Win 7 dual monitor: Don't move application windows when turn off second monitor

Posted by codewaggle on Super User See other posts from Super User or by codewaggle
Published on 2012-09-07T13:20:12Z Indexed on 2012/09/07 15:40 UTC
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The title is correct, it should say "Don't" not "Doesn't". I Don't want the application windows to be moved to the main monitor when I turn off the monitors.

On my Win XP dual monitor system, I can turn off the monitors and when I turn them back on, the application windows are in the same locations on the same monitors as when I turned the monitors off.

On the Win 7 system, every time I turn off the monitors (or just the second monitor), all of the application windows are moved to the "main" monitor.

After experimenting with the settings, I've found one process that enables me to turn off the monitors and still keep my application windows laid out in my chosen locations on the two monitors:
1) Switch the display setting to a single monitor.
2) Turn off the monitors.
3) Turn on the monitors.
4) Switch the display setting back to "Extend these Displays".

After step 4, the application windows that I had laid out on the second monitor are moved back to their original locations on the second monitor.

Is there a windows or nVidia setting that would leave the application windows on the second monitor so that I don't need to switch the display settings every time I turn off the monitors?

Specs:
Windows 7 64-bit
dual monitors (1 DP, 1 DVI)
Desktop (most questions seem to be about laptops)
nVidia Quadro 2000
nVidia Control Panel
nVidia nView Control Panel

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