How to disable Windows 7 feature that maximizes a window to full screen when moved to the edge of the screen (but keep keyboard shortcuts working)?

Question

I followed this advice: Windows 7: How to disable auto-maximize/resize window (aero-snap) when near screen edge?

But it also turns off the feature where pressing WinKey + Left/Right Arrow, fit the windows to half of the screen on the direction of the arrow key.

Is there a way to control them independently?

Answer 1

I have looked for this in the past, and I do not believe there is a way to do this in Windows itself. However, there is a third-party alternative. First, disable the aero snap as per the link in your question. Then, using WindowsPad (a special AutoHotkey script setup) you can restore moving windows between screens in a multi-monitor setup, use left/right snapping, and more (top, bottom, middle and corner snapping). By default, WindowsPad uses Win + NumPad keys (because of the added functionality) but you can add in aero-snap-like arrow key functionality by adding the following to the [Hotkeys] section of the WindowsPad.ini file:

#+Left = WindowScreenMove, Next
#+Right = WindowScreenMove, Prev
#Left = WPM, -1,  0,  0.5, 1.0
#Right = WPM, +1,  0,  0.5, 1.0
#Up = MaximizeToggle
#Down = Restore

Unfortunately, you do lose the ability to snap to 50% of the screen and then restore to the original position (since it is actually resizing the window, not using aero snap). But so far, that is the only downside I have found.

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Demo of WindowsPad's corner- and bottom-snap features:

Answer 2

You can try my windows tool collection. The following are hot keys to move windows:

Win+Array: Move the active window based on other visible windows. This allows for fast window alignment.
Shift+Win+Array: Move the left-up corner of the active window.
Alt+Win+Array: Move the right-bottom corner of the active window.
Ctrl+Win+Array: Dock the active window
Alt+F9: Minimize the active window
Alt+F10: Toggle maximize the active window

Currently you can only get the tool by Mercurial