Remote Desktop remembering multiple monitor layout Windows 10

Question

I am using Microsoft Hyper-V to host my "virtual desktop" machine which is running Windows 10 Enterprise. I use four monitors, so when I connect, I use the /multimon switch.

It used to be that when I would Remote Desktop in to my virtual Windows 10 machine, I could move the applications to the window where I wanted them. If I was disconnected from the Remote Desktop session or if I signed in to another physical computer with four monitors, the applications would open in the window where they had previously been open. A couple of months ago, an update occurred on Windows 10. After that update, any time my session is disconnected or if I sign in from another physical computer with four monitors, all my applications move to a single monitor and I have to manually move them to the screen where I want them.

Does anyone know of a way to have the applications stay on the monitor where they are running when re-connecting?

Thanks,

Brett Gibson

Answer 1

Brett,

I don't know if you've found a solution as of yet, but I finally stumbled across one that fixed my issue that is almost identical to yours.

It turns out that one of the patches depreciates the use of the XDDM display driver in favor of the WDDM display driver and that causes this problem. In my case, I had a user remotely connecting to an office desktop from a desktop at their home, and every time they would reconnect, all their open apps would migrate over to a single monitor. They'd move them back and the next time they'd disconnect and reconnect the same thing would happen.

The solution is to modify the local group policy on the REMOTE machine (the one you are using RDP to connect to). This worked perfectly for me on a Windows 10 computer, so I'm assuming this will work on your Windows 10 VM, as well.

In [Local Group Policy Editor->Local Computer Policy->Administrative Templates->Windows Components->Remote Desktop Services->Remote Desktop Session Host->Remote Session Enviroment], set the Policy [Use WDDM graphics display driver for Remote Desktop Connections] to Disabled.

Here's a link to the full article where I found the fix:
https://superuser.com/questions/1489197/remote-desktop-forgets-multi-monitor-configuration

I hope that helps you out, if you haven't found this on your own already!

Answer 2

Hi,
1.Have you tried to remove the patches which resulted in this behavior?

2.Kindly check if the "keep changes" has been enabled under Setting.

• Select Start > Settings > System > Display. Your PC should automatically detect your monitors and show your desktop. If you don't see the monitors, select Detect.
• In the Multiple displays section, select an option from the list to determine how your desktop will display across your screens.
• Once you've selected what you see on your displays, select Keep changes.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4340331/windows-10-set-up-dual-monitors

Thanks,
Jenny

Answer 3

I would have no way of knowing now which patch made the change.

When it comes to the Multiple Display settings that you mention, I assume you are talking about the physical client machine and not the virtual machine. When I go to the Multiple Display section, all monitors are listed and there is no options to Keep Changes.

Brett