Looking for a tip or workaround re: full screen monitor switching

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by David April, Jan 19, 2011.

  1. David April

    David April Bit poster

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    Hi all -

    When I come in to work, I plug in a second monitor to my MacBook. I might have Parallels already running in full screen mode on my MacBook and when the new monitor is connected, the Parallels window always come uo on the external monitor. So I have to switch to window mode, drag to the other screen, switch to full screen. It works, but it takes longer than it needs to do the switching operations.

    Is there a faster way to do this? Or is there a way to say "always use this screen for this virtual machine"?

    If not, can this be added as a change request?

    Dave
     
  2. dsa157

    dsa157 Bit poster

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    bump this message...
     
  3. David April

    David April Bit poster

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    bumping again
     
  4. lnemo

    lnemo Hunter

    Messages:
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    Ummm, I think the Parallels' window simply always appears on the Mac OS primary window (where the menu bar is). When connecting the external monitor, the default Mac OS X setting is that the primary window goes to the external monitor.

    If I am right with this, you could change it within the Mac OS X monitor settings. In the 'arrange' tab you have to rectangles with the external monitor connected. One represents the external monitor, one represents the internal laptop monitor.

    You can rearrange the position of the two monitors by dragging the rectangles around with your mouse. One of them contains a small horizontal bar on the top - that's the menu bar. By dragging that bar from the external to the internal monitor rectangle you define that monitor to be the primary. All new programs open their windows here, and I hope that solves your problem too.


    Regards
    Chris.
     
  5. David April

    David April Bit poster

    Messages:
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    Thanks for the reply Chris.

    Your suggestion won't work for me, however, because I want to use parallels in full screen mode, so I want to have my OSX toolbar visible on the attached monitor since all of my mac side apps will be running on that screen. Parallels will be running on my Macbook screen.

    Again, if there is no way to currently do this, I'd like to suggest a change request for a "quick swap" button or menu item in parallels that would just move the app window to the other monitor without the need for the intermediate mode swapping.

    Dave
     
  6. lnemo

    lnemo Hunter

    Messages:
    114
    Hi Dave,

    got it now ... hmmm ... check the Mac App Store. Maybe the 'Window catcher' tool by Mark Verstraete can help you. It automatically sends windows appearing in a certain location to a target location that can even be your second screen.

    Regards
    Chris.
     

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