Hi Windows 7 (well Windows in general), detects when a monitor is turned off (in a multi monitor setup) and moves the applications outputting to this monitor to the main monitor, however in some situations, this is rather annoying. Is there a way to turn this feature off, so that a program stays on the monitor. TIA Søren

Hi smolesen, Update your video drivers and check what happens. If you have a hardware device that isn't working properly with your computer, you probably need an updated driver. There are three ways to update a driver. Follow the steps in the article given below to update the drivers manually http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Update-a-driver-for-hardware-that-isnt-working-properly If that doesn’t resolve the issue, see if it happens with a different monitor. Azeez Nadeem - Microsoft Support

Hi Azeez This is not because of a hardware device not working properly, it's because of a rather annoying 'feature' in windows 7 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Understanding-multiple-monitors and the question was whether it is possible to turn this 'feature' off somehow, so that a program isn't moved to the main monitor when the secondary monitor is turned off. TIA Søren

Hi smolesen, Thanks for using Microsoft Answers! I'm moving your thread to the Windows 7 Misc forums in the TechNet community. They'll be able to better assist you there.Cody C Microsoft Answers Support Engineer Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

HiThis behavior is by design and I don't think there is a way to override this functionality except to make sure that both monitors are turned on when you start the system.As described in the article that you posted the link to, if a second monitor is not detected, everything will be displayed on the available monitor.Hope this helps. Thank You for using Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP

Hi RonnieThe problem here, is that the monitors are different inputs on my TV. So every time I change input on the TV, Windows thinks a monitor is turned off, and moved the application to the main "monitor", which is really annoying.Some kind of event must be send to Windows when a monitor is turned off.... would it not be possible to HOOK into this event and throw it away???Søren

Dear Søren, Ronnie, I experienced the same "feature", causing me to search the net for a couple of hours for a way to turn it off. Yes, it is *that* annoying. Just wanted to support Søren in his request: A way to turn that off would be lovely. "This behavior is by design (so live with it)" is not exactly the answer one likes to hear. It raises the question: Whom is it designed for? But to stay factual: Ronnie, is this posting enough to get an official feature request going? Or is there some other place that would be better for that? Best regards, Robin

Hi RobinThanks for your support... was beginning to think that I was the only one having this problem....It's kind of strange, but it doesn't seem to be possible to get any answers on how to disable this feature, everywhere I ask I just get the answer 'this is by design' even when I ask in a developer forum, to figure is there's some kind of event could suppress programmatically, I don't get any replies....With all the problems I'm having running Windows 7 in a multi monitor(TV) setup, I wondering if Windows7 is mature enough for this kind of usage... maybe MythTV on a Linus box is the way to go.....Best regrads, Søren

Hello Azeez, Would you be so kind as to plain and simply answer ONE of the following questions without giving run around or answering a different question. What registry setting do I add / change / delete to DISABLE this monitor auto-detection service / annoying so-called "feature"? I have a multi-monitor (8 monitors) system and I like to turn off the power to my monitors at night. When I wake up in the morning I turn the power back on, and all my applications are moved around. It appears that Windows 7 is automatically detecting the monitors turning on/off (as I hear the same sound as if I plugged in a USB device) and moving / resizing my application windows once the power is restored. In the interest of saving time / avoiding you giving a non-answer / run around answer, I'll post my question in a slightly different ways so that you understand EXACTLY what I am asking with the hopes that I can get a straight answer out of you. How do I disable this monitor auto-detection so that when I turn my monitors on/off my applications stay where I left them? or How do I get windows to STOP reacting to my monitors being turned on/off? Everything in Windows is controlled by the registry so there HAS to be a registry setting that can achieve this goal. Please tell me how to achieve this goal.

Hi C4702 Thumbs up ! I still haven't figured out how to solve this problem, getting in contact with Microsoft is like hamering you head against a wall, and you never get a strait answer... Let me know if you figure out something.... Regards, Søren

How do I get windows to STOP reacting to my monitors being turned on/off? Everything in Windows is controlled by the registry so there HAS to be a registry setting that can achieve this goal. Please tell me how to achieve this goal. Hi C4702 Of course, if we knew of a registry setting that would solve this problem, we would have posted it. Since my initial post in this thread, I have set up a new system with dual monitors and I have not been able to recreate the behavior that is being described here? If we could get everyone who is experiencing this behavior to post their associated hardware/software specs, we might be able to discover some common setups, perform some troubleshooting to pinpoint the cause, and try some fixes.Also, the exact, step by step procedure that is used when you experience this behavior. Mine are: Dell Studio XPS 9000Intel Core i7 920 at 2.67GHzATI Radeon 5870 (latest drivers)Dual Dell ST2210 LCD Monitors (DVI Connected)W7 Ult 64bit (OEM)8GB RAM (OEM)I use the built-in Extended Desktop setting. Both monitors are set at 1680x1050 and I use 3360x1050 Wallpaper.Everything is still using default settings. I haven't installed the gaming software or used any of the advanced Catalyst options yet.Let us know. Thank You for using Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP

If we could get everyone who is experiencing this behavior to post their associated hardware/software specs, we might be able to discover some common setups, perform some troubleshooting to pinpoint the cause, and try some fixes. Let us know. Thank You for using Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP I'm using Nvidia Quadro NVS 440 with 8 DVI monitors (6 @ 1280x1024 and 2 @ 1920x1080) / Windows 7 64bit. I however don't see how this is relevant when the problem has been isolated to Windows 7 new "feature" of auto-detecting monitors. This fix is simple. Disable this monitor auto-detect "feature" so that once the display settings have been setup, they remain until they are setup again. Either through registry, or through a hook that can be handled. Come on Microsoft why let this BUG / Feature give Windows 7 a bad rap when it is clearly such a good OS.

Hi Thanks. I will try to escalate this to get some attention. In the meantime, please take a minute to post feedback on this subject at the following link. Windows 7 feedback - Speak to us at Microsoft Regards, Thank You for using Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP

Hi Thanks. I will try to escalate this to get some attention. In the meantime, please take a minute to post feedback on this subject at the following link. Windows 7 feedback - Speak to us at Microsoft Regards, Thank You for using Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP Done! ... and Thank-you. I hope we can get this resolved as this is truly annoying.

