Question:

Tony,

Ihope you get this.  This is in regards to an article you wrote (Using Multiple Monitors with Windows XP, July 26, 2004).
Previously when using TestDirector, when I opened a search for a defect, a popup window appeared right in the center of my screen. But, now that I have DualView, the popup box appears like this:

(click to view the full image)

It’s way over to the right of my laptop monitor, half on, half off.  This is not a problem for me since I can drag it back into the viewable area. But, for some of our testers the box is outside the viewing area of both the laptop screen and the extra monitor.   We can get the box to come back by right-clicking the task bar and cascading the windows.  Which is an  acceptable work-around.  But, it there a way to specify where the box appears???

Thanks,

Michael

Answer:

Hi, Michael. Unfortunately,  applications control where Windows appear. Most applications open dialog boxes either centered on their window, centered on the primary monitor, or centered on the desktop (which can span multiple monitors, causing the split-dialog effect you’ve seen). In my experience, it’s pretty rare that a program centers a dialog between two monitors, but clearly you’ve found one. Lots of developers use multiple monitors themselves, so they’re usually more in-tune with these problems.

Cascading the windows seems like a decent work-around that doesn’t require any other software. I use Ultramon, and I’ve linked the F3 key to the Move To Other Monitor command. So, for me, pressing F3 moves any non-visible windows into the visible desktop. By the way, Ultramon finally has a beta for Vista available.

Not a perfect answer, but I hope it helps.