Windows 7 span mode?
Will windows 7 have span mode... vista let me down... =/My WHS build: Processor = AMD 3600 X2 ~ 1.9GHz
January 18th, 2009 10:44am

Are you talking about Multiple Monitors?Win7 makes using multiple monitors easy.I attached a second monitor after installing Win7.Went to Personalize/Display/Change Display Settings.You will see both monitors displayed, select monitor number 2 and select Extend these displays in the Multiple Displays drop down menu.If you do not see the second monitor displayed, clcik the Detect Button.Hope this helps. Ronnie Vernon MVP
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January 18th, 2009 11:14am

Thanks for the reply.That is not what im talking about unfortinatly. What i am talking about is having all one resolution instead of having two monitors with two resolutions. It is called span mode, not extending.My WHS build: Processor = AMD 3600 X2 ~ 1.9GHz
January 18th, 2009 12:26pm

I'm looking for the same thing.I've got 3x 1600x1200 monitors, and I want to have the option to maximize an application to 4800x1200.
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February 13th, 2009 2:03am

Hi1. This is video driver feature, but not windows feature. If your video and video driver support such a mode you will have option to set it via windows options2. My nvidia driver have option to set mode you want, called duplicate these displays mode.When i set nvidia driverin duplicate displays mode for monitor is displayed 1|2(multiple monitors)
February 13th, 2009 2:22am

The ATi Catalyst Drivers allow me to maximize Firefox to a (completely useless) 4800x1200, true. However, I want 3D applications to do that very same thing (a panoramic World of Warcraft would be an interesting novelty, but I'm really referring to using Microsoft Flight Simulator in 4800x1200 spanning resolution, in Virtual Cockpit mode, with a head-tracker like TrackIR, where "novelty" is replaced by *fully immersive*.I cannot find a way to get a 3D App to launch at any resolution higher (or wider) than the native resolution of one single monitor. Under XP, it was a snap - Select "Span Mode" in the drivers, and the WDDM allowed the drivers to "merge" the monitors into one monitor that was the size of all three combined (i.e. 4800x1200, or 1600x3600 for vertically stacked monitors, etc.)
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February 13th, 2009 4:18am

nView Horizontal and Vertical Span ModesDue to architectural changes in the new Windows Vista Window Display DriverModel (WDDM), span mode cannot be supported in NVIDIA graphics drivers.NVIDIA recommends using the builtin Windows Vista multidisplay modes.This was not a driver issue in Vista... It's a Vista Issue. Just do a Google search for Span mode and Vista.Now the big question will Span mode work in Windows 7? as I as a Microsoft certified partner am thinking of Dumping VistaUltimate off my gameing computer in favor of Xp just so I can span my 22" widescreen monitors..This effects more than just gaming, AutoCAD and any other application that used the Span mode because of it's massive display capability are all crippled in Vista.My display mode in XP would have been span mode 3360 x 1050 but Vista is 2 independant displays of 1680 x 1050 the span mode is supported in both hadware of Nvidia and ATI graphic cards & it's possible provided your GPU and Handle the math in 3D So can we Span in Windows 7 or are we Gamers, autocad users and anyone else that uses span mode be religated to XP?--------[ EVEREST Ultimate Edition ]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Version EVEREST v4.50.1330 Benchmark Module 2.3.224.0 Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/ Report Type Quick Report Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 6.0.6001 (Vista Retail) Date 2009-02-12 Time 21:20--------[ Summary ]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer: Computer Type ACPI x86-based PC Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate OS Service Pack Service Pack 1 Internet Explorer 7.0.6001.18000 DirectX DirectX 10.0 Date / Time 2009-02-12 / 21:20 Motherboard: CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2 Black Edition, 3200 MHz (16 x 200) 6400+ Motherboard Name Unknown Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA MCP72/77/78, AMD Hammer System Memory 3328 MB (DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM) DIMM1: G Skill F2-6400CL5-2GBPQ 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-15 @ 400 MHz) (4-4-4-10 @ 266 MHz) DIMM2: G Skill F2-6400CL5-2GBPQ 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-15 @ 400 MHz) (4-4-4-10 @ 266 MHz) BIOS Type AMI (05/12/08) Communication Port Communications Port (COM1) Communication Port Standard Serial over Bluetooth link (COM5) Communication Port Standard Serial over Bluetooth link (COM6) Display: Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ (512 MB) Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ (512 MB) 3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX Monitor Generic PnP Monitor [NoDB] (1704951265847) Monitor Generic PnP Monitor [NoDB] (1704951265847) Multimedia: Audio Adapter nVIDIA Unknown @ nVIDIA MCP77/78 - High Definition Audio Controller Audio Adapter Realtek ALC888/S/T @ nVIDIA MCP77/78 - High Definition Audio Controller Storage: IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Storage Controller Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Storage Controller NVIDIA nForce RAID Controller Storage Controller NVIDIA nForce RAID Device Storage Controller NVIDIA nForce RAID Device Storage Controller NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller Storage Controller SCSI/RAID Host Controller Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive Disk Drive NVIDIA STRIPE 931.52G (931 GB) Optical Drive ASUS DRW-2014L1T SCSI CdRom Device (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:8x, DVD+RW:20x/8x, DVD-RW:20x/6x, DVD-RAM:14x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/32x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM) Optical Drive ASUS DRW-2014L1T SCSI CdRom Device (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:8x, DVD+RW:20x/8x, DVD-RW:20x/6x, DVD-RAM:14x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/32x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM) Optical Drive IP3120I RVG730Z SCSI CdRom Device SMART Hard Disks Status Unknown
February 13th, 2009 5:23am

