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Computer has two monitors. One on PCI-Ex video card and one on the onboard video. The PCI-Ex card is primary both in the BIOS/UEFI and in Windows.
I tend to leave a lot of windows open all the time, because I suck at task management and I often want to go back to an earlier task I haven't completed yet.
When my computer wakes up from sleep/standby, my left monitor (card/primary) wakes up a few seconds before my right monitor (onboard).
Windows seems to detect this as a hardware change, as if I had disconnected the other monitor, and moves everything over to my left monitor.
Then the other monitor wakes up, and all my windows are shifted over.
Edit: When you plug your second monitor back in, Windows usually moves the windows back over to where they were, but it doesn't seem to do that when it was only "unplugged" for a few seconds. Which is every time in my case.
I would rather not use a third-party program that saves and restores window positions, because which windows I keep open and where I want them fluctuate wildly.
This is a Desktop PC, so actually disconnecting a monitor is unlikely. How can I make Windows detect both monitors at the same time, or prevent Windows from rearranging my windows when my PC wakes up from sleep/standby?
Info:
- This also happens when I restore from Hibernation.
- This does not happen if I disable sleep/standby and just leave the PC on full power.
- For about half a second, I can see my windows in their previous arrangement as the right (secondary) screen blinks on and off during its wakeup process. So I actually get to see the windows being moved.
- Edit: This also happens when I disable sleep and just let Windows turn off the monitors. For now I'm just going to disable that too until science provides a real solution one day.
Specs & Details:
- Intel Core i9-9900K. HT enabled
- EVGA/Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 XC (primary video)
- Asus ROG Maximus XI Hero Z390 (inc secondary video)
- 4x Corsair Venegance LPX 16GB DDR4 2666 C16
- 2x LG 32UD59-B monitors. Both connected via DisplayPort, support HDCP.
- Windows 10 version 1903 / build 18362.418 (has happened on earlier versions)
- Updated video drivers recently, straight from Nvidia.
tsilb
Posted 2019-11-06T19:39:19.013
Reputation: 2 492
1Did you try changing monitor cables? It sounds weird but it happens. – siniradam – 2019-11-07T02:35:58.983
Tried. Nope, didn't help. – tsilb – 2019-11-16T19:06:57.073
1I have the same issue. But with an AMD setup. I guess this problem is as old as time. According to the internet. People are solving it with active-hardware gear to trick the PC into thinking its always connected. – Robert Koernke – 2019-11-27T04:39:07.040
@RobertKoernke I don't suppose you can tell me the name of this active-hardware gear so I can go look it up? Thanks. – tsilb – 2019-11-28T05:03:41.937
A useful trick in Windows 10 is "Show Windows Side By Side". Not guaranteed to get your windows back to exactly the same spots, but it is better than manually repositioning them all the time. – Christopher Hostage – 2019-12-05T22:39:21.360
1@tsilb I have deleted my HDFury suggestion. I could not get it to work for this purpose. In fact most people complain that it does not work in general. – Robert Koernke – 2019-12-18T16:59:08.010
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Some are saying to try this program: I haven't tried this yet... Its got cool tools anyway: http://dualmonitortool.sourceforge.net/dmt.html
– Robert Koernke – 2019-12-18T17:03:14.737