Locked computer dual monitor

I really don't understand why all this is this necessary with the batch files. It is even possible to change the picture, why is it now possible to set one for the second screen.

On XP I had eden background spanning through two screens:
Like this one

Is there a win7 bug report page where this could be reported?

nagybal said:

I really don't understand why all this is this necessary with the batch files. It is even possible to change the picture, why is it now possible to set one for the second screen.

On XP I had eden background spanning through two screens:
Like this one

Is there a win7 bug report page where this could be reported?

Click to expand...

Hummm; I think you missed the point of the thread. I think everyone here knows you can change the logon picture, change your background to whatever you want, and stretch it across two monitors if you wish. What is being discussed here is when the computer is LOCKED and you attempt to log in the SECOND screen goes black. In Windows XP this did not happen, but now with Vista and Windows 7 the SECOND screen goes black. The OP is looking for a way to keep the second screen ON and DISPLAY the picture.

WindowsStar said:

I think everyone here knows you can change the logon picture, change your background to whatever you want, and stretch it across two monitors if you wish.

Click to expand...

If you click on my link above, will understand, I am ain't a retard either. I am talking about the background picture of the lock screen.

Under XP it was even possible to set the left side of the wallpaper on the left monitor and the right side of the picture on the right one.

I have my beautiful win7 now and would be set anything on the right one instead of this black nothing

nagybal said:

WindowsStar said:

I think everyone here knows you can change the logon picture, change your background to whatever you want, and stretch it across two monitors if you wish.

Click to expand...

If you click on my link above, will understand, I am ain't a retard either. I am talking about the background picture of the lock screen.

Under XP it was even possible to set the left side of the wallpaper on the left monitor and the right side of the picture on the right one.

I have my beautiful win7 now and would be set anything on the right one instead of this black nothing

Click to expand...

Please take a digital picture of your logon screen with 2 monitors both with some picture on them. Then post the picture here.

Then please post how you were able to accomplish the picture on both screens.

Thanks -WS

WindowsStar said:

Then please post how you were able to accomplish the picture on both screens.

Click to expand...

On win7 I have no idea. I would tell you about it already.

The only thing I posted is that my opinion is there needs to be similar solution. This one with the "logon window on both of the screens" and the scripts is a bit too much. There needs to be and easier way.

nagybal said:

WindowsStar said:

Then please post how you were able to accomplish the picture on both screens.

Click to expand...

On win7 I have no idea. I would tell you about it already.

The only thing I posted is that my opinion is there needs to be similar solution. This one with the "logon window on both of the screens" and the scripts is a bit too much. There needs to be and easier way.

Click to expand...

Hi Nagybal, your opinion is appreciated but I too think that you have missed the point in some small regard.

The idea of the scripting is to make this easy. The plan is to make it a double click = install solution. What you've seen so far (and call "a bit too much") is 'development' and conjecture, simply discussion about a possible solution. It's far from a finished solution and frankly may we not even be able to have a workable solution using this method; but we have got very very close. Closer than any other method. If we get this working, then we'll write an easier deployment method. This is the process of development.

BTW - I'm all up for an 'easier' way to do this, as i don't want to spend the hours it would take to script all this together (providing we can find a solution to the final hurdle). So please help us out here, download and install a few replacement log-in screens and we'll also cross our fingers that you stumble across one that works perfectly to solve this issue. I'll be happy to pat your back and I'm sure you'll have everyone's thanks too. I've had a look myself but I couldn't find one that worked the way we want it to. If you do look, please keep it mind, that should the workaround replace any of Microsoft's *.dll's it may fail later during an upgrade, so try to avoid this and good luck.

Timo

I joined this forum just so I could reply in this thread. There is still seems to be some confusion about what the situation is, so I thought I would join in and make it clear as mud. I dual boot back and forth from XP Pro to 7 Pro because of my job, so I've got some first hand experience on this issue.

First, let's start with how you accomplish this with XP on the log on screen. With some simple registry edits, you can have your log on wallpaper match your desktop wallpaper:

hkey_users\.default\control panel\desktop
tilewallpaper = 1
wallpaper = whatever.bmp

I have 2 19" 4x3 monitors, so I use 2560x1024 wallpaper and set it to tile. If I take the same wallpaper file and copy it to the system32 folder, the above registry edits go into effect. The only restriction I know of is that the file has to be bmp, it will not work with jpg. The lock screen just works. There is nothing to edit for that to happen. So, in XP Pro, my lock screen, my log on screen, and my desktop wallpaper can all match, and span both monitors at any given time. Here are some pics:


Here you can see my log on screen on XP. This is a corporate environment using a Windows 2003 domain. Purty huh? It's my back yard btw.