Hi I'm using: Asus M4A785G HTPC M/B with AMD II X2 240 2,8 GHz cpu Build-in ATI HD4200 (Using both VGA and HDMI in 1920x1080) Asus EAH4350 (Use HDMI in 1920x1080) Both graphich cards ar using the same driver: ATI 8.661.0.0 The TV connected is a Sony Bravia KDL-40W5E Windows 7 Professional x64 I agree with C4702, once the system is setup, it must be possible to disable the monitor/TV auto-detection, so that nothing changes whenever the TV is turned off N.B. I don't have any monitors attached... only the Sony TV.

Hi Any progress on this? Regards, Søren

I too need a fix for this. I have 3 monitor devices: 23" Dell P2310H (DisplayPort) - main monitor [1920x1080] 22" Dell E228WFP (DVI) [1680x1050) 46" Sharp LCD TV (DVI-->HDMI) clone of main 23" monitor [1920x1080] When the 22" or 26" are turned off, because they are only using DVI, they do not cause Windows 7 to detect them as being disconnected. However, when my 23" main monitor w/ displayport is turned off via the power button on the front of the monitor, Windows 7 then thinks that the monitor is disconnected/unplugged and removes that display, and sets my 22" monitor as the main monitor and moves all windows and icons etc over to it... grrr, very annoying! All I can do to get around this for now is to always leave my monitors on and set the power management settings to turn off my monitors after 2 minutes of inactivity... meh.... I have an ATI Radeon HD 5850 using all 3 outputs on it (DisplayPort, DVI, DVI)...

Yes, I have the same problem. And one worse problem! I have a NVidia Quadro FX580, which has one DVI and two DisplayPort connectors. The DVI goes straight to a monitor, the DP connector goes through a home theater amplifier (Yamaha RX-V565, though I also tested with a Pioneer 1019AH-K, same problem). When power saving features kick on to put the monitors to sleep, the HDMI connection is broken to the amp, which then puts the monitor in power save. When I wake up the CPU, the DisplayPort connector wakes up and tells the amp to send video to the monitor. Then the amp turns on the monitor and feeds it video. But the monitor is a little slow to sync, so by the time that Windows 7 detects if a monitor is connected, it decides NO, the monitor didn't wake up, and goes through full disconnection logic, thus shutting off the DisplayPort output. Which tells the amp to turn off the monitor. Then, it realizes the amp is there, and turns it on again. Basically, it toggles between 1 and 2 monitor modes forever, making the machine completely unusable until I punch a button on the amp's remote that pulls up the OSD menu, which provides consistent HDMI output. The PC syncs up fine, then I can close the OSD and it recognizes a second monitor. What a horrible pain in my rear. I eventually found a setting in the amp that forces the HDMI out to stay on all the time, even when disconnected, so this fixed my one problem. Even so, the worst thing ever is that my programs keep getting juggled around. I hate that. I don't like most of the changes in Windows 7, but I can live with them. This is not one of those changes that I can live with. Please fix it, give me a way to turn it off, or give me a pop-up message that says "Would you like to move your programs to this monitor? Yes/No/Don't ask me again". No OS should ever move a window for you without permission. It's bad manners. JH

Im having the same issue and it is really messing with the way I use my computer. Searching for a solution I found this: To disable monitor detection, with AMD/ATI gfx cards under Windows 7, search for DMMEnableDDCPolling registry key and set it to 0 (it is DWord). There are several places in the registry where this key is located. Change them all and reboot. Doing this will disable constant polling of the display driver to detect if user attached a monitor. Although I didnt find that string in my registry. Maybe its different for me since I have a swedish version. A solution for this problem is something that Microsoft really needs to provide. It shouldn't be very hard. Im gonna call the support tomorrow and see if they can help me but thought I'd post here as well. My setup is a Radeon 5850 with the latest drivers with my main monitor being a HP ZR24w connected by Displayport, a BENQ connected with DVI and a Philips LCD TV connected with HDMI. Everything works fine unless I turn of the main monitor. Then that monitor is disabled and everything I had on it is moved to my TV and everything that I had open on my TV is moved to the BENQ. It all gets back to its rightful place as soon as I turn on the HP again. But, I cant use the setup the way I want to when it behaves like this.

Thank you Mattias. I have a Lenovo W500 laptop with hot switchable graphics (the intel graphics and an ATI card) and this registry mod seemed to do the trick! I'm connected to the monitor through a KVM box, so every time I switched the KVM to my other machine, when I switched back to my W500 the settings were automatically changed (the display resolution was set too low). Now that I set the DMMEnableDDCPolling to 0, when I come back the settings were just as I left them. Thanks again!

You have given me hope that a solution may exist. I'm having the same issue with monitors being auto-detected and need to disable the "feature". I however am not using an ATI card and as such do not have the DMMEnableDDCPolling setting in my registry. Are there any other registry or other suggestions that might disable monitor auto-detection (specifically when you turn the monitor "off" or "on"). Setup: Dell Studio 540, Core 2 Quad, 4 GB ram, Integrated Intel graphics (no card), HDMI output to the TV through a receiver. and YES! .. the issue is that annoying. Let me know if anyone has an Intel-integrated graphics solution.

I found a program that is working VERY GOOD called Actual Window Manager (http://www.actualtools.com/windowmanager/) It allows you to set individual window settings and at any time press <WIN+F5> to restore those settings. It will keep applications exactly where U want them. It retails for $50 but that is not too bad when you see how powerful this software is. Good Luck!

This problem is not new in Windows 7. I have a similar problem in Win XP. This only happens when I power off my Panasonic HD TV which is connected by an HDMI cable. Not only does the system move applications to the primary monitor, but it also disables the TV in the Display Properties. In order to set things back to normal, I need to open display properties and re-enable the monitor first.

Ronnie, In my experience the problem only occurs if you have a Display Port or HDMI cable attached to a monitor (or TV) capable of sending a control signal back to the PC. I have the following setup: Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93 GHz ATI Radeon HD 5970 (latest drivers) 2x Dell 2407WFP (DVI Connected) 1x Dell U2410 (DisplayPort connected) All monitors are set to 1920x1200. 8.00 GB RAM Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Once you have a setup like that, go ahead and setup your desktop the way you like it then turn off the DisplayPort connected Monitor. You'll notice that all your windows are moved into one monitor.

