Windows 7 moves/resizes windows on monitor power cycle

I remembered, the other day, a problem that occurred back when multi-monitor configurations first started becoming common.  One of the monitors would fail, and the users would be unable to access the application windows that were on that monitor.  Sometimes even re-booting with just one monitor would not help: starting the application again would put its window back in that phantom monitor's space.  (The trick back then was to access the system menu common to each Windows application, select the Move option, then use the arrow keys to bring the application window back into view.)

I can see how complaints about this situation would influence Microsoft to develop a solution where all the windows would, when a monitor disconnects, move to the remaining monitor automatically.  This is the behavior I saw with my Surface 3 Pro and current laptop (note that the windows now return to the other monitor when it reconnects, abiding by the dimensions specified in the registry hack mentioned in this thread).  But in their design decisions, they built an overreaction that occurs when the last monitor disconnects.

(Contrary to my earlier slightly inebriated vent) In my opinion, Microsoft tried to do right by what it was hearing from users back in the 2000 / XP days.  What we need from them now are two small enhancements:

1. In the Screen resolution dialog, we need to be able to specify the behavior of application windows that are up on a monitor when it disconnects: A - Stay where they are, both in size and position; or B - Move and re-size to the remaining monitor.
2. If we select option A above, we will need a tool to save us when one monitor truly fails.  I envision a command on the desktop popup menu that will pull all application windows to the monitor where the menu was popped up.

Thanks for reading this (especially if you're someone who can influence development at Microsoft).

--Brian

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...

I just want to say THANK YOU Michael for posting this!

I've been having this nightmare of an issue for the past several months and could not figure out how to fix it. I tried everything from changing drivers to overriding EDID info and all sorts of things to no avail. But your solution solved everything!

I set my monitor resolution of 1920x1080 to the "SIMULATE" keys

PrimSurfSize.cx to 1920

PrimSurfSize.cy to 1080

ActiveSize.cx to 1920

ActiveSize.cy to 1080

Once I made the changes to the registry, I logged off and then logged back to set the settings. I then turned off my monitor to see if it would resize my windows and....THEY DIDN'T!!!!

Thank you Michael. You've saved me future headaches with my monitor

 The mentioned registry keys do have an effect, but the windows are still shifted about 100px to the left if they are positioned near the right edge of the screen.

Is there a (non public?) hotfix or patch from microsoft available which addresses this bug?

You can see solution for fix it at EasyVSL v2.0

I've had this exact problem. Try to these steps, which solved the problem for me.

To access the registry: enter regeditin the desktop app run

1. Delete all entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Configuration
2. Restart your computer. If you go to the registry above, you will see that an entry has been created for you monitor.
3. Turn your monitor off and on again. If you go to the registry, you will find SIMULATED... ONLY in SIMULATED 00, (go no further into SIMULATED 00 00), change ONLY PrimSurfSize.cx & PrimSurfSize.cy to your monitor's resolution.
4. Cross your fingers and restart your computer for good measure.

And the issue was fixed for me. Which leads me to wonder, What is the difference between PrimSurfSize and ActiveSize? One reason not to go about the registry without knowing what you are doing, but desperation calls for desperate measures...

WHAT the hell does EasyVSL have to do with our problem???