Hi there,

I'm using DisplayFusion to improve my experience with Nvidia Surround multiple monitors. DF successfully splits the taskbar across my three screens and lets me maximize windows to individual monitors - excellent.

However, it has some... uh, undesirable behaviours.

If anything goes full-screen (a game) or blanks the monitors temporarily (sleep mode, or even more annoyingly, a user account control elevation prompt) all the windows that are currently "maximized" to each monitor will FLIP OUT, twitch around the entire screen, and then eventually maximize across all three monitors. I have to drag the window off the top of the screen and back to make it re-fit to the screen.

About one in ten times this happens, the taskbar also flips out and the Windows taskbar (as opposed to the DisplayFusion secondary taskbars) MOVES TO THE TOP OF THE SCREEN?! This happens even if "lock the taskbar" is checked!

Any ideas?

The Nvidia multiple-monitor management features are turned off so it's probably not a conflict with that...

I'm having the same issue. The taskbar starts doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Suddenly moves to the top after opening a program, then suddenly fills the left half of the screen when opening the browser. If it helps i'm running the Steam version, windows 7, nvidia surround. I think my issues started after nvidia's last driver update.

Have you fixed it so there is multi monitor support in Nvidia Surround for Wall Papers?

I am having the same issue, however mine does not switch back to the correct spot.

My troubleshooting log shows 0 "Full Screen Applications".

I am able to replicate the issue consistently if I lock my computer and log back in (even if nothing is running).

I also have the same issue as outline here: http://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/issue-with-multi-monitor-taskbars-and-nvidia-surround-gaming/?ID=5bfd28d2-6ac6-43f4-b6b8-75c42cbab499#1

Thank you for looking into this problem. Display Fusion is my all time favorite application. It has always been on the cutting edge and 5.1.1 is giving us features that even nVidia has yet to implement in their software. Keep up the amazing work guys!!!

The main issue I have is that Display Fusion does not take into consideration Bezel correction. So my start menu is hidden between the bezels and the clock is not seen on the left and center monitor.

So any news??

I'm REALLY hoping this gets fixed soon, because it was the primary reason I refused to update my nVidia drivers for almost a month and a half, and then it almost made me consider replacing my old pair of 550 TI's with an ATI setup, instead of getting the 770 I have now. I've been having this issue daily for more than two months now, and every once in a while, I just have to close DisplayFusion completely, because it's just driving me insane. As much as I love having the individual taskbars, having them jumping all over my screens, including taking up ALL of my screen space when they go on the sides, just makes using my computer uncomfortable. And since almost every game I play now needs to go fullscreen, that means once I'm done gaming, I have to wait 30 seconds to a minute for the taskbars to settle down wherever they decide to stop, then I have to move them to the BOTTOM where they're supposed to be, then I have to fix everything on my Desktop that they messed up.

It's been a month since you've updated us on anything, and so far, it's just getting worse with every passing day. I really do love the taskbars, and the Wallpaper fix, but I'm starting to miss the simplicity of only having two screens.

Just wanted to post here and let you know that I am probably one of the few users who are taking the time to post and say that I also have this problem.

I also have this issue

I am STILL Actively suffering from this issue. It's actually getting to the point where attemption to alt-tab mid-game, such as while changing maps in BF4, is a potentially dangerous act, and can end up with serious issues. I can only hope that a solution is already in the works, or that nVidia has finally admitted that their software is getting buggy.

Quick Edit: Forgot to mention that even going AFK for a couple minutes and letting the SCREEN SAVER come up causes this. Bringing my computer out of sleep causes this. And as of the newest nVidia update, Netflix in Google Chrome can't fullscreen anymore, it just goes black on one screen, and I get nothing but the audio.

Same here. Those taskbars just randomly hide or change their positions.
http://i.imgur.com/wvZOzB4.jpg

The main taskbar will randomly move to the top of the screen and then it usually won't take long until the other taskbars go crazy (they are set to be at the bottom, having them on "automatic" just makes it worse).