Ronnie, In my experience the problem only occurs if you have a Display Port or HDMI cable attached to a monitor (or TV) capable of sending a control signal back to the PC. Once you have a setup like that, go ahead and setup your desktop the way you like it then turn off the DisplayPort connected Monitor. You'll notice that all your windows are moved into one monitor. You are correct. I have this issue as well. Windows 7 treats DisplayPort much like it is a USB device: Once the USB device (or DisplayPort monitor in this case) loses power, the system 'disconnects' it AND disables the 'desktop' which was associated with the device (you even hear the same sound as when disconnecting a USB device, when you power off a DisplayPort monitor in Windows 7). With DVI, you do not have this problem. Windows keeps a 'virtual desktop' active despite the DVI monitor being powered off. There should be an option in Windows 7 to be able to right click on your monitor in display settings, and say "DO NOT DISABLE DESKTOP WHEN MONITOR IS DISCONNECTED". If this is a 'feature' why doesn't it work the same with DVI? Inconsistencies like this make it seem much less like a feature, and more like an oversight. Im honestly supprised how much of an afterthought multi-monitor support is in Windows 7. Why do i still need 3rd party applications like UltraMon just to have half way decent multi-monitor support? This is ridiculous microsoft, its 2010... people have more than a few monitors.... lets see some better multi-monitor taskbar support, better window control options specific to multi-monitor scenarios, and better DisplayPort support. This seems like pretty basic operating system stuff. People just want the option for their HDMI and DisplayPort monitors to act like their DVI monitors used to. Not too much to ask. When a DisplayPort monitor falls asleep, windows doesn't disable the desktop associated with it because technically the powers still on (so windows still see's your device). It just needs to act the same way when it is actually powered off. A temporary solution to the problem may be to write a script to force your monitors to sleep that you use instead of powering off your monitors at night. This will keep everything open the way it was. EDIT UPDATE: ------------------------------------------------------ I found this app: http://www.dekisoft.com/mou.php it seems to do the trick for now.... now i can double click a shortcut, or do a keyboard shortcut to force my monitors into sleep mode instantly... when they return, my desktops are exactly as i left them.

I have exactly the same problem until I start using Displayport! At first I was going to blame ATI for it. I do not have this problem if I use DVI on my 3008wfp monitor. This problem started if you connect a Displayport on your 3008wfp monitor have it EXTENDED to your HDTV using HDMI. Lets say you are watching a movie on your HDTV and you turn off your monitor, boom .. your movie crash! W7 somehow says you only have 1 monitor now and thats your HDTV. Thats why your movie or anything crash on the screen! If you have it connected your monitor thru DVI, it will not have this problem and W7 says your monitor is still the primary screen even when you OFF it! Well, I like to turn off my monitor when I watch movies on my HDTV. Yah I can dim my monitor screen, but it is generating so much heat on the back of the monitor! Microsoft, please fix this for the next service pack! I like to add that this program did not work for me: This app: http://www.dekisoft.com/mou.php I play a movie, then use this software. Did you play a movie on your HDTV? It put the monitor to sleep, then it comes on again in 1 sec! Is there any more other fix for this? Chong

yea unfortunately my trick only works to alleviate your icons and windows being consolidated to the "1 monitor" when you intend to turn ALL of your monitors off. I sympathize with your movie watching, i had exactly the same issue last night. That is why this definitely still needs to be fixed.

Cant Microsoft program the Displayport to have the same behavior as the DVI? Is there a fix coming soon? For now, you can just go to the ATI CCC and make your contrast as small as possible. But your monitor is still running and it is giving out alot of heat esp. during the summer. Have you try this DMMEnableDDCPolling in you registry? I cannot find it.Chong

I have an ATI Radeon HD 4350 on XP that caused the same issue. Disabling the 'ati hotkey poller' service killed the auto detection.

Once you kill the auto detection, does it work? How do you disable the 'ati hotkey poller' ?Chong

The reply I got back from ATI: It is because you are connected through the Display Port connection. It is an issue with Windows and the way it allocates resources. There is no current workaround other than keeping the DP monitor active at all times. This may change with driver updates or Windows updates. Display Ports are not an AMD/ATI idea, they are the next generation monitor connections, AMD just happens to be the first video card company out with a wide range of products supporting the interface. In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact. Best regards, AMD Global Customer CareChong

I AM A TRADER AND USE MULTIPLE MONITORS. I LIKE TO CLOSE THE LID (KEEP DATA RUNNING) WHEN I AM NOT AT MY DESK. HOWEVER MY MONITORS GET ALL SCREWED UP BECAUSE OF THIS FEATURE PLEASE HELP TO GET MONITORS TO STAY THE WAY THEY WERE

Is your main monitor connected to Displayport? You type in cap cause you are mad?Chong

Chong I am not mad.... just a little frustrated that I cannot close the lid or I will get a mess in my desktop I have a Laptop.... I am connecting my second monitor to the Serial Port (15 pin connector)..... PEDRO

I am not getting that with my laptop and my 2nd monitor connected thru HDMI. So you saying thru Serial Port? Its a known problem with your monitor conncted thru DP.Chong

Support on this issue? I've been checking this thread daily and still have not heard back since the issue was "escalated". What progress has been made on this issue or has it simply been dropped? Myself and many others are still having issues and need a fix to disable monitor auto detect on display-port and HDMI monitor setups. This issue is not going away it will only get larger as the number of HDMI/multi-monitor users increases. Why are you ignoring this thread and the issue? None of the mentioned fixes have worked. 'DMMEnableDDCPolling' registry does not exist on my PC and there is no 'ati hotkey poller' service to disable. I've tried both integrated Intel HDMI display out as well as ATI graphics card HDMI display out, both have the issue.

I have the same issues running on my ThinkPad T61 connected to an external monitor via a VGA cable. It would be nice to be able to disable the auto-detection feature. I tried the registry update below, but that didn't fix it either. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TMM] "UseIViewHelper"=dword:00000000 "TMMRestrictionOverride"=dword:00000000 "PollingInterval"=dword:00000000 Reading other threads, it sounded like TMM was a deprecated Vista feature and Windows 7 doesn't use it. Weird thing is, the TMM key still exists in Windows 7.

