Fullscreen forces other monitor out

Vorak666 · 28 May 2012

I've encountered this problem with games such as NHL09 and Shogun2...
Problem is that when fullscreen launches the other monitor goes freezeframe or goes completely out, thus I cannot see the movie or sportsstream anymore on the secondary monitor, sound remains...

I need a global resolve so that when ever I choose to go fullscreen (such as gaming) the movie or stream or what ever is on the fullscreen in secondary monitor remains viewable and enjoyable by whom ever...
Not all games come with windowed options so maybe force window or such tool would help maybe?
Ty for help.

Trucidation · 28 May 2012

It depends on the game really. Most games aren't multiple monitor aware and as you've discovered windowed mode is the safest way to ensure it stays nicely where it is. When something doesn't even offer a windowed mode you can immediately tell that its behaviour will be unpredictable when you throw multiple monitors into the mix.

DirectX fullscreen "exclusive mode" so the game expects to have full control of the screen. This works for the majority of setups so some developers get lazy and don't bother to code for any alternatives. Which is why you get unpredictable behaviour: some games simply don't even run, I have some old 16-bit Win-J fullscreen programs that die like this until I disconnect my other displays.

Best bet for forcing windows mode would be to ask on the specific game's forums. Usually you'll find posts on how to increase resolution and how to force windowed mode together. Haven't heard of any utilities that can force a program to play in a window or on one display only.