MikeHawthorne

Essential Member
Microsoft Community Contributor
Joined
May 25, 2009
Messages
6,637
Hi

I posted about having issues doing a clean install on my old computer, that I'm going to pass on to my nephew.
Neemobeer and nmsuk gave me some help getting around the issue with running the install do to a formatting conflict.

Once I got past that the install went smoothly and Windows opened up looking normal.
The only problem was that I found that I couldn't change the computer to the correct resolution because even though I had an active cursor I could't open anything.
Or more correctly things only opened up on the taskbar.

I could mouse over and see the thumbnails but I couldn't get them to expand.
I rebooted and came back to a black screen with an active cursor.

So I did the install all over again.

Same result.

And again, same result.

So I decided to migrate the Windows install from my new computer to the old one.
I started over and made a System Image of my C:\ drive on my new Falcon NW computer with the new Geforce RTX 2080 video card.
I checked to see that the video drivers were compatible with both that and the Geforce GTX 680 in my old computer.

So I put the System Image on a flash drive, booted my old computer from my recovery drive, and copied it to the old PC.

It booted and when I restarted it it loaded to the desktop not a black screen.
But when I tried to open software it opened on the taskbar but not in the Window, I had made some progress, everything else seemed to work, and it would restart.

I became convinced it was because I had migrated the new system with the resolution set to 3440 by 1440, so I went back to my new computer and changed the resolution to 1920 by 1080 and created a new System Image file. And did the whole process over again.

Windows loaded at the correct resolution, finally, but when I opened stuff it still only opened on the task bar.
Everything else looked great.

I couldn't imagine what would cause the the same problem through 5 or 6 re-installs and clean installations.
I decide to look online again, I had asked here, and I had searched but now I had only one problem so I looked for "Cant maximize programs from Taskbar.

After a few minutes of looking through posts I found one that said, I can't maximize my programs that are on my taskbar" or something like that.
I opened it not expecting much help but I was desperate.

The poster went into detail and it sounded just like the problem I was having.

I scrolled down looking for a miracle!

There was an answer, all it said was...

"Press the Windows key, and the "P" key at the same time and select the correct Window."

I didn't know what the guy was talking about but I moved over to my old computer and did that.
Icons appeared in the upper right hand corner that gave several options like PC Screen only, etc.

I picked one and suddenly my whole desktop appeared.

I never know that you could change these settings like that, but after a whole day of work and 5 or 6 installs the computer is working perfectly.

I probably could have done this the first time I had Windows installed and then just changed the resolution etc once it was working.

Oh well, live and learn.

Here's my last question on this...

Why did it install Windows in a mode that displayed a screen that I wasn't seeing.
I've installed Windows many times and I've never seen this, but this time it did the same thing even when I copied the OS desktop and all from my new computer.

Mike
 


Last edited:
I knew of windows + P but never did I think it would solve your issue. How odd but good to know you have it fixed.
 


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