You need to create the DMMEnableDDCPolling key if you are using an ATI card. Unfortunately I am using an nVidia card and updating my video driver triggered this issue for me in my 2x monitor KVM setup. Looks like I'll be downgrading my video driver as a fix, and possibly switching to an AMD graphics card.Network and Systems Manager

It is a Windows7 bug or feature. While it happens on all cards. and even more interesting it is that widgets stay in place but windows are restored, to "primary" display. It just depends which monitor it is detected first. On Vga - DVI configuration i get random results. on DVI-HDMI config DVI always wake ups first. Probably window manager should wait a while and compare new configuration with previous one , before it make changes.

I just wonder if this bug is fixed in W7 SP1. If not, we are going to wait a while. I hope it is fixed. I got a Displayport monitor and a Displayport cable, yet I am not using it because of this bug.Chong

How about this? My TV is hooked to the laptop (Win7) via HDMI. I want the TV to take over as the main monitor and turn the laptop monitor off as soons as I choose that HDMI input on TV. In addition, I want the laptop monitor to take over as soon as I change the TV input to something other than the computer HDMI input. Is THAT possible? Thank you. Sejo

Take over on its on or you toggle it?Chong

I would like it to take over on its own. It used to do exactly that with my older 46" Panasonic Viera. Now that I switched to 50" TV, I have to do it manually through "graphics" options. Strange. Sejo

Hi, I have a similar issue and it IS really anoying. I have a Windows 2008 Server R2 that is my primary testing/email/development machine and I have 2 screens connected to it. One of them is connected via a KVM switch. If I switch away with the KVM to another machine nothing happens yet. But if I switch back to that machine, Windows detects the "new" screen, activates it and disables the other 2nd screen. So after this I have to switch back on my 2nd screen with Windows-P. Unfortunately I have Hyper-V enabled on the server, so switching screens takes about 30 - 60 seconds (maybe because Aero doesn't run too well on W2K8R2 Hyper-V). So everytime I switch my KVM I loose a minute staring at 2 black screens. I am using a NVIDIA graphics adapter. Like others have reported, this did not happen with old drivers, so there must be a way to avoid this behaviour. It would be great if somebody from Microsoft could step up and find out how one can work around this problem. I even would install my old driver, if I knew which of the 20 versions on my disk was the right one. Cheers, Daniel

W7 64-bit, NVIDIA Quadro NVS 440 (dual DMS-59 connectors, NOT DisplayPort, so it appears this behaviour is not limited to DisplayPort connectors.) I starting experiencing this issue recently, but only after updating the NVIDIA drivers to the latest WHQL set (driver version 8.17.12.5896). It never occurred with standard Windows 7 driver installed when I built the system. The two DMS-59 connectors are configured with 2xVGA adapter (Outputs 1 and 2 in Windows) and 2xDVI adapter (Outputs 3 and 4). One of the VGA outputs is hooked up to a projector that is used only occasionally. When I power up the projector (normally Output 2), Windows automatically detects it and messes around with the display configuration. Specifically, it promotes the projector to 'Output 1' status, disables the other VGA-attached monitor (Output 2) and rearranges the monitors. WORKAROUND: I found that right-clicking desktop>Screen Resolution>Detect puts things back the way they should be. Hope this helps as a relatively convenient workaround until someone figures out a proper fix for it. Rolling back the display driver also fixes it for me, so perhaps it's a combination of factors. --Simon

I'm having the exact same problem. No answers yet? In the meantime, I've added a shortcut to the taskbar with: C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /extend So that I can get the 2nd monitor back up quicker.

Any news on this problem, has Microshit called any attention to this issue yet? I have the same issue with my AMD 6870. I don't have DMMEnableDDCPolling in the registry, someone mentioned manually adding it, where to?

I am also having this problem and it is becoming very annoying. I recently upgraded to Win7 on my HTPC box specifically to use Windows Media Center as my DVR/media software. I think WMC is a great piece of software and was excited to see how much smoother and feature packed it was than BeyondTV which I was using previously. It is quite annoying for me that it detects/undetects my TV when I turn it on or off. The detection process I think sometimes is even throwing some flak into any currently recording shows, which stinks. However, its not too bad when it works, because for me, no resolution changes occur..and it just adds a few seconds of unresponsive UI in WMC. But the main issue is that now, about once every couple days, when I turn on my TV, Win7 does not even detect it at all, so I just get stuck with a "No Signal" on my TV. I have resorted to hooking up a secondary DVI monitor just so I can use it to navigate to the "Screen Resolution" window and click the "Detect Monitors" button which then brings back the TV output. In XP, turning on/off the TV did not register any sort of event, so windows did not even know about it. That is what I would like to see again in Win7 somehow. Otherwise, I will have to downgrade back to XP and BeyondTV just to get my TV output to not go away, which sucks. I can't believe this issue is still around...seems to me to be a total deal-breaker for a lot of people wanting to use WMC as their primary DVR. Microsoft - seriously, if WMC is desgined as DVR software, who thought it would be a good idea to undetect/redetect an attached HDMI TV connection every time its turned off/on??! Or at the very least provide a way to turn it off! So what I am searching for now in the meantime is a way to create a macro or something to do the "Detect Monitors" function that I can activate from a remote control. Does anyone have an idea how to do something like that? Can I run a command line to detect the monitors? Thanks! Rob

Having same problem here. Dell monitor connected to DVI output is working fine, but Samsung TV connected to displayport output with a displayport->hdmi adapter is connecting/disconnecting every time the tv is shut down or computer goes in and out of power saving mode. And when this happens, all windows go back to the first monitor. This makes win7 completely unusable with dual monitors. The feature is nice to hook up an external monitor from time to time, but NOT if you want always to work with two monitors. We need a way to disable this.

WILL THERE EVER BE A FIX FOR THIS??? I have three monitors (via DVI) and one Samsung TV (via HDMI) connected to two ATI cards (5770 and 5570). I got it set where icons and taskbar were on one monitor. When I do a power shut down and restart, and when the TV is on while doing this, my icons move to the TV and my taskbar stays put. I have to keep changing which monitor is the main to get icons and taskbar on the primary monitor! Shutting off the TV, and sometimes my monitors all go to sleep! THIS IS COMPLETELY UNSTABLE! WINDOWS 7 IN TRYING TO BE SMART IS BEING COMPLETEY STUPID WITH MONITOR DETECTION AND RESHUFFLING ICONS AND TASKBARS! THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY!

