Windows 7 moves/resizes windows on monitor power cycle

Anonymous
2010-10-08T22:13:48+00:00

I have a new W7 ultimate install on a new PC (AOpen DEX4501 w intel GM45 graphics). I have installed the latest Intel graphics drivers 8.15.10.2202, and all relevant windows updates.

It is connected via HDMI to a Grundig Misuro HD TV. My resolution is set to 1600x900, windows recommended resolution is 1920x1080 but this displays badly so I don't use it.

When Windows sleeps, or I turn off (then later on) the monitor, most windows are moved/resized to the upper left with the lower right at 1024x768.

Firefox, Excel(2003),Explorer windows resize/move, Outlook(2003) did not move/resize.

I have a Samurize (Gadget like) display on the right which someimes get relocated to the top left, but not this morning. The windows resize/move also happens when Samurize is not running.

I have found three other entries related to this;

They don't seem to have been resolved for a long time.

This is a Windows monitor power managment issue, can it be fixed please it is very annoying.

I won't be recommending W7 to others with such issues outstanding.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2010-10-09T02:55:58+00:00

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.

Hope this helps someone out there...

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-04-19T15:33:11+00:00

    I had never had this problem before my latest system build and what's strange is I've used the same monitor for over 5 years now. It was really annoying to have all my windows resized or desktop icons moved around every time I turned on the computer or woke it from sleep. Thanks for providing a solution to my headache!

    Edit: Forgot to mention that I had to delete the other configs that weren't for my monitor.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-25T01:47:25+00:00

    Oh my goodness, I've been enduring years of having to re-layout all my windows every time I had to power-cycle my monitor (quite often because of a 4k res-related firmware bug it has). This info just saved my mental health. Thank you so much!

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-20T16:15:41+00:00

    I have about 50 of those entries in that folder uhg...

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-03-16T01:51:35+00:00

    Some relevant observations. MS says above described behavior is by design, since if a primary monitor is switched off, display is shrink to fit secondary monitor if connected, or a fake SIMULATED monitor. They forget to say though, once the primary monitor is switched on again, display must re-scale back to fit it again, and it doesn't.

    Most folks reporting this issue connect high resolution 4K monitors. It looks like SIMULATED monitor was designed years ago, and Windows was not updated to fit 4K multi-monitor setups. What's obvious, SIMULATED monitor must copy resolutions of the primary monitor instead of defaulting to low obsolete resolution no longer used by most consumers.

    Talking of workarounds, I seems to find one. If your GPU has DP and HDMI/DVI ports, connect the display first to HDMI/DVI port, uninstall GPU driver, clean it up in Safe Mode with Display Driver Uninstaller, then reboot, switch AV off, and reinstall the driver. Once everything works, shutdown the PC, rehook 4K monitor to DP port, and reboot. You may need to replace SIMULATED monitor 00 key with your primary monitor's 00 key in Registry after reboot. Once done, in my case Windows stopped shrinking display upon primary monitor switch off, regardless whether real secondary monitors were connected or not.

    Yet another approach may be to set EDID Override via your PC GPU Control Panel, or with CRU utility. Just set your GPU driver to use EDID Override data in Registry instead of querying the real monitor each time its connected. This may work, as once the primary monitor switches off, OS and GPU driver would still rely on EDID Override data in Registry.

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