And how you expect your video card(s) to process screen with such resolution?Even it is possible have to4800x1200 or 3360 x 1050for 3D, you will not see even slideshow, because one frame will take minutes
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February 13th, 2009 6:29am

ROLF You have seen my specs.. In X3 Reunion and similar games am pulling over 120 frames a sec. on one monitor, I can actually run the game twice @ the same time once on each monitor and still make 40+ frames a sec on each for a total of 80 frames a sec..... so no it looks really good..You definitiely are not a gamer... since movies are less than 40 frames a sec i don't see this as an issue. & regualr TV is closer to 25Have another excuse?There are Thousands of us with systems capable of doing this... other wise intell and amd would go bankrupt and so would nvivia and ATI We push the envelope. I know you don't, not my your answer you probably don't even have a gpu in your computer, let alone one with more than 10 times the cores of your cpu.
February 13th, 2009 8:05am

Ventislav - At 1600x1200, I'm currently pulling 60-90 FPS in Lord of the Rings Online, with *every* detail in a gorgeous game turned to High with an ATi 4850X2 with crossfire mode OFF. When I turn Crossfire mode on, I jump up to the 150 FPS range, which is in the land of "downright silly" when my LCD is only 60 hz/FPS...Surely I could keep playable (30+) FPS at 4800x1200, with some level of reduced detail, don't you think?...Nevermind that I have an ASUS motherboard with room to put in another identical card... *twists handlebar moustache*However, if 7 continues the braindead WDDM model of Vista, then I'll be looking for a copy of XP64 that I'll keep until they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
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February 13th, 2009 9:49am

I agree with you completly Jonathan,Any game is completly playable @ 40 fps & the 60Hz of the LCD monitors makes that easy on the gpu's Unlike my old 21" crt's that typically ran at 120Hz ...I also agree with you on the XP if windos 7 continues on the path of no span mode there will be a lot of people keeping their Xp boxes, we just have to.Also AutoCad and other high end apps need the span mode for 2 or more monitors it makes working on large 3D project modles much much easier.
February 13th, 2009 10:00am