Yep, same problem here too. Would appreciate if someone could find a solution... Br, Jari

Yep, same problem here too. Would appreciate if someone could find a solution... Br, Jari

Well, I was reading all of your posts, and I've to say that I'm not much confident on microsoft providing a solution... because they don't see the problem. In any case, my situation is the following Notebook with HDMI output connected to LCDTV HDMI input Everything goes fine, then, I decide to watch some tv. I change the HDMI source from HDMI1 to HDMI2 (where my DirectTV tuner is connected) I watch my thing, and when I try to go back to HDMI1 to continue surfin' the net, I found nothing. No signal. I have to actually open the lid of my notebook, go to properties.. bla bla, and switch the input to Digital Tuner again. Unbelievable. by the way, i'm using vista on that notebook... so, if they didn't fix this since vista was released, I don't think they will do it from now on. damn what a stupid bug!! Thanks mates Ale

Not sure how MS can't see the problem. And in fact, this problem will become more prevalent as more people switch to displayport, as I hear that displayport acts like a plug and play device much like an HDMI connected TV. I believe the problem will manifest itself 100% of the time under the following conditions: - Two or more monitors, with different resolutions, with at least one monitor connected via DisplayPort or HDMI

Just like to add my 2 cents, I also am running a x800 vga > 22" (in backroom) Dvi > dvi/hdmi > 42" HD TV (in livingroom) I have mediaportal running SOLELY on the the 42", that is all i will ever do. I cant get this set up fine but as soon as i switch inputs or turn the TV off it forces the mediaportal to the 22" screen which is in another room and used as the family computer. This stops my daugher doing any work and disrupts everything, which is a terrible feature. It shouldnt be hard to stop it detecting a switch off signal, ____, id be happy with wiring a resistor / battery into the hdmi cable to keep the connection live and display always on if i knew how to do so. This is getting extremely frustrating now and makes my choice of windows 7 a dealbreaker. no longer can i use a pc as a pc / htpc as ive got to go into the other room, disrupt whoevers on the pc, set the screens on - restart the software, none of this i can see as its in another room, go back into the other room, just to watch a tv programme. NOT WHAT I EXPECTED WHEN I SHELLED OUT £120

Come on guys at MS, just give us the option! I have a program that has a userinterface on one monitor and plays videoclips on the second (HDTV). If I switch channels or turn the TV off, the whole program gets messed up and I have to restart to get everything working ok again. By the way, this is XP, so it's definately not limited to Vista or 7. I just want windows to not react on turning a TV on or off. This is really, I mean REALLY REALLY annoying! Option: Doesn't anybody know what pin on the cable sends this signal so I can just fool WIN? Option: What I have noticed is that windows (luckily!!!) does not react on the main monitor being turned on or off or disconnected. So I was thinking about somehow switching the screens so that the always connected monitor is on the secondary output and my TV on the main one. Currenty I'm experimenting with this option.

Come on guys at MS, just give us the option! I have a program that has a userinterface on one monitor and plays videoclips on the second (HDTV). If I switch channels or turn the TV off, the whole program gets messed up and I have to restart to get everything working ok again. By the way, this is XP, so it's definately not limited to Vista or 7. I just want windows to not react on turning a TV on or off. This is really, I mean REALLY REALLY annoying! Option: Doesn't anybody know what pin on the cable sends this signal so I can just fool WIN? Option: What I have noticed is that windows (luckily!!!) does not react on the main monitor being turned on or off or disconnected. So I was thinking about somehow switching the screens so that the always connected monitor is on the secondary output and my TV on the main one. Currenty I'm experimenting with this option. I'm guessing that when you do this, turning off the tv will actually put your monitor to sleep!!!! You will only be able to wake it up by turning the tv back on!!! At least that was my experience. Post back and let us know. This is a real problem that MS needs to address.

I have only noticed this problem when the monitor is plugged in with HDMI or Display Port. At home I ahve a 37" LCD plugged in with HDMI on an nVidia 8400GS, if i boot the computer with the TV off, or have my HDMI switch set to another port, then i have to shut down the computer, switch things around, then boot the computer. That is on Windows Vista Ultimate 64. By the way, there is no second monitor installed here, just the TV. I also believe I had Windows 7 32bit installed here for a bit and saw the same problem, but can't be sure about that. My computer at work is still a Windows XP SP3 machine. It has a 30" plugged in Display port, and a pair of 20" plugged in DVI on an nVidia Quadro NVS 450. I pretty much never shut this computer off, in case I have to work from home, but if i let Windows shut off the monitors, or if i turn off the monitors, or anything that shuts down the 30", then I lose it, and can only get it back by rebooting the PC, playing with the monitor set up, switching plugs around, and eventually getting it back. I have another system at home, running Windows 7 Pro with an nVidia 265, two monitors, 24" and a 23", both connected DVI, and I never have this problem. This probably isn't a driver issue, because i have been dealing with this for over a year now, and stay up to date on drivers. This has also happened for multiple people where i work, and it's all Display Port monitors that do this, never DVI. I think it is specific to HDMI and Display Port.

Display port and HDMI are like PnP devices. DVI the comptuer retains a virtual screen even when the computer monitor (DVI) is shut off.

I have the same Issue. I have a KVM controlling one of my 2 monitors. I have 2 screens connected to my laptop - 1 directly and 1 through KVM. If I use my laptop, i see both desktops. Then I switch to another KVM screen and the second screen stays on my laptop as it should. I then switch back to my laptop KVM screen and the second (directly connected) screen goes to sleep/disconnects and sends all windows to the KVM connected screen. I then have to press Windows P or detect displays again for the 2nd (directly connected) screen to come back on. Windows must somehow detect me switching back to the KVM screen and disconnects the 2nd monitor for some 'feature' related reason. This is the 2nd 'feature' of Windows 7 I have come to dislike.

Ok, me too. I use my projector connected through my Onkyo receiver (via HDMI) as a 4th display. Every time I turn the receiver on or off, Windows goes crazy, switching the positioning of the displays, moving applications and icons, and even changing the resolution on one of my displays (to its "recommended" value). Then, turning on or off the projector itself also triggers a frenzy. Please make it stop!-G

Ok, me too. I use my projector connected through my Onkyo receiver (via HDMI) as a 4th display. Every time I turn the receiver on or off, Windows goes crazy, switching the positioning of the displays, moving applications and icons, and even changing the resolution on one of my displays (to its "recommended" value). Then, turning on or off the projector itself also triggers a frenzy. Please make it stop! -G G, I'm assuming you have two video cards, and your HDMI connected receiver comes off the primary card. Move it to the secondary card and you should get more stability - that is what worked for me with an identical setup to you. Post back!

