMI source) occurs?

    Whatever the case may be, I found a solution that works for me a few pages back. Simply in the right place in the registry, replace all lower resolutions (e.g 720x480) with my actual resolution, 1920x1080. No EDID, HDCP "magic" involved, even though fully supported by my HDTV and video card.. 

    Note that this is not actually a KVM, but an AVR setup, with two PCs and several other sources being switched via a combination of an HDMI switch and the AVR (w only 2 HDMI inputs)

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-01-12T00:37:26+00:00

    Is there a fix to this yet?

    I have a PC here that has two monitors, one being connected to a KVM. When the KVM is switched, it effectively unplugs the second monitor from the PC. Windows 7 detects this and sets up a single monitor desktop. But when switching the KVM back, it effectively plugs the second monitor back in, but it does not revert back to two screens until I go to the "Screen Resolution" control panel and "Detect" displays.

    Can this entire process be skipped and force Windows 7 to continually output the signal to both screens, even when the KVM is switched?

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-11-27T09:25:39+00:00

    I found this thread for disabling TMM on Windows 7:

    http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7hardware/thread/dd31eb3a-80f3-4e61-9674-fa5d7d065ea3

    I have not tried it yet though:

    1.       Open Windows 7 registry editor by clicking Start, type regedit.

    2.       Right click on regedit, click on Run as Administartor.

    3.       Navigate to the location: (Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TMM))

    4.       Click UseIViewHelperin the right pane.

    5.       Set the value data to “0” {zero} to disable TMM feature in Windows 7.

    6.       If you want to re-enable TMM feature, set the value data to “1”.

    7.       Click OK and reboot you computer for the changes to take effect.

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  4. Anonymous
    2009-11-02T19:13:28+00:00

    I have a co-worker with the exact same computer, KVM switch, and Windows 7 and he says he did something and it fixed the problem (Unfortunately he can't remember what he did).  I have verified that to be true and I've used his KVM and I still have this problem.  This seems to prove that there IS a way to make this work in Windows 7 with my KVM switch.  If Microsoft's only answer is buy a new switch, which is quite expensive, then it's more feasible for me to install my previous version of Windows that worked fine.   Windows 7 isn't worth buying a new KVM switch for.

    Thanks anyway.

    P.S. I just checked out those KVM switches that were recommended and the only ones available have VGA input/output instead of DVI which my current switch has.  Definitely not acceptable in 2009!

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  5. Anonymous
    2009-10-31T00:00:48+00:00

    Afzal, thanks for the official answer, and I appreciate mdorais for asking this first. I've been following threads on this same topic because I have the same issue.

    Unfortunately, I don't know of a KVM switch that'll fit my configuration and has "FULLTIME/Active DDC", which is used to switch between my Windows 7 machine and my Mac Pro. In addition, the KVM switch was costly to begin with, so price is a big issue.

    Is there simply a way to revert to older behavior or ignore this annoying resize problem?

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