How can you maximize a window on to dual monitors in Windows 7?

Question

I have dual monitors and I want to span my current window so that it appears as one giant window on both monitors. Does anyone know how to do this natively from windows? If not, any free utilities that can do this?

Answer 1

In contrast with what others are saying, here is a free, working solution that maximises the window which is under the mouse.

(Credits go to the guy who wrote these amazing 'autoit' functions - I just wrote the bit which uses them.)

Download autoit and install it (free software):

http://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/

Create a .au3 file.

Paste this inside:

#include <misc.au3>
#include <Array.au3>
HotKeySet('{ESC}', '_Exit')

Global $WinText, $OldMouse[2], $NewMouse[2], $Windows, $x, $MyWin, $MyCoords

$NewMouse = MouseGetPos()
$title = _GetWin()
WinSetState($MyWin,"",@SW_RESTORE)
WinMove($MyWin,"",0,0,3840,1165)

Func _GetWin()
    Local $Coords
    ToolTip("")
    $Mouse = MouseGetPos()
    $OldMouse = $Mouse
    $Windows = _WinList()
    ;_ArrayDisplay($Windows, "")
    For $x = 1 To UBound($Windows)-1
        $Coords = WinGetPos($Windows[$x][0], "")
        If $Coords = -4 Then ExitLoop
        If IsArray($Coords) Then
            If $Mouse[0] >= $Coords[0] And $Mouse[0] <= ($Coords[0]+$Coords[2]) And $Mouse[1] >= $Coords[1] And $Mouse[1] <= ($Coords[1]+$Coords[3]) Then ExitLoop
        EndIf   
    Next
    If $x = UBound($Windows) Then $x -= 1
    $MyWin =  $Windows[$x][0]
    $Control = _MouseGetCtrlInfo()
    $Return = $Windows[$x][0] & @CRLF & $Control 
    Return $Return
EndFunc 

Func _WinList()
    Local $WinListArray[1][2]
    $var = WinList()
    For $i = 1 to $var[0][0]
        If $var[$i][0] <> "" AND IsVisible($var[$i][1]) Then
            Redim $WinListArray[UBound($WinListArray) + 1][2]
            $WinListArray[UBound($WinListArray)-1][0] = $var[$i][0]
            $WinListArray[UBound($WinListArray)-1][1] = $var[$i][1]
        EndIf
    Next
    Return $WinListArray
EndFunc

Func IsVisible($handle)
  If BitAnd( WinGetState($handle), 2 ) Then 
    Return 1
  Else
    Return 0
  EndIf
EndFunc

Func _Exit()
    Exit
EndFunc 

Func _MouseGetCtrlInfo()  ; get ID, Classe and Text of a control
    Global $hWin = WinGetHandle($MyWin)
    Global $sClassList = WinGetClassList($hWin)
    Local $sSplitClass = StringSplit(StringTrimRight($sClassList, 1), @LF)
    Local $aMPos = MouseGetPos()
    ;_ArrayDisplay($sSplitClass, "")
    $MyCoords = ClientToScreen($hWin)
    For $iCount = UBound($sSplitClass) - 1 To 1 Step - 1
        Local $nCount = 0
        If $sSplitClass[$iCount] = "WorkerW" Then ContinueLoop
        While 1
            $nCount += 1
            $aCPos = ControlGetPos($hWin, '', $sSplitClass[$iCount] & $nCount)
            If @error Then ExitLoop
            $hCtrlWnd = ControlGetHandle ($hWin, "", $sSplitClass[$iCount] & $nCount)
            If IsArray($aCPos) Then
                If $aMPos[0] >= ($MyCoords[0]+$aCPos[0]) And $aMPos[0] <= ($MyCoords[0]+$aCPos[0] + $aCPos[2]) _
                    And $aMPos[1] >= ($MyCoords[1]+$aCPos[1]) And $aMPos[1] <= ($MyCoords[1]+$aCPos[1] + $aCPos[3]) Then
                    $aReturn = DllCall('User32.dll', 'int', 'GetDlgCtrlID', 'hwnd', $hCtrlWnd)
                    If @error Then Return "Err"
                    $Text = ControlGetText($hWin, '', $sSplitClass[$iCount] & $nCount)
                    If StringInStr($Text, @LF) Then $Text = "demasiado largo"
                    If IsArray($aReturn) Then Return 'ControlID: ' & $aReturn[0] & @CRLF & 'ClassNameNN: ' & $sSplitClass[$iCount] & $nCount &  @CRLF & "Text: " & $Text
                EndIf      
            EndIf
        WEnd
    Next
    ;_ArrayDisplay($sSplitClass, "")
    Return "No Ctrl"
EndFunc

Func ClientToScreen($hWnd)    ; get client area of a win relative to the screan
    Local $Point, $aRes[2]
    Local $cX, $cY
    $Point = DllStructCreate("int;int")
    DllStructSetData($Point, 1, $cX)
    DllStructSetData($Point, 1, $cY)
    DllCall("User32.dll", "int", "ClientToScreen", "hwnd", $hWnd, "ptr", DllStructGetPtr($Point))
    $aRes[0] = DllStructGetData($Point, 1)
    $aRes[1] = DllStructGetData($Point, 2)
    Return $aRes
EndFunc

Then change the line

WinMove($MyWin,"",0,0,3840,1165)

to the values of your liking.

Then you can create a windows shortcut to this file, right click it->properties, and assign a shortcut (e.g. CTRL+ALT+UP).

Most likely you will find that you will need to repeat the procedure and create a second file to restore the window to a small size.

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Unless you have an ATi card with Eyefinity support, there is no way to extend a window to both screens. Unfortunately, there seems to be no free utility to do the same, there are couple of paid tools, including Ultramon.

Answer 3

Click and drag, otherwise you can use your advanced graphics card to configure the monitors to act as one large screen.

Answer 4

If you have an nVidia video card:

1. Right-click on the desktop, and click "NVIDIA Control Panel"
2. At the bottom of the list of tasks, under Workstation, is "Set up Mosaic". Click it.
3. In the right pane, click the checkbox next to "Enable Mosaic"
4. Under Displays, put checkmarks next to the monitors you want to combine.
5. Under Configuration, select what topology you want (side-by-side, vertical..)
6. At the bottom-right of the screen, click "Apply"

Now, when you click the Maximize button, it'll cover both monitors. Your taskbar will also cover both monitors. If that bugs you, try dragging it to the left of the monitor so it becomes vertical (this works better if you make the icons small and use 'never combine').

Answer 5

On my Windows 7 I'm able to drag the window so that it covers both screens. If you right click your desktop and chose "screen resolution", you have to chose "extend these displays" under "multiple displays". If you close the window again it should remember size and position.