Win 7: How can I resize a window to make it much bigger than my screen?

Question

I have a window that I'd like to make much bigger than my physical screen (explanation of why below). I hit Alt+Space, M, and then press the Up arrow to move the title bar above the physical top of my screen. However, when I press Enter to set it, the title bar snaps back to the top of my screen. How can I prevent this from happening?

Background: I want to get a hi-res image of a neighborhood map so that it can be printed to a poster. Google Earth has a "Save as JPG" feature, which will save the map in the window to a file. The bigger the window, the bigger the JPG; so, I'm trying to make the window as big as I can. Alternate suggestions welcome.

Answer 1

For that specific purpose, what you need is Google Map Saver.

Google Map Saver (GMS) offers you an easy and free way to download big Google Maps on your PC as JPEG, PNG-8, PNG-24, BMP or Targa files. GMS is light (only ~400 KBytes) and very easy to run since doesn’t have an installer. You can save maps up to 12000 x 12000 pixels!

Answer 2

I agree with Dour High Arch's method, but the easiest way to do this (which I've done before) is to use Windows 7's in-built Snipping Tool and create heaps of snips then use a panorama stitching program like AutoStitch or Microsoft Image Composite Editor to automatically join them all. Then crop it using a graphics editing program (Paint should suffice).

Some screenshots of the process...

The collected snips

Let panorama software join it for you

and the full thing:

(To view images in full, right click and click View)

Answer 3

I see that you got all the answers that you needed for your particular map printing issue. However, in case you need to resize a window to a size larger than the screen in the future, you can use an application called ScreenSpace.

ScreenSpace is a small app that I have developed http://www.dandeware.com/products/, mainly aimed at netbook to solve the problems created by small screens. But it works with any computer running Windows XP and Windows 7, and with any screen resolution. Actually, I have just posted an answer to a similar question, so you can learn more about it here.

Also, just like I offered the author of that question I answered, let me know if you want to try ScreenSpace, I'll give you a license so that you can use all the features.

Answer 4

I haven't tried any myself but there are various virtual desktop managers for Windows. You should be able to find one that allows windows to overlap across virtual desktops.

Answer 5

You can try GiMeSpace Desktop Extender. Easy and powerful without any size limitations.

Answer 6

Alternate method: Alt-PrintScreen and page horizontally and vertically repeatedly to save screen shots of the area you want to keep. Stitch the multiple images into a single one in a graphics editor, then save the stitched image as a .jpg.