Windows 10: Windows 10 / 7 disabling monitor autodetect for a two monitor setup with a KVM switch

Hi. I just got a new desktop computer to replace my 10 year-old desktop and I'm having the same autodetect problem in Win 10 as I did with Win 7 many years ago.


I have two monitors with a DVI KVM switch and when I switch away from my Win 10 computer, the windows and icons and all move to the secondary monitor as a single display. When I switch back, the windows and icons move back to the primary monitor but not as previously displayed. Obviously, this is annoying considering I switch between the computers several times a day and I don't want to rearrange my desktop icons and windows several times a day.


I'm wondering, what are the ways to disable monitor autodetection in Win 10? I'm guessing by the more recent threads there is no new good, simple way to do this.


At first I forgot how I got my Win 7 computer to disable autodetect but I read my 5 year-old post from a thread below and sure enough on the primary display -the DVI port that is connected to the KVM switch- there is a cheap male/female adapter with PIN 16 removed. I do remember now that the pin came out quite easily. For the thousands of times I switched between computers using the KVM switch, my Win 7 computer didn't autodetect the changeover and my two-monitor Windows display remained static like I wanted.


So I'm curious. Why do these threads close when there are 100+ clicks on "I have this same problem" but few if any clicks on "This resolved my problem..."? That should say to MS that people are still having trouble and still want a Windows fix i.e. a simple check box in the display settings for ignoring autodetection.


I can't say MS has too few programmers, or the programmers aren't smart enough, or MS can't afford to have a programmer or 10 work on this problem for a few weeks. It just makes the company look bad is all which I guess is par for the course for the past 25 years.


I'm waiting for a response that will be a pleasant surprise.


--

older threads -

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-hardware/is-there-a-way-to-switch-the-identity-of-the-two/6e1c860d-6a45-4bfa-bd64-911694d5c44f


https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/disabling-monitor-auto-detection-on-windows-10/227d9e6e-2ef8-4d0e-a3e4-3172d5553c03

:)

 

Windows 10 issue with multiple monitors and KVM

Thanks for your reply.

The issue isn't getting the second monitor to work or continue working.

If the KVM is set to the Windows 10 and I have an application window open on the external monitor and I use the KVM to switch the external monitor to the Windows 7 system, when I switch back to the Windows 10 system, the application window that was displaying
on the external monitor is now displaying on the Laptop LCD.

 

KVM (AVR) switch monitor resolution problem on Windows 10

I am totally agree with you that MS should allow users to manually "lock" the EDID of connected display/ monitor they want to keep no matter what real /physical monitor is changed or linked.

or provide both currently "auto detect" mode and add the "manual selection" mode.

In addition to the dual-mode EDID detecting suggest, before MS providing in the future upgrade of the OS, MS should suggest users to use KVM switches with "all-time full EDID" stored to all channels of KVM switch.

 

Windows 10 issue with multiple monitors and KVM

Windows 10 issue with multiple monitors and KVM

I have a personal laptop and a work laptop. I use the built in LCD screens on the laptops as the main screen for each.

I also have an external monitor that I share between the two laptops with a KVM switch. So, whichever computer is selected by the KVM has the external monitor as a secondary display.

However, when I switch the external monitor from my personal laptop to the work laptop, everything that was being displayed on the external screen for the personal laptop is transferred to the main screen of the personal laptop. This means that when I switch
back to the personal laptop I have to move the programs I want displayed on the external monitor back to the external monitor. Is there some setting that I can change so that when I switch from the personal laptop to the work laptop it doesn't move the programs
displayed on the extended monitor back to the main display?

I also noticed when I click the KVM to switch over, the extended monitor disappears from the displays list. The only option for now is to click the button behind the monitor to switch between displays which can be troublesome.

Thanks for any help!