Solved: Missing progam UI's after new monitor

[thepowerofpie]

First off, wasn't 100% sure where to put this, sorry if its in the wrong spot.

Recently I upgraded from using a LG monitor (main, physically on the right) and a sceptre monitor (extension, physically on the left) in a dual monitor configuration, to a LG LCD television as the main screen (physically on the left) with the old LG monitor as the extension of the desktop (physically on the right.)

After doing this, I came across a rather big problem. Previously many applications opened on my second monitor rather then my main screen, such as itunes and ventrilo. Now those programs open in the abyss where the old sceptre monitor used to be and I can't seem to get them back. I've tried a multitude of things, from uninstalling&reinstalling, to switching back to the old setup and dragging the applications over and closing them. Much to my dismay, the programs seem to have some configuration file buried deep in my computer telling them to open on the sceptre monitor that simply cannot be overwritten.

The programs still retain functionality, as I can minimize them to the tray and execute some minimal functions from there. But with this I've lost the real ability to see what I'm doing with the programs, change any settings or anything important. I can't even choose what songs I want Itunes to play anymore! (It was last closed in party shuffle.)

Any help on this issue would be amazingly helpful! Thank you in advance for any and all replies!

 

[jdean]

Here's what I would try: right click on the icon for the application in the task bar and click on Move. Press any cursor key (for example, the up arrow key) once. This puts the window in "move" mode. Now wave your mouse around and this will move the windowd around. I would try to move it from left to right since that's where your old secondary monitor was, but try it in all directions. This may help you locate your window. Once you've found it, you can drag it to your preferred location and close it, and this should save the new coordinates.

 

[thepowerofpie]

Thanks for the idea Jdean, unfortunately when I tried using move it simply put the move icon on the edge of the screen and applied no functionality.

HOWEVER I did come up with a solution! I set the LG monitor to become a clone of the LG TV. This caused all the windows (including those that were previously visible) to reset their "home position", meaning where they load. They now appear perfectly normally so long as I use the same combination of monitors, and all appears to be solved! For the record I used Catalyst Control Center (Advanced Mode) and simply right clicked the icon of the LG monitor under the <displays manager> tab, and clicked "clone" (second option from the top if memory serves.) Not entirely sure why this worked, but I would guess that changing to a "single" monitor configuration (in this case only sending one output to multiple screens) would make it think "oh I can't open a window on a second screen, there is only one screen!" or something like that.

To summarize the steps that fixed for anyone experiencing a similar problem:

1) Open catalyst control center
2) Go to displays manager
3) Right click your secondary monitor's icon and choose "clone."
4) Open the programs that were previously opening in la-la-land.
5) If you can see said programs, close them. If not I hope you find another solution.
6) Change configuration back to the way you want it, and pray changes stick!

 

[jdean]

@thepowerofpie: Glad to see that you found a solution.

unfortunately when I tried using move it simply put the move icon on the edge of the screen and applied no functionality.

This means you didn't press an arrow key on the keyboard. Once you press any arrow key, the cursor will change. I mention this because I've found this to be a convenient way to restore the occasional "lost" window without fiddling with system settings.