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102809This is not a really expensive card. it is well within reach of most people. Model Brand SAPPHIRE Model 100270SR Interface Interface PCI Express 2.0 x16 Chipset Chipset Manufacturer ATI GPU Radeon HD 4850 X2 Core clock 650MHz Stream Processors 1600 (800 x 2) Stream Processing Units Memory Memory Clock 1986MHz Memory Size 2GB Memory Interface 512-bit (256-bit x 2) Memory Type GDDR3 3D API DirectX DirectX 10.1 OpenGL OpenGL 2.1 Ports HDMI 1 via Adapter DVI 4 TV-Out HDTV / S-Video Out General RAMDAC 400 MHz Max Resolution 2560 x 1600 CrossFire Supported YesActually Jonathan's card would handle the load by itself for both monitors. and the the 4800x1200 or 3360 x 1050 is using both dvi ports, so the gpu's don't have a problem handleing this. since this card will do 5120x1600 in span mode. for 2 monitors or 7680X1600 for 3 monitors
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February 13th, 2009 10:08am

ventislavJust so everyone know who this guy is he likes causing problems on line. and Generally insiteing people in forums,the following is an example.http://www.lavalys.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t1905.htmlhttp://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t21100.htmlalso the last link contains the answer as to how he doesn't understand these resolutions...--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ventsislav Alexandriyski----------TEMPLATE EXAMPLE-------------****Hardware-MB: Intel p965 / AMD nForce 2 / AMD nForce 570 / Intel nForce 590 SLI---MB BIOS Version: 1007 AWARD---MB brand: ASUS / EPOX -Video: GeForce 6600 AGP / GF 6600GT PCI-E / GF 7600GT AGP---Board: p277h1 / p295h1 / p229h4---Video BIOS Version: 05.43.02.69.68 / 05.43.02.41.00---Video BIOS brand: Leadtek / Aopen---Video brand: MSI / ASUS / No name-CPU: Athlon XP / Athlon 64 / Pentium D 840 / Pentium Core 2 Duo---CPU type: 32bit / 64bit---CPU real clock: 2400Mhz / 2,1Ghz-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nforce 2 couldn't hope to touch what we are doing. nor could a 6600
February 13th, 2009 10:47am

Ventsislav Alexandriyski said: Hi1. This is video driver feature, but not windows feature. If your video and video driver support such a mode you will have option to set it via windows options2. My nvidia driver have option to set mode you want, called duplicate these displays mode.When i set nvidia driverin duplicate displays mode for monitor is displayed 1|2(multiple monitors)This IS NOT and Answer or the CORRECT Answer.Whomever is moderating this forum please remove this as an answer as it is not!Thankyou.The main question "Does Windows 7 support span mode?" has not been answered.
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February 14th, 2009 8:46am

I can't get it to span...Also, I "accidentally" enabled (yes, it was for sure a feature because it allowed customization with right click) dual taskbars on my separate displays....Have any idea how to do that? I just can't find the manual way to enable and disable this awesome feature that wehave all been waiting for!
February 17th, 2009 5:15am

Disappointing to see that no Microsoft official can answer or at least have the slightest idea of what we are talking about. Windows XP had span mode in the nvidia drivers working perfectly and under Vista they say it's impossible to do. This is a reason why some people don't want to upgrade to new OS. Microsoft introduced this problem in Vista and should plan to fix it in the next product release, or else they simply fail.I actually need to reboot under XP every time I want to play a splitscreen cooperative game to have both monitors working, then get back on Vista for work and stuff, it takes some time.
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February 21st, 2009 12:39pm

This is really unbelievable, I just got another Samsung 940BF (now I have two identical) and immediately I find out that nView is not avaible in Vista "due to architectural changes". I have no words...
March 11th, 2009 1:28am

Wow, It has been a while sense I last checked this thread. It has been about 3 months now and still only the users (non moderators) know what were talking about here. I thought this would be a very simple to answer question either yes or no. I am fully aware of why Vista does not support this. SoVentsislav Alexandriyski, could you please stop telling us that it is a driver issue because it is not. Clearly everyone here knows that it was an architectural change. Therefore I would really apreaciate an MVP that knows what they are talking about to help me out on this subject. I would really like to upgrade to Windows 7 seeing as it is suppose to improve on Vista which as far as performance goes, the beta results are all saying it even out performs xp.... =P we'll see. thanks again for all the others that are expressing there intrest and knowlage towards this issue. =)My WHS build: Processor = AMD 3600 X2 ~ 1.9GHz
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April 7th, 2009 1:37am