I can never tell what exactly I did to cause it.
But I found one way to reproduce it reliably...ish.
Whenever I use IrfanView to view some images in fullscreen it'll almost always start acting up. I think it's also important that the images are not smaller than the desktop resolution.

But IrfanViews fullscreen isn't working properly anyway while surround is enabled (even without DisplayFusion). It just doesn't work correctly as some stupid Nvidia driver broke it months ago.

Oh, and what is my start menu doing there? As long as the monitor is split it will always open there.
I already tried reinstalling without keeping any settings but it always happens. Windows itself was also just installed.


Don't expect an answer at all. Just go over to the Nvidia Surround forum. It's filled with problems and complaints and Nvidia doesn't do jack.
Well, technically they are doing something... every few driver releases surround gets a bit more broken.

IrfanView as stated above doesn't work properly anymore.
Windows will always maximize across all screens, no matter if it's enabled or disabled.
Media Player Classic crashes when trying to play videos.
Ragnarok Online crashes.

All those problems only happen when surround is enabled and they started several "WHQL" driver releases ago. So it's definitely a driver problem. But Nvidia just ignores it. Like they ignore you.

There is one thing they did though. We asked for an easy way to switch between surround and "normal" for years, as using surround for work just sucks. But switching between them is a huge pain.
So they actually added some hotkeys months ago. Too bad they don't work properly. But did Nvidia change anything or at least respond to the problems? Of course not.

*edit*
Maybe I should mention that even before I used DisplayFusion my taskbar would move itself sometimes to the top or right. But that happened way more rarely. Like once a week. But with DisplayFusion it's more like a dozen times a day.

Hi all to keep this thread going, i have recently upgraded to triple screen from my dual screen layout, im having all the symptoms that you guys are describing, i have trawled the internet for ways to fix this to no avail, like another user has stated its dangerous to alt+tab in a game, my pc wont work with sleep or standby and steam will overlay everything and maximising screens and minimising is pretty much playing russian roulette.
I loved display fusion on my dual screen setup and how simple it all was and to fault, however nvidia and display fusion issue here is driving me absoluely nuts. My pc isnt user friendly to use with the complete dancing windows toolbar and theres nothing i can do to stop it. im just sat in an unhappy compromise of living with the constant dancing and crashing. Which may i add is not what you expect when you fork out to build a decent rig for triple screena nd get let down by someone as big as nvidia. No faults with DF as ive been using the program happily for months i just really hope you guys can sort this your end so i can actually sit down and enjoy my PC and how i intended it to.

Regards
Seb

I'm having one of the issues listed in this thread in Windows 8.1 64Bit MCE. The taskbar moving on it own. Even when locked, it will move to the top of the screen. I've only has this program for a week, and can't count how many times I've had the taskbar move to the top, and had to move it back to the botttom.

Made a account just to throw my hat into the ring. I am having many of the issues listed on this thread. I've got Win 8.1 and NVidia and triple monitors. A few days ago I found displayfusion could fix maximizing issues and help get a center screen taskbar (NVidias option only works for like a hour). Displayfusion worked awesome, that is until I tried going full-screen with anything that's not flash based. Also, Alt-Tabbing from a game is a no go. If I do (or something else causes a switch to desktop) most of the time it means the game will crash and I'll need to force a PC restart. Each time the task manger is inaccessible. The crashed app's permanently on the forefront.

Also, the Multi monitor taskbars they are awesome but, I wish I could get rid of em' and just have the center screen taskbar. On the left and right screen, when gaming, they aren't visible but still clickable. If the mouse in say a FPS invisibly (in the background) moves up there, when I click to shoot the game switches to the desktop. And a switch usually results in a app crash. Then a reboot is necessary.

After any fullscreen activity the taskbar decides its new home is the top of the screen, very annoying. On a brighter note, found that with a small tweak my Rainmeter setup is cooler looking with top bar.

