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I have 3 monitors attached to my 8800GTS, which can only use 2 at a time. I use 3 different setups:

  • single screen (1)
  • dual screen (1+2)
  • single screen + TV out (1+3)

having to click screen resolution and select different screens etc is a bit of a pain, and to get round this I used to have an autohotkey script that opened up the NVIDIA control panel and select a different profile. However in W7, for some reason everytime I select a new profile it seems to mess up all the settings/not work at all.

I was wondering - does windows7 have any built in commands for selecting monitor 1+2, or 1+3 and just 1?

I'd love to have 3 shortcuts on my start menu like I used to!

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3
  • I have a similar problem, but using an ATI card. This question is somewhat old, I wonder if you've resolved it yet? Neither posted answer works for me.
    – McPherrinM
    Feb 21, 2010 at 21:09
  • Sorry but no one really offered a working solution that didn't involve paying for software. I suggest you try using autohotkey, best of luck, and please let me know if you find a better solution!
    – falter
    Feb 27, 2010 at 10:04
  • 1
    Are you SURE Win+P doesn't work for you? That was my assumption at first, but I realized if I re-arranged which ports each of my 3 displays was plugged into I could get the exact setup your describing. Computer only = Monitor 1, Extend = Monitor 1 + Monitor 2, Projector Only = Monitor 3 + Monitor 2.
    – Justin Buser
    Aug 31, 2012 at 3:59

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
17

Press Win + P and you get the following super easy way to switch your monitor setup:

alt text

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  • 6
    This doesn't really work for me, as it is only useful if you have 2 screens - I have 3, and sadly it doesn't give any other options
    – falter
    Oct 5, 2009 at 9:32
  • I was about to downvote this, but after reading Justin Buser's comment I noticted it actually works with 3 screens, too. Now I use Duplicate to watch something on TV and switch to Projector only to extend the screen to my 2nd monitor.
    – Zyumar
    Apr 16, 2014 at 20:33
  • @falter I realize this is an old thread, but I just found this thread and this popup selection does work with 3 screens. I use 3 displays; 1=Primary monitor, 2=Second monitor, 3=Projector. "Computer only" shows on 1 only. "Duplicate" shows on 1 and 3. "Extend" shows on 1 and 2. "Projector only" shows on 3 only. Screen resolutions change appropriately between configurations. This is a great time saver for me. I am on Win 7 Pro SP1.
    – CBRF23
    May 27, 2015 at 14:01
  • It also makes all your windows no longer maximized, even if they were and are on the same monitor. This is extremely annoying.
    – still_dreaming_1
    Jun 15, 2015 at 16:39
11

I had downloaded Ultramon trial for this exact thing but found I only wanted this specific function for now. So I found this program on sourceforge called MonitorSwitcher.

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4

You can define several profiles with UltraMon.

alt text

It supports scripting and also hotkeys for many features, including applying the profiles:

Hotkeys
Various hotkeys are available:

  • Move window to next/previous or primary monitor
  • Maximize window to monitor or desktop
  • Center mouse on primary monitor
  • Move mouse to next/previous monitor
  • Disable or enable secondary monitors
  • Launch screen saver
  • Run application or script
  • Launch UltraMon shortcut
  • Apply display profile
  • Lock mouse to active window or primary monitor
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  • 1
    At least for me, on an ATI card with Windows 7, I can't enable my third monitor using Ultramon. It only shows the first two displays in its configuration box.
    – McPherrinM
    Feb 21, 2010 at 21:05
  • And in Windows 8 Ultramon can't mirror 2 monitors and extend a third.
    – Wiliam
    Jan 7, 2014 at 23:30
  • At least according to their website: "UltraMon provides a custom Display Settings applet with support for configuring more than 10 monitors." I Don't know the details of how that works or what the limitations are.
    – still_dreaming_1
    Jun 15, 2015 at 16:51

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