Here is the lock screen on XP. As you can see the wallpapers are different. I did this on purpose to make the point that the registry looks to a different place for the log on wallpaper. The lock screen just uses whatever wallpaper you have selected for your desktop. If you want your log on wallpaper to match your desktop wallpaper, you have to use the registry settings above.

So the only question is how can you accomplish this in Windows 7? The lock screen and the log on screen can be changed, but there looks to be no way to span 2 monitors with a dual screen wallpaper, so it's pointless for dual screen users. This was so easy to do in XP. It really doesn't surprise that Microsoft dropped the ball on this. I'm assuming it has something to with Windows 7 not using GINA anymore, rather it uses credential providers now for authentication. Here is a screenshot of how Windows 7 looks in the same scenario.


Here is the Windows 7 log on screen. You can clearly see my mouse on the secondary monitor. The lock screen looks and acts identical.

So there you have it. I hope this helps clear things up. I doubt there is a resolution to this issue, but at least we can understand it. It's not that big of a deal, but I like to customize things to my liking, and not having that ability in this scenario is a little annoying, considering how easy it was to do in XP.

@EarlThePearl

Thank you perfect post. The screen shoots are perfect! They show the problem peferctly.

Thanks for the screenshots! It boggles my mind sometimes though how people were confused as to what exactly I was asking.. it wasn't that complicated hah.

Mine does this as well. I just chalked it up to some power saving feature but now that I think of it, once the screen saver comes on you see the screensaver on both screens.

hattrik21 said:

Mine does this as well. I just chalked it up to some power saving feature but now that I think of it, once the screen saver comes on you see the screensaver on both screens.

Click to expand...

Funny thing is, it's not a power saving feature. When your screen is locked move your mouse to the black monitor.. it isn't "off", it is indeed DISPLAYING A BLACK SCREEN THAT YOUR CURSOR CAN STILL MOVE ON.

C'mon Windows 7, this is the one thing I don't like about you hah.

Kirsch said:

hattrik21 said:

Mine does this as well. I just chalked it up to some power saving feature but now that I think of it, once the screen saver comes on you see the screensaver on both screens.

Click to expand...

Funny thing is, it's not a power saving feature. When your screen is locked move your mouse to the black monitor.. it isn't "off", it is indeed DISPLAYING A BLACK SCREEN THAT YOUR CURSOR CAN STILL MOVE ON.

C'mon Windows 7, this is the one thing I don't like about you hah.

Click to expand...

We should post "this" in the things we don't like about Windows 7 thread.

hi all just browsing around and stumbled across this issue. was wondering if anyone ever found a solution to it?

Nope, this is built into Windows 7. Many hate that MS changed the way this works. We were hoping someone would write software to take care of this, however to this date I have not see anything.

We were able to program around it with hacks and scripts and scheduled services etc. etc., it was a mess, sort of worked but hard to maintain and hard to setup correctly. Everyone gave up again hoping someone with a lot of programming stills would write something to fix this or some guru would find a way to hack a DLL or 2 and make a patch. If you find something please post back. -WS

Well I have also been looking for a solution to this issue, I too enjoy seeing my favorite pics on my monitors when I lock my workstation, This is what I found and have been using since.
Clear Lock is a little freeware program that allows you to set a password and lock your PC but keeps your desktop/wallpaper visible.

Lock your pc with Clear lock freeware. | Techdunes

Reviewed here
Clear Lock- A transparent Lock for your Windows

Hope this helps

dunfiddlin said:

There's plenty of dual monitor screensavers available for that (just ask Google). It's just not possible to lock the computer and have it act as if it weren't locked!

Click to expand...

Are you an idiot

He wants both of his monitors to show the locked screen graphic (Blue Windows7 Background)
Because only his primary monitor is.

I would like this to get this too since it would be awesome
Rather than my other screen showing a pointless blackscreen.

Bump I can't believe W7 ruined this. Might have to go back to XP where it worked so nicely. Still no 3rd party solution afaik maybe it's not possible at all.

randomNaMe said:

Bump I can't believe W7 ruined this. Might have to go back to XP where it worked so nicely. Still no 3rd party solution afaik maybe it's not possible at all.

Click to expand...

I am not fond of the win7 lock screen with multiple screens, but there is no way I would go back to xp just for that.

Zepher said:

randomNaMe said:

Bump I can't believe W7 ruined this. Might have to go back to XP where it worked so nicely. Still no 3rd party solution afaik maybe it's not possible at all.

Click to expand...

I am not fond of the win7 lock screen with multiple screens, but there is no way I would go back to xp just for that.

Click to expand...

Ditto.

I'd like the XP style lock screen - but there's no way in hell I'd go back to XP because Seven can't do it

Agreed not going back, however we still wish for a hack or 3rd party app to fix this. -WS