Those are the things that are driving me crazy that I can't ignore.

not a major issue but wanted to say (not even sure its a DF issue): The Start button sometimes gets stuck in the foreground, just on top of anything. Games, netflix, ect A floating Win 8 icon in the corner like a water mark, distracting. But oddly not annoying.

Edit: New issue! I was trying to live with the top taskbar till it gets fixed but now on the side screens the top of each window is gone. Except the DF button thankfully. Pic attached.

Well, I guess they can't sort it out without Nvidias help and Nvidia simply doesn't give a damn.
So yeah, seems like I can uninstall it now. The only other reason to keep it would be to fix the "always maximizes across all monitors issue" but then all windows will also go behind the taskbar (yet another Surround problem it seems).

I'm having this issue too. GTX770, NVidia Surround, 3 monitors. NVidia driver version 331.82 (though I remember it happened on others too).

DisplayFusion is configured to split the continuous 5760x1080 into 3 regions.

Issue is reproducible most of the time by full-screen applications, and at the moment it seems even locking the screen. The issue stopped for a while after I ran Visual Studio 2010. After I closed it the taskbar jumped to the top again when I went onto the "Resolutions" tab of the NVidia settings application.

My first guess was that it could be something to do with the display driver switching mode or resolutions. The screen does flash black when I lock the screen or run full-screen programs. But I wrote a simple C# program to output the resolution and bpp of the screen if these change, and none of these seem to change when the taskbar jumps around or the screen is locked.

I am able to pin the two DisplayFusion taskbars to the bottom by right clicking -> "Multi-Monitor Taskbar" -> "Position" -> "Bottom". However, the taskbar which is controlled by Windows is unaffected by this and still jumps to the top of the screen.

There is also an "invisible" taskbar across the top of the screen on the two extra monitors (where the DF taskbar is pinned to the bottom- see the attached image), which hides half of the top row of icons (after I loaded my default icon profile- they were messed up before). The cursor also won't move past this when dragging a window to the top of the screen.

It's not totally un-usable, but it is pretty annoying having to move the Windows-controlled taskbar back to the bottom, and re-load my icon profile every time I drop back to the desktop. Hope you can get an idea of what's causing this.

Thanks Keith, that seems to have sorted it. I couldn't seem to crash the NVidia control panel either which is good (though I did do a restart after I renamed the nvsmartmaxapp files).

It works! OH BLESSED SWEET JESUS IT WORKS!

The moving taskbar bug has been one of my biggest pet peeves for months. Thanks Keith you just made my day!

This worked for me also. And so far no issues with NVidia Control Panel. Thanks

You've just earned yourself a purchase!

I was having this very problem and was delighted when I came across this thread, my problems also been solved by following Keith's advice. I appreciate the level of support that's being offered here, especially seens as its probably a very small percentage of the people that use DisplayFusion that are having this problem!

I was going to wait until the trial was up but I'll definitely be purchasing now - thanks and keep up the good work!

Hey, I was just wondering if Nvidia ever responded to you and/or if you're working on a way to fully toggle Nvidia Surround. There was a time when Monitor Profile switching worked as a Surround toggle by coincidence, but sadly Nvidia changed their drivers and messed it all up
Now it is possible to toggle surround using Nvidias shortcut keys (and for DisplayFusion to set my wallpaper and icons by detecting a surround profile). However Nvidias Shortcut keys do not work with bezel corrected resolutions. Also, to disable Surround I have to use the Nvidia shortcut and then a monitor profile shortcut because turning off surround turns off two of my monitors for some reason.
Ideally I would be able to use a key shortcut to enable surround with bezel corrected resolution and at the same time DisplayFusion would change to an appropriate wallpaper and icon profile.
Is any of this possible without communication with Nvidia? They seem to have little to no care for Surround users and it's bloody annoying.
I really appreciate the work you guys do on DisplayFusion and understand if this isn't possible, just having some up to date information would be nice

In an effort to help resolve this issue for others who might stumble upon this thread I would like to offer my own success through the following means.