I have this problem too, but I am more concerned with Audio As I detailed here, I have ATI HD6950 display and using both DisplayPort and HDMI at the same time: http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=279&threadid=145770&enterthread=y ATI's driver will react to Windows's detection of presence of Display port or HDMI and change the audio driver to ATI DP audio or ATI HDMI audio. I've been having problem forcing it to use HDMI audio. Now everytime I don't start PC with my AV receiver turn on, hell comes loose.

I found one way to 'fix' this feature. This fixed both the KVM switch issue and the power-off issue in windows 7 but may only work for VGA monitors. Someone else will have to try this with DVI. Monitor: NEC1940CX connected with VGA through KVM as second monitor. Disconnect pin 12 of the VGA connector which is used to send DCC monitor serial (PNP) data. I used a VGA extender cable and cut pin 12 off the connector that plugs into video card. (looking into male connector, wide side up, pin 12 is bottom row 2nd from left). Hit ‘detect’ in screen resolution control panel. It will show up as ‘generic non PNP monitor’. Set resolution and enjoy. ben

@sculpin: What the heck?!? :D How did you find this out?!? I guess, this could come in handy, but not in my case! I am just another annoyed Microshit User, being fascinated, how long Microsoft needs, to support a workaround for this problem. My configuration: - old CRT Monitor connected via VGA - HP 2510 connected via VGA with DVI Adapter AND connected via HDMI to - Yamaha RX-V667 Receiver connected via HDMI to PC Until now I did not find a way to passthrough the HDMI signal from the pc to the HP 2510 through the Yamaha Receiver (while the Receiver is in different mode than HDMI input). Therefore I sometimes have to use the VGA+DVI Adapter connection. Everytime I then turn off the Receiver: Everything's messed up, because in Standby Mode the Yamaha is able to passthroug HDMI and therefore is detected by Windows as HDMI device. Easy solution (as I thought earlier) should be to simply avoid Windows auto detecting Display Devices. Now I know for sure, I was so wrong ... (please excuse my bad english, not my mothertongue ..) Still believing in Microsoft auto detecting their foolness.

@sculpin: What the heck?!? :D How did you find this out?!? I guess, this could come in handy, but not in my case! I am just another annoyed Microshit User, being fascinated, how long Microsoft needs, to support a workaround for this problem. My configuration: - old CRT Monitor connected via VGA - HP 2510 connected via VGA with DVI Adapter AND connected via HDMI to - Yamaha RX-V667 Receiver connected via HDMI to PC Until now I did not find a way to passthrough the HDMI signal from the pc to the HP 2510 through the Yamaha Receiver (while the Receiver is in different mode than HDMI input). Therefore I sometimes have to use the VGA+DVI Adapter connection. Everytime I then turn off the Receiver: Everything's messed up, because in Standby Mode the Yamaha is able to passthroug HDMI and therefore is detected by Windows as HDMI device. Easy solution (as I thought earlier) should be to simply avoid Windows auto detecting Display Devices. Now I know for sure, I was so wrong ... (please excuse my bad englisch, not my mothertongue ..) Still believing in Microsoft auto detecting their foolness.

Same serious problem here. How can it be that Microsoft still does not react? The Company that want to be SO user friendly? With this "feature" Windows 7 is NOT a 100% working OS. That's not what i've payed for!

Same issue here, extremely annoying. I have two displays connected to my pc, a 17" directly and a 24' through a KVM. I need to startup with the monitor connected, set resolution to 192-x1280, then attach monitor to KVM anf attach KVM to PC. It will then displkay with the correct resolution. HOwever, once I switch the KVM to another computer andf back, the resultion is reset to 1024x768 and I need to physically unplug the kvm from the pc, reattach the original monitor cable, redetect display, set resolution and switch cables back. Extremely annoying. Using NVidia GTX 570. Would really prefer to have a method to stop Windows from automatiocally detecting displays and setting resolution, having to crawl under my desk every 10 minutes is enough for me to buy a third monitor!

I too am having this problem and am finding it ***MOST*** annoying. I leave my computer on all the time during the week and just turn off the monitors at night. When I turn them back on again, I find that Windows has shifted everything from my second monitor over onto my primary monitor. I've been living with this annoyance for a couple of months now. However today it went one stage further. It moved all the ICONS from my second screen too meaning I've lost all my icon positioning. This is absolutely unacceptable. Whoever at Microsoft came up with this new behaviour really needs disciplining. Microsoft... clearly from this thread there is a sizeable number of people with the same issue and you therefore need to look at this problem. Although since Mr Sinofsky took over the Windows division, listening to and pleasing your customers no longer seems to be one of your priorities. This is also evidenced by the elimination of organised Beta programs and the sacking of Wendy Stidmon who acted as a diligent (and highly effective) conduit to the thousands of customers testing the product. It's clear now that if an issue does not affect somebody at Microsoft, or if somebody at Microsoft deems it to be unimportant, then ZERO priority is attached to resolving that issue. Clearly Microsoft's own narrow internal vision is all the matters now. And that is sad.

Include me on the list - 3 monitors hooked to an ATI 5670. Two DVI, one display port. If I turn the display port monitor off it acts like its disconnected, so every morning I need to shuffle my windows around for a few minutes.

This started happening to me when I ran my monitors through a KVM switch. Turning off TMM did nothing for me. The solution for me was to swap out the DVI-to-SVGA adapter dongle. New ones are only 99 cents on ebay. The one that would make the monitor disconnect and reconnect every 60 seconds, had a bunch of pins missing. The one I replaced it with that fixed the problem, had all the pins everywhere. So check your DVI-to-VGA donggle on the the back of the video card, that leads to the monitor that keeps switching on and off, if it has pins missing.

I have a similar problem. I have my monitor connected with a VGA cable, and then I have an HDMI cable running to my HDTV. When I turn on my tv, if it is not set to the right input setting, my regular monitor constantly switches on and off, and the speakers make the sound of connecting/unconnecting a device, until I switch my HDTV to the correct input setting. Also, I have computer speakers running from my computer, as well as surround sound running off of my HDTV. Is there a way to have it set so when I connect my TV, the sound is automatically switched over to the HDMI out instead of the computer speakers? Right now I have to right click on my Volume Control, click Playback Devices, and continue to set the output that I want the sound to playback on as "Default". Any help would be appreciated. There must be an easier way.