You can add your feature request to the Comments thread to have it passed on to the developement team. You had better hurry, since the 'release candidate', to be released soon, will be 'feature complete' and no more additions to features will be available in Win 7.Comments about Windows 7 Beta (Part 2):Rating posts helps other users Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
April 7th, 2009 2:59am

Wow, It has been a while sense I last checked this thread. It has been about 3 months now and still only the users (non moderators) know what were talking about here. I thought this would be a very simple to answer question either yes or no. I am fully aware of why Vista does not support this. SoVentsislav Alexandriyski, could you please stop telling us that it is a driver issue because it is not. Clearly everyone here knows that it was an architectural change. Therefore I would really apreaciate an MVP that knows what they are talking about to help me out on this subject. I would really like to upgrade to Windows 7 seeing as it is suppose to improve on Vista which as far as performance goes, the beta results are all saying it even out performs xp.... =P we'll see. thanks again for all the others that are expressing there intrest and knowlage towards this issue. =) My WHS build: Processor = AMD 3600 X2 ~ 1.9GHz Hi Eibach Sorry you feel that way, this just isn't a feature that we see requested very often. It seems to be a favorite of Gamers and those people are always teaching us new things. :) The bottom line is that it doesn't do a lot of good just discussing this with other users here. You need to follow Mark's advice and let the Windows 7 Devs know what you want. Regards, Thank You for testing Windows 7 Beta Ronnie VernonForum Moderator
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April 7th, 2009 4:53am

Wow, It has been a while sense I last checked this thread. It has been about 3 months now and still only the users (non moderators) know what were talking about here. I thought this would be a very simple to answer question either yes or no. I am fully aware of why Vista does not support this. SoVentsislav Alexandriyski, could you please stop telling us that it is a driver issue because it is not. Clearly everyone here knows that it was an architectural change. Therefore I would really apreaciate an MVP that knows what they are talking about to help me out on this subject. I would really like to upgrade to Windows 7 seeing as it is suppose to improve on Vista which as far as performance goes, the beta results are all saying it even out performs xp.... =P we'll see. thanks again for all the others that are expressing there intrest and knowlage towards this issue. =) My WHS build: Processor = AMD 3600 X2 ~ 1.9GHz Sorry, but this is driver issue!!!When Vista was released video cards had problems with tv out and the reason is the same as now - stupid video card driverprogrammers.Video cards manufacturers lie consumers, that this is windows problem, because theycannot tell to people thatwas paid for 4 video cards, that theycannot makegood driver.Of course users are much more stupid than driver programmers and this is why they want SLI or Crossfire.Ideo of SLI and crossfire is the same stupid idea used by voodoo cards, but with better PR. SLI and crossfire are obstacle for technical progress and failt is on stupid users that use themIf video card manufacturers was and monitor manufacturers, then multi-display problem would not exist, but now video card manufacturersdoes notearn moneyfrom monitor sells, so there is multi-monitor problemIs this clear enough for you?!
April 9th, 2009 6:44pm

No. Apart from calling everyone stupid, I don't see any argumented sense in your post. You don't even seem to understand what are we talking about.
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April 9th, 2009 7:27pm

This is NOT a driver issue..., we want true multi-monitor support! Multiple taskbars Span AND Extedended for at LEAST 3 monitors as a basic option! These are driven by the OS, and the 3rd party programs like UltraMon don't even work with Win7. I have a video card that is being completely inhibited by the OS structure, not driver incompatibility. Unfortunately Mr. Alexandriyski, you don't even address what most of the common multi-monitor users are talking about.... "Is this clear enough for you?"
April 9th, 2009 7:27pm