(Preface)
After having switched from my 3 port DisplayPort MST hub to a 2 DVI 1 HDMI connection due to NVIDIA not supporting Surround over MST (Despite this working golden on my last gen AMD card w/ Catalyst drivers HELLO SUPPORT!)

I began experiencing issues where anything maximized would glitch out partially across 2 of 3 monitors and then would have to be killed through task manager.

I quickly realized that if I killed NVIDIA's "nvsmartmaxapp" Service which under taskman is descried as "NVIDIA Smart Maximize Helper Host service", that any program maximized would be successfully spanned with no crash.

After doing some searching I found others who had resolved this issue through the same resolution and received no resolution to correct the glitch by NVIDIA (HELLO NO SUPPORT) despite being contacted by both users on the Geforce forums and DisplayFusion(Aftermarket MultiMonitor Solution) forums.

In the end the following was found to be the simplest solution.

(Solution)

Open "C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Display" Where C: is whatever Directory Windows' root is.

Rename nvsmartmaxapp.exe to OLDnvsmartmaxapp.exe
Rename nvsmartmaxapp64.exe to OLDnvsmartmaxapp64.exe

Immediately reboot and voila.

(Conclusion)

NVIDIA needs to do a better job of supporting their advertised features.
They love to demo multi-monitor features but then rely on communities such as DisplayFusion to do the legwork to find viable hotfixes to their own software glitches and shortcomings.
They also need better support of advertised tech such as MST Hubs where their competition already has a foothold.

(Resources)

http://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/Post/?Topic=48d932e3-98e0-4a34-be02-8ced047a9e19
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/610952/surround-issues-with-maximising-windows/?offset=21#4303074

First, some history. I used to have a mult-monitor setup, but haven't for a couple of years. I bought DisplayFusion in 2012 planning on eventually getting multi-monitor again, in what I thought would be a few months. Its now late-2014, and I'm just now going to be implementing Nvidia 3D Vision surround on 3 matching ASUS 27" monitors, using a combination of DisplayPort and DVI outputs from my Nvidia 660 Ti card. I'm also running Windows 8.1 x64.

Does this thread have the most recent information on this setup with DisplayFusion? Is this a recommended setup with current Nvidia drivers or not? If not is there a certain level of driver that things work well with? There has been no activity in these types of threads from DisplayFusion support for months so I assume there is no new news on integration with Nvidia Control Panel and DisplayFusion?

With the age of this issue, I would hope there would be some type of official workaround procedure since it seems the two products aren't completely compatible and may never be.

Thanks for the summary. Is this something that will have to be done every time a new driver is loaded?

Hi Matt, regarding your question, I believe the new DisplayFusion installer detects these NVidia processes and disables them. I've had no issues with this problem since that feature was added (I do get updates from the beta channel, mind.)

I currently have a setup with a NVidia 770 card, 3 monitors, and recent NVidia drivers (344.48 ). I've had a pretty great experience with this setup, though I can't I can't comment on the 3D vision bit as my monitors don't support it. I'd guess you'd only be using it for gaming etc though so it wouldn't be an issue.

I'm assuming that you will be using VG278's for your monitors, and going on that assumption your setup is very similar to my own (with the exception of the 660 Ti. I have a feeling you are going to be somewhat disappointed in 3D Surround in this setup). You may potentially run into issues with Surround if you don't use the correct type of Displayport adapter, but that isn't a DisplayFusion issue.

DF works well with this type of environment, and the most recent Nvidia drivers work just fine (unless you want working WIN + P functionality...then you have to go WAY back on your drivers). You will not have to continuously muck around with Nvidia system files (nvsmartmaxapp, etc.)....Displayfusion now takes care of that for you automatically. Since this functionality has been integrated I have not once seen any of the issues outlined in the first post, though prior to that things like the taskbar moving itself happened regularly.

