Large resolution / dual head?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Oliver Sturm
  • Start date Start date
O

Oliver Sturm

Hey,

I usually leave my desktop system running and I'd like to use remote
desktop connection to access it from my laptop. Now the thing is that my
desktop system runs with two monitors, both configured to 1600x1200, while
on the laptop there's only one screen which I don't always use at that high
a resolution.

Now here's my problem: Every time I connect to the desktop remotely, the
complete "configuration" of the desktop is destroyed, all windows are
pushed into the upper left corner and resized, desktop sidebar undocks
itself from the right monitor and appears on the left, icons gather in the
upper left part of the left screen and so on... all because it doesn't seem
to be possible to configure the remote desktop to simply put a larger image
into a smaller window, using scroll bars.

Is there any solution to this? I have never seen this, but I hear that the
same feature is used for remote support... so after the remote supporter
has left, the poor user has to reconfigure his complete desktop? I'm not
quite prepared to believe this just yet... please tell me there's some
setting I'm missing!


Oliver Sturm
 
I usually leave my desktop system running and I'd like to use remote
desktop connection to access it from my laptop. Now the thing is that my
desktop system runs with two monitors, both configured to 1600x1200, while
on the laptop there's only one screen which I don't always use at that high
a resolution.

Now here's my problem: Every time I connect to the desktop remotely, the
complete "configuration" of the desktop is destroyed, all windows are
pushed into the upper left corner and resized, desktop sidebar undocks
itself from the right monitor and appears on the left, icons gather in the
upper left part of the left screen and so on... all because it doesn't seem
to be possible to configure the remote desktop to simply put a larger image
into a smaller window, using scroll bars.
Click to expand...

Is there nobody here who can answer that question? Or do I need to rephrase
it? Using Remote Desktop every now and then, I really can't understand how
people do it... the only (theoretical) way seems to be to always make sure
you use the same resolution on the client as you do on the server (meaning
the machine you log on to), but then how would you do that? What's more,
even when using the multi-screen system as the client, there's no way to
adjust the screen size for the connection to be large enough to log onto
another multi-screen machine without cluttering the desktop.

No info on this at all?


Oliver Sturm
 
Oliver said:
Is there nobody here who can answer that question? Or do I need to
rephrase it? Using Remote Desktop every now and then, I really can't
understand how people do it... the only (theoretical) way seems to be
to always make sure you use the same resolution on the client as you
do on the server (meaning the machine you log on to), but then how
would you do that? What's more, even when using the multi-screen
system as the client, there's no way to adjust the screen size for
the connection to be large enough to log onto another multi-screen
machine without cluttering the desktop.

No info on this at all?
Click to expand...

What you describe is normal and should be expected.

Get a free third party application to remember the icon positions at each
resolution.
 
What you describe is normal and should be expected.
Click to expand...

No, I don't expect that. I've never seen a similar behaviour with any other
remote desktop software like PC Anywhere, VNC or whatever.
Get a free third party application to remember the icon positions at each
resolution.
Click to expand...

I don't think you really understood the problem. What I'm saying is this:

- I have my desktop system running. Windows are open and arranged somehow
over the large space of a dual head setup. When leaving the system, I
simply switch off the screen.
- I log on from the laptop into that same running session. All windows,
icons, docked bars, ... you name it, changes position and size. Same
behaviour, actually, as if I had changed the 3200x1200 resolution on the
desktop down to 1024x768 or similar. Working in that setup is of course
more than awkward, with the resolution reduced that drastically and all
the apps configured to run at a much larger resolution... not enough
space for all the columns in mailer and news reader, vs.net doesn't fit
in the screen, more or less, ...
- Getting back to the desktop system, I spend 20 minutes rearranging
windows, icons, finding my recycle bin, ...

Every remote desktop system I have ever seen simply offers the options to
map a larger size remote desktop into a smaller local window. Of course I
have to use the scrollbars to see parts of the remote desktop, but at least
I can work with it as if sitting in front and I don't disturb the desktop
in itself. PC Anywhere even offers the option to scale a larger resolution
so that it fits into a smaller window.

I was mentioning the topic of remote support, because I thought that while
to me using that feature just for myself it's a mere nuisance, it's rather
unusable in remote support, isn't it? As a supporter, I'd want to be
unintrusive and solve problems remotely, not introduce new ones because the
user doesn't find his windows after I have left because they are suddenly
arranged one behind the other.


Oliver Sturm
 
Oliver said:
No, I don't expect that. I've never seen a similar behaviour with any
other remote desktop software like PC Anywhere, VNC or whatever.


I don't think you really understood the problem. What I'm saying is
this:

- I have my desktop system running. Windows are open and arranged
somehow over the large space of a dual head setup. When leaving
the system, I simply switch off the screen.
- I log on from the laptop into that same running session. All
windows, icons, docked bars, ... you name it, changes position and
size. Same behaviour, actually, as if I had changed the 3200x1200
resolution on the desktop down to 1024x768 or similar. Working in
that setup is of course more than awkward, with the resolution
reduced that drastically and all the apps configured to run at a
much larger resolution... not enough space for all the columns in
mailer and news reader, vs.net doesn't fit in the screen, more or
less, ... - Getting back to the desktop system, I spend 20 minutes
rearranging windows, icons, finding my recycle bin, ...

Every remote desktop system I have ever seen simply offers the
options to map a larger size remote desktop into a smaller local
window. Of course I have to use the scrollbars to see parts of the
remote desktop, but at least I can work with it as if sitting in
front and I don't disturb the desktop in itself. PC Anywhere even
offers the option to scale a larger resolution so that it fits into a
smaller window.

I was mentioning the topic of remote support, because I thought that
while to me using that feature just for myself it's a mere nuisance,
it's rather unusable in remote support, isn't it? As a supporter, I'd
want to be unintrusive and solve problems remotely, not introduce new
ones because the user doesn't find his windows after I have left
because they are suddenly arranged one behind the other.
Click to expand...

You don't understand my answer.. Let me clarify:

It is expected with Windows Remote Desktop. Yes - VNC and other remote
desktop applications may not do this, Remote Desktop does.

I have several systems with Dual and up setups - it happens every time.
Some video card manufacturers provide icon/layout remembering. Otherwise
you need to get a third party application to remember the icon/layout and
reset it for you.

As for Remote Assistance (not remote Desktop) it does not resize the remote
desktop to your resolution, leaving it at the resolution that the remote
user has it - but NOT dual monitor.. Only one of the screens will be seen
in the remote console.
 
It is expected with Windows Remote Desktop. Yes - VNC and other remote
desktop applications may not do this, Remote Desktop does.
Click to expand...

Ok. I still don't understand how one can say that a most undesirable
behaviour like this is to be expected (by me, the user, after all, not by
the development team), but that may be because English is not my first
language. What you mean to say is that it behaves as designed, but it's
still different from what any normal user would _expect_ to happen.

Actually I don't see how that functionality would be at all usable behaving
that way... the only thing that comes to mind is a situation where the
remote desktop is used by users as the sole means of accessing their
accounts. Otherwise it's just immature, isn't it?
As for Remote Assistance (not remote Desktop) it does not resize the remote
desktop to your resolution, leaving it at the resolution that the remote
user has it - but NOT dual monitor.. Only one of the screens will be seen
in the remote console.
Click to expand...

So that's something at least.

Thanks for replying.


Oliver Sturm
 
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