What determines the monitor my app runs on

Question

I am using Windows  and I have two monitors   Some applications will always start on my primary monitor  no matter where they were when I closed them   Others will always start on the secondary monitor  no matter where they were when I closed them   Is there a registry setting buried somewhere  which I can manipulate to control which monitor applications launch into by default    rp  I have Ultramon  and I agree that it is indispensable  to the point that Microsoft should buy it and incorporate it into their OS   But as you said  it doesn t let you control the default monitor a program launches into

User · Answer

I ve noticed that if I put a shortcut on my desktop on one screen the launched application may appear on that screen  if that app doesn t reposition itself    This also applies to running things from Windows Explorer - if Explorer is on one screen the launched application will pick that monitor to use   Again - I think this is when the launching application specifies the default  windows managed  position  Most applications seem to override this default behavior in some way   A simple window created like so will do this   hWnd   CreateWindow windowClass  windowTitle  WS VISIBLE   WS OVERLAPPEDWINDOW  CW USEDEFAULT  SW SHOW  CW USEDEFAULT  0  NULL  NULL  hInst  NULL

User · Answer

I m fairly sure the primary monitor is the default   If the app was coded decently  when it s closed  it ll remember where it was last at and will reopen there  but -- as you ve noticed -- it isn t a default behavior   EDIT  The way I usually do it is to have the location stored in the app s settings   On load  if there is no value for them  it defaults to the center of the screen   On closing of the form  it records its position   That way  whenever it opens  it s where it was last   I don t know of a simple way to tell it to launch onto the second monitor the first time automatically  however   -- Kevin Fairchild

User · Answer

Do not hold me to this but I am pretty sure it depends on the application it self  I know many always open on the main monitor  some will reopen to the same monitor they were previously run in  and some you can set  I know for example I have shortcuts to open command windows to particular directories  and each has an option in their properties to the location to open the window in  While Outlook just remembers and opens in the last screen it was open in  Then other apps open in what ever window the current focus is in   So I am not sure there is a way to tell every program where to open  Hope that helps some

User · Answer

Correctly written Windows apps that want to save their location from run to run will save the results of GetWindowPlacement   before shutting down  then use SetWindowPlacement   on startup to restore their position   Frequently  apps will store the results of GetWindowPlacement   in the registry as a REG BINARY for easy use   The WINDOWPLACEMENTroute has many advantages over other methods    Handles the case where the screen resolution changed since the last run  SetWindowPlacement   will automatically ensure that the window is not entirely offscreen Saves the state  minimized maximized  but also saves the restored  normal  size and position Handles desktop metrics correctly  compensating for the taskbar position  etc   i e  uses  workspace coordinates  instead of  screen coordinates  -- techniques that rely on saving screen coordinates may suffer from the  walking windows  problem where a window will always appear a little lower each time if the user has a toolbar at the top of the screen     Finally  programs that handle window restoration properly will take into account the nCmdShow parameter passed in from the shell  This parameter is set in the shortcut that launches the application  Normal  Minimized  Maximize    if nCmdShow    SW SHOWNORMAL      placement showCmd   nCmdShow    allow shortcut to override   For non-Win32 applications  it s important to be sure that the method you re using to save restore window position eventually uses the same underlying call  otherwise  like Java Swing s setBounds   getBounds   problem  you ll end up writing a lot of extra code to re-implement functionality that s already there in the WINDOWPLACEMENT functions

User · Answer

Get UltraMon  Quickly    http   realtimesoft com ultramon    It doesn t let you specify what monitor an app starts on  but it lets you move an app to the another monitor  and keep its aspect ratio intact  with one mouse click  It is a very handy utility   Most programs will start where you last left them  So if you have two monitors at work  but only one at home  it s possible to start you laptop at home and not see the apps running on the other monitor  which now isn t there   UltrMon also lets you move those orphan apps back to the main screen quickly and easily

User · Answer

It s not exactly the answer to this question but I dealt with this problem with the Shift   Win    left right  arrow keys shortcut  You can move the currently active window to another monitor with it

User · Answer

Here s what I ve found   If you want an app to open on your secondary monitor by default do the following   1  Open the application  2  Re-size the window so that it is not maximized or minimized  3  Move the window to the monitor you want it to open on by default  4  Close the application   Do not re-size prior to closing  5  Open the application     It should open on the monitor you just moved it to and closed it on  6  Maximize the window    The application will now open on this monitor by default   If you want to change it to another monitor  just follow steps 1-6 again

User · Answer

So I had this issue with Adobe Reader 9 0  Somehow the program forgot to open on my right monitor and was consistently opening on my left monitor  Most programs allow you to drag it over  maximize the screen  and then close it out and it will remember  Well  with Adobe  I had to drag it over and then close it before maximizing it  in order for Windows to remember which screen to open it in next time  Once you set it to the correct monitor  then you can maximize it  I think this is stupid  since almost all windows programs remember it automatically without try to rig a way for XP to remember

User · Answer

Important note   If you remember the position of your application and shutdown and then start up again at that position  keep in mind that the user s monitor configuration may have changed while your application was closed   Laptop users  for example  frequently change their display configuration   When docked there may be a 2nd monitor that disappears when undocked   If the user closes an application that was running on the 2nd monitor and the re-opens the application when the monitor is disconnected  restoring the window to the previous coordinates will leave it completely off-screen   To figure out how big the display really is  check out GetSystemMetrics

User · Answer

Right click the shortcut and select properties   Make sure you are on the  Shortcut  Tab   Select the RUN drop down box and change it to Maximized    This may assist in launching the program in full screen on the primary monitor

User · Answer

So I agree there are some apps that you can configured to open on one screen by maximizing or right clicking and moving sizing screen  then close and reopen  However  there are others that will only open on the main screen    What I ve done to resolve  set the monitor you prefer stubborn apps to open on  as monitor 1 and the your other monitor as 2  then change your monitor 2 to be the primary - so your desktop settings and start bar remain  Hope this helps

[multiple-monitors] What determines the monitor my app runs on?

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