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

We shouldn't have to be sabotaging our cables just because some moron at Microsoft thought it would be a great idea to move all your icons and windows if you turn you monitor off. More and more people leave their PC's turned on (or in standby) when not in use these days and just turn off the monitors. Leaving this behaviour "as is" is simply unacceptable and needs to be fixed.

I just tried Packageshop's suggestion, cutting DVI pin 16 (Hot plug detect) on a DVI to HDMI adapter. The "Detect" button on "Screen Resolution" still finds the monitors, but now when I use my HDMI switcher my main monitor doesn't get disabled - Windows 7 thinks it's still connected, and leaves the display settings as-is. Genius! To reiterate, DVI pinout diagram: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/DVI_pinout.png

Hey guys, I think disbling TMM will help you, it's in task scheduler. Only good for Windows 6+, if anyone knows how to do the same thing in XP please let me know!

I would like to add to this discussion that I am having the exact same problem as the OP and I agree that Microsoft should be able to provide a simple fix to address this problem. I'm using my Windows 7 system as a media server, connected to a standard LCD monitor (via DVI) in my media room as well as an LCD flat screen display in my theater room (different room) through my home theater receiver via HDMI. Everything works fine as long as I have my receiver turned on and set to the PC HDMI input when I turn on my computer. Windows duplicates the two displays and all is well. Problem is, if the receiver isn't turned on, or set to the PC HDMI input when the system is booted up, or if for some reason I switch inputs on the receiver while the system is on, Windows takes that to mean the flat screen display is turned off and the only way to correct it is to get up and go into my media room and into display properties, detect display. Microsoft - either provide a keyboard shortcut for the "detect display" functionality, or provide an option to have Windows disable the auto display detection feature so that the display settings we choose are saved and maintained until changed by the user.

I found a solution! I have a new Optiplex 380 (several) using the DVI output card to access the onboard video (Intel G41), running Windows 7 SP1. When I turn off the monitor off, or the monitor goes to sleep (Windows power settings), the tone is repeated as descibed in this post. I am only using one monitor. Solution: Change the monitor from Auto Detect to DVI input. That's it. The only time I get a sound is when the monitor comes back to life. A fix I can live with! Hope this helps. Brian Network / MIS Administrator

I found a solution! I have a new Optiplex 380 (several) using the DVI output card to access the onboard video (Intel G41), running Windows 7 SP1. When I turn off the monitor off, or the monitor goes to sleep (Windows power settings), the tone is repeated as descibed in this post. I am only using one monitor. Solution: Change the monitor from Auto Detect to Digital (DVI) Input. That's it. The only time I get a sound is when the monitor comes back to life. A fix I can live with! Hope this helps. Brian Network / MIS Administrator

Unfortunately the MS support is right, it's not possible to turn off the monitor detection. It's by design. The WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) which was introduced in Windows Vista includes a new concept called "Video Present Network" or VidPn (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff570543(v=vs.85).aspx). Each video adapter (when connected) declares the number of VidPn targets. The DMM (monitor manager) can follow the power state of the targets (monitors) by either polling the miniport driver or upon receiving hot-plug interrupt (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff568431(v=VS.85).aspx). Once the DMM has a "good" (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff565475(v=VS.85).aspx) VidPn source to target link, the CDD/DWM can use the display. Please note that most of the time when the screen is blank goes to finding a good VidPn link. I won't say how efficient it is, but it consumes a lot of time and CPU. When there's an available new target or when a target is removed the CDD or DWM check if they have a valid VidPn for the "primary" monitor. So there cannot be extended monitor without primary. You can ask Nvidia, Ati and Intel to add an option to their drivers which will "lie" to DMM about the monitor device status. Also AFAIK there's an application which feeds the system with the EDID of your monitor even when you disconnect it (never tried it though). Hope it helps.

Monitor detection is "by design"? Well the person that designed it is either an idiot or only has a single monitor connected to his computer. Like so many other features, Win7 has managed to take control from the user, and create new complications except for the most simple of setups. I believe that this problem WILL be fixed, but only after more and more individuals start hooking their computer to a second monitor (HDTV), and realizing that Win7 is seriously flawed in this department - one of many problem areas.

My two cents.... I have 1 HDMI connection to a 50" plasma TV, that is only sometimes on the PC input. Also, two VGA connections, one using a DVI-VGA adapter. Whenever the KVM is switched or the TV turns on or off, Windows 7 completely rearranges my monitor layout with no regard to how it's been in the past, or to which monitor now becomes the primary. While WIN+P does lessen the burden some, it still wreaks havoc on icon locations and window locations. Furthermore, the constant screen flickering and PnP detection sounds are brutally annoying. Please, Microsoft hear our plea. Keep the feature, but give us an option to only detect new displays on the user's cue. I am more than happy to let Windows 7 know when I'd like to swap around my primary/secondary monitors. It's input is neither beneficial, nor desired.

I'm having the same problem with DisplayPort: While using it, change to another port and go back to DisplayPort: "no-signal" Or while using the DisplayPort, press stand-by to turn off the monitor, then turn it back on: "no signal". - Of if I get a signal, all of the windows are resized to 1024x768 and moved to top-left corner of the screen.

Also having the same problem with hdmi using vizio LCD as a 3rd monitor

Well "WDDMExpert" makes it sound like there's no other way, but on the same system with dual monitors I also tried my old Windows XP SP2 and it works perfectly. No problem whatsoever. SO how come with win xp works like it should and in Windows 7 64 I have the same problem mentioned here ?

Same problem as the rest: Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit Intel G41 on-board graphics. 2 24" LCD monitors connected, one on VGA one on DVI. If the (primary) VGA monitor is sent to sleep or turned off, nothing in Windows is changed (the programs stay on the turned-off monitor). If the (secondary) DVI monitor is sent to sleep or turned off, Windows gives the "device disconnected" sound and moves all the programs to the primary monitor. Very annoying. Considering the pin-removal method to stop it.

