Running programs on Second Monitor

[Guest]

I'm using an NVIDIA GeForce 210 graphics card with a ViewSonic VX2433WM as primary monitor and a standard plug and play monitor as secondary. OS is XP with all updates.

Every program wants to run on the primary monitor. When I move a running program, such as a database program that opens subsequent windows for input, over to the secondary monitor it still wants to open those subsequent windows on the primary monitor.

Is there a way to tell the graphics card or the OS where to open a program and subsequent input windows?

 

[majestic1805]

You probably can't. In Windows programming the programmer can tell the OS approximately where you want it to appear such as center parent, default, center screen, manual, etc. Usually Windows will try to "remember" where you put things before and open them in the same spot. However, as with any application, the guys who made it control pretty much everything including this.

 

[groundrat]

Programs will auto open to whatever monitor is designated primary in XP. In 7 they will open to the last monitor they were on. Win7 is getting less expensive. Unless you are depending on XP to support an outdated app/program you should consider upgrading. I have Win7 on my old Athlon X2 and it runs fine and takes the same amount of drive space XP does.

Barring that, try designating your second monitor as primary. The tool bar/start button will move over and so will all the program windows. Not a fix, but you asking XP to do something it can’t.

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys! I appreciate your time. I've apparently inadvertently screwed up something in the NVIDIA set up and haven't figured it out yet. Prior to that whatever I opened on the 2d monitor stayed on the second monitor, ditto the primary. I'll keep working on it.