3 monitor dual card setup - Programs swap sides when HDMI powered on

Turning on HDMI 3rd monitor screws up the Display 1 & 2 which are VGA and DVI

I usually have Skype open and 2 browsers. Monitor 1 on DVI for work and monitor 2 is VGA for facebook Twitter and that kind of stuff and Skype under the browser on monitor 2 and monitor 3 is on a second/separate video card hooked up to HDMI used for music videos and cctv cameras.

As of lately when I turn on the HDMI monitor all the programs switch sides.

Skype will move from the lower right side of monitor 2 over to the lower right side f monitor 1
The browser thats on monitor 2 will switch over to monitor 1 and the browser that was on monitor 1 will swap sides from monitor 1 over to #2.

The 3rd monitor is sometimes used for music videos but currently it is hooked up to a CCTV DVR on the DVR VGA hookup so it even does this when the TV (Monitor 3) is not on HDMI mode for the computer.

I can turn monitors 1 and 2 on and off 1000 times and nothing will happen but as soon as I turn on the HDMI everything swaps sides.

Why would powering on HDMI display do this and how can I stop open programs from swapping sides on monitor 1 & 2 when I turn on the TV (Monitor 3) even if its not in HDMI mode when powered on?

On one card only 2 of 3 monitors work. All 3 will not work as per this thread Auto switch HD5570 card with VGA/DVI and HDTV on HDMI port

So I went out and got another card and it worked fine for months. This program switching side issue is only a few weeks old. It worked PERFECT before. Also to note when I switch on the HDMI the other two monitors go black and say no signal for a few seconds but then comes back on then the HDMI P.O.S.T/Welcome screen is completed. It has done that since day one but again this programs swapping sides is only a few weeks old. I haven't really installed any new programs and all I really use is Chrome, Skype, Windows picture view, Windows media player and sometimes VLC media player. I'm not a gamer trying to play across a 5 monitor setup. Each of my monitors serves its own individual purpose

If it worked fine before could this be another screwed up Windows update? I know one of microsofts favorite pastimes to screw up peoples machines with faulty updates and the reason I don't allow auto update. Could a bad update cause programs to swap on HDMI power on?

Hello. I am running triple monitors. Samsung Syncmaster 204b. I have seen some issues in plugging in a third monitor. In my case, the monitor does not have to be powered up!. Evidently the DVI connection provides enough pwr?? to ID the monitor. That may not be true for you monitors, they may have to power up for the graphics card to sense there presence. Depending on where that monitor is in the hierarcy (like monitor 1,2,3) it will shift the others. My running monitors will go blank for a second or so when connecting a 3rd monitor live. Seems normal then. Shifting which monitor is the primary will blank the monitor for a bit. Your mileage may vary, but at least it gives you something to work with.

Stan

Unfortunately, you'll probably have to "retrace your steps" to figure out what caused it. IMO, GPU software/driver updates would be the place to start, but a Windows Update is certainly a possibility.

Last week there was a power outage and it fried the SOYO monitor when it came back on. I found a used Syncmaster 920WM w/ speakers (which is also a nice close match to my Syncmaster 941BW which has been my secondary display.)

Since getting the 920WM to replace the SOYO this program swapping sides behavior seems to have stopped. When powering on the HDMI TV the two computer monitors still go black for a few seconds but they have ALWAYS done that. Its the programs swapping sides that bugged me and it **seems** fixed now. At least it hasn't done it it almost a week now.