I suffer the same problem. Have a monitor hooked up by DVI, and an HDMI hookup to my TV out in the living room. The icon movement has gotten so tiring, that it's gotten to the point where I only extend the displays when using the TV, and usually just display the desktop on the DVI monitor for normal use. My problem has gotten even worse as of the other day. Check this out: After using the TV as the primary display for an evening, at the end of the night , I switch my primary display back to the monitor (show desktop on monitor 2 only), and go to bed. The next morning, I wake up and see no desktop on the monitor. Confused, I turn on the TV to see if I left the TV as the primary monitor, and boom, suddenly the monitor in my office becomes my primary display again. (The TV is blank, as it should be, because I have it set to display only on the monitor). So, I turn the TV off again and the desktop disappears from the monitor yet again. Presumably to the TV, which is turned off... This is mind boggling. Now I have to leave the TV unplugged, because when the TV is off I can't use the main monitor!!! So Windows 7 detects that my TV is off, and then makes it the primary display? I really can't wrap my mind around it. You can't even get any help from Microsoft, they want to charge me $60 to tell them that there OS is bugged and flawed. Really? I really can't believe I paid money for this OS, it was obviously developed by a team of idiots. Is there really never going to be a fix for this?

same issue here, with vista 64 ultimate radeon 6850, three monitors, two dvi, one display port dell 3007wfp set as main, one samsung 2433 and one benq bl2400 (lowest resolution of them) dell set as main, can't keep the taskbar on bl2400 for nothing how old is this thread?

same issue here, with vista 64 ultimate radeon 6850, three monitors, two dvi, one display port dell 3007wfp set as main, one samsung 2433 and one benq bl2400 (lowest resolution of them) dell set as main, can't keep the taskbar on bl2400 for nothing how old is this thread?

Sadly, this thread goes back to January 2010. I'd love to tell microsoft about this issue, heck, in my mind, they're selling a broken OS, but they charge $50 to send them an email. How do they get away with this? Is there another company in the world that has such a putative "support" system? I don't think so.

I just did the removal of pin 16 on the DVI cable connectors to both my Windows 7 machine and Windows XP machine and now they stay on, even if I disconnect the HDMI cable in order to switch from one machine to the other. Works like magic. As long as the monitor is connected when the machine is powered on it will stay on! I guess this is a bit like the early days of Plug-and-Play, when it was still called 'plug and pray'. In this case, the 'green' OS discovers that a monitor gets disconnected and turns the video signal off, but when you re-connect it, it doesn't know what to do. This is just unfinished software. In my mind there should be an option in the video control panel that you can change from 'auto', meaning automatically detect monitor disconnect and reconnect, to 'ignore' monitor disconnect. I am thinking of modifying my monitor, to interrupt the 'Hot plug detect' pin with a switch and set it to 'off', so that I don't have to modify any more cables (I am currently connected to 5 machines.) And when the software works properly one day I can set the switch to 'on' again.

Hi! I've been searching for days now to find a solution to this problem and have so far been blaming ATI for this bug. Now after reading all the comments and looking at how long this issue has been known to Microsoft I'm absolutely stunned, I am myself a software engineer and if released a code with such a user-unfriendly behavior and did NOT respond to the customer complaints I'd been gone pretty fast. Microsoft should really get their stuff back together. Any normal user nowadays has multiple or at least a second monitors connected to their PC or laptop or why do they think low end graphic cards already have a minimum of two outputs and simply moving applications, windows and items without at least user confirmation is not acceptable! I'm really annoyed by this "feature" as you may can tell, but this great new bug not only screws up my local applications but also my virtual machines. How hard can it be to release a hot-fix for this to add an overwrite feature? Add another software layer before the auto-detect feature to trick the pc into thinking everything is connected and let the user decide when/for what devices to send the fake signal to the hardware layer?

Hello. I've managed to resolve this problem at my place. On my HP monitor, I've turned on an option to scan inputs while it's off.

Just another stupid issue that indicates how TOTALLY out of touch Microsoft is with its customers. Sadly, I get better use and support from the Linux community than Microsoft.... that is saying a lot because Linux can really be a pain. Think I might buy a Mac.If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough!

Just to chime in on this thread, this "feature" is highly annoying and makes owning an HTPC nearly impossible. Ronnie is of no assistance here, and if there was a way I could disable this intentional bug, I would in a heartbeat.

Thank you for this simple solution to a ridiculous problem.

Its now July 2011 and microsoft still have done nothing to fix this issue... even after the volume of complaints here. Would anybody be interested in a class action law suit against them?.... they are selling a faulty product and not following up on it... I guess in the end we should rest in the comfort that a small group of individuals that we will never meet are making a nice profit from selling useless crap to us users. I mean really, Bill gates isnt going to have time to address this.... there MUCH more important things for him to be doing... such as his plan of population reduction throught the use of mandatory vaccinations. What a hero. (this will get deleted, under the guise of 'personal attack', but im just realying fact. It is true look it up)

Yes, it would be nice to see corrective action taken with this. I might have to end up buying new DVI video cards to replace the ATI display port one I have now which seems quite ridiculous... Could someone please tell me the location of where the DMMEnableDDCPolling key should be added?

Hi ,all I think i found the solution but i dont know if it only works for me. You have to setup in display/screen resolution your monitors(plasma whatever) to be generic non-pnp monitor For example i started windows 7 with my monitor closed and plasma didnt get recognized And i didnt clicked on detect ,i leave greyed out display and just select option: multiple displays:extend these displays I also did that before with my main display sony crt monitor So now i can start windows with everything turn off and when win7 loads up and i turn on my plasma and sony crt everything is in place and doesnt get undetected. Btw if your generic non-pnp monitor doesnt give you resolutions you need you can create them(custom resolution) with nvidia control panel Let me know if it works

I find it disgusting that Microsoft does not follow-up on this issue. You're right, there is no assistance from Microsoft. Heck, there's no way to report problems to Microsoft whatsoever. It's like they're in a digital fortress. To try and tell them the problem I'm having, I was told I would have to pay $60 to speak to someone. They said they would provide tech support, but I already know there is nothing a support tech can do anyway, so what's the point? Yes, I still find that if I turn off my Plasma (whether my wife was watching cable, or I'm using it as a 2nd monitor makes no difference), my PC automatically detects that the plasma has turned off, and sets the Plasma to my primary. Solution: I have to unplug my TV when not using it as my 2nd monitor (for playing tunes in the living room, or gaming on the couch). In other words, I have no solution. So much for an HTPC. Don't blame NVidia or ATI, this flawed design is squarely on Microsoft, and all they can do is shrug.