As for integration in Nvidia Control Panel the answer is simple...there is none. Some of the functions of control panel have been replicated in DF settings, but you will continue to need access to both.

Thanks guys, yes I am using the ASUS VG278, and I will most likely be upgrading my card when they work the kinks out of the Maxwell cards and when they come out with the 8GB option. I am going to try to avoid SLI because that just adds more cost and another layer of frustration.

I got everything setup yesterday, and I don't have the "3D compatible" DP adapter so that monitor is locked at 60fps. I'm going to order the correct one although it is highly unlikely I will be doing much with a 660Ti and 3D Surround, but I'll be ready later.

I have DF loaded successfully and still playing with things but the setup seems to be solid besides the known issues.

I am going to be doing some 3D movie/picture/camcorder editing/viewing on this rig so gaming isn't the only consideration. That's why I pulled the trigger on an "inferior" 1080p TN panel setup now. The price was right and there is no good path with 3D at any reasonable cost or performance higher than this that I see. If you get the new ASUS 1440p 3D panels, you are pushing well over 4K resolution in number of pixels, and paying a lot more.

Actually I bought 2 of the panels from Amazon Warehouse at a significant discount and they seem to be basically brand new, not even the bezel protection was off of them.

This still pertient as as nvidia update come more often requireing manual removal of the files. But ever nvidia upadate i forget about the problem google and find this post again get old.

Thanks to Keith for getting the answer.

I know this is an old thread, but I keep having this problem, so I guess that this was not implememted in the program?
Or is there something I should do after a GFX driver update? (beside renamimg thise nVidia folders?

Edit, I'm using Windows 10 Pro.

I have never removed those files, I just found this solution as I have this problem on both my pc's (both with multi screen setup).

I asked as I have had this problem for a long time in Windows 10, but I have used DisplayFusion for even longer, and as I read that this should have been implemented years ago, but I still have the problem, I thought it was not implement or not working, or maybe I should do something in DisplayFusion, but now you are telling me that this should already work automatically?

This file is from my "Every Day PC", if you want the file from my other PC, just let me know.

The file attached from my ”Every Day PC” has this problem, and the file attached to this answer, is from my Sim-Race-PC, so now you have both.

Did you find anything wrong in the first file?

Thank you Keith.

On my "every day PC" I don't have Nvidia Surround enabled, that's right, but I still have the issue, that my locked taskbar all of a sudden moves to the top of my 3 monitors, and I have to unlock them, move them back to the bottom, and lock them again.
I don't know what makes them move.
It just happens sometimes, and it did a few days ago, and I vent on Google to search for a solution, and found this old thread.

I will try that on my Sim Rig, thank you.

Let’s leave it here, as I have no clue of what is triggering it on this pc, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.
I even had the thought that is had to be something that happened when both pc's was turned on, and on the same network, but that's not the case I believe.

But I have another issue with my wallpaper, which I think I'll make a new thread about.

Thanks for your help.

Hello Keith et al,

Obviously I am having this issue since I found this forum post.

I just checked the Nvidia folder today remotely and notice I have the attached.

I am going to try to rename and reboot this evening to see if that helps, but it appears DF is not automatically REMOVING these possibly after an nvidia driver update.

Windows 10 Pro x64, nvidia surround on 3x24" Dell LCD 1920x1200. I am not at the computer so do not know the nvidia driver version, DF version, or troubleshooting info but can get that info this evening.

Thanks

Edit: I will also try this:
If you disable the 'General: Don't Check nVidia Processes' option in the Settings > Advanced Settings window, then restart DisplayFusion, it should prompt you to disable the NVIDIA Helpers. Choose yes on that dialog, then reboot the machine and you should be all set.

Thanks.

Hi Keith,

So far so good. DF even asked to remove the files after an nvidia update today. And the Windows taskbar has not moved for two days.

Seems issue is resolve.

Thank you for your wonderful program and hard work.