This is NOT a driver issue..., we want true multi-monitor support! Multiple taskbars Span AND Extedended for at LEAST 3 monitors as a basic option! These are driven by the OS, and the 3rd party programs like UltraMon don't even work with Win7. I have a video card that is being completely inhibited by the OS structure, not driver incompatibility. Unfortunately Mr. Alexandriyski, you don't even address what most of the common multi-monitor users are talking about.... "Is this clear enough for you?" Wast line of my previous message must be: "I hope now it is clear" insted of "Is this clear enough for you?!"Why it is not be as it must to beask MS forum programers, that changed forum interface to cover leads of bad moderators, that clear posts without a reason and set and remove answer marks in unacceptable maner
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April 10th, 2009 3:35am

The Beta is already feature complete Mark!The CTP was API complete.Too late for changes now I think!Mark Wilson (MVP Virtual Machine) - http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/
April 19th, 2009 11:47pm

Firstly, the moderators are working to a set of guidelines; however it is generally accepted that the user who opened the thread will be asked before the question is finally marked as answered by setting it to a proposed answer (unless they fail to respond).Secondly, you asked "Will windows 7 have span mode..." and the answer was given that it is a driver support issue - not an operating system function. As far as I can tell, that is true. It is also an answer, just not the one that you would like to hear I guess.So, the answer is either:"no"or "it depends on your driver"depending on whether you believe this is a driver issue or not!Mark Wilson (MVP Virtual Machine) - http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/
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April 19th, 2009 11:52pm

As far I can tell, however, nVidia at least made an official statement about it. From that point on it is just people giving their opinion who is to "blame". Though the fact remains that a "soft-enforced" spanned resolution, something available 10 years ago, remains just a myth in 2009. Seeing how two monitors behave in Vista (secondary is black until logging in, no taskbar on the other and similar basic functions that you have to buy a special 50 hi-tech application for), I somehow believe nVidia. =)
April 20th, 2009 12:09am

Today is 2009-05-13. Windows 7 RC1 does not let me set nVidia 8800 GTS in span mode. Windows XP on the same machine does. Microsoft Flight Simulator X is unable to render more than one screen in Windows 7 Ultimate RC 1. The Span mode runs 1680+1280=2960 pixels wide on my XP with 25-30 fps. Not all settings are maxed out. The driver for Windows 7 was downloaded today from nVidia. It is version 2.5.373.05. In nVidia Control Panel application the page "Set up multiple displays" is missing the span option that is present on Windows XP. FSX is the sole reason for running Windows for me. Unfortunately it is also locking me down to XP.
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May 13th, 2009 11:32pm

I installed seven last night on a 2year old viao laptop. I discovered after the install that both my monitors were showing the same thing and went into diplay settings. just to discover that the system did not detect the second monitor? Tried rebooting with the monitor unpluged and reconnecting after but same problem. Is this a unsupported issue or do I need to get something fromSony after a clean install? If it ISsupported, it will be supported by Sony, or whomever makes the video card. The Misc. forum in this group has a 'comments' thread. You can add your experience, to help the dev team identify problems.Have Comments about Windows 7 RC (Do not post questions here).url: Rating posts helps other users Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
May 14th, 2009 5:01pm

Why is this marked as an answer though it doesn't have anything to do with the topic issue? :S I do not need to understand what you think, and I doubt you understand what you want Why is this man still allowed to write in here? To keep with his offensive attitude against the rest of us? Please, go away. Offtopic: and why do the regular users even have the option to propose their own posts as answers?
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May 14th, 2009 7:35pm

There is no answer here. And my download of windows 7 does not have horizontal span.Looks like I am using XP till Windows 8.I run 2 Gateway Extreme HD 1600's off a 640MBNvidia 8800 GTS and have 9 virtual desktops.You cannot fit all my same time apps on a single task bar it's saturday and I have 28 apps running right now and I am not even working.One you go horizontal span you don't go back.Advantages of Horizontal Spanning: switch to any active app with a single click using a virtual desktop like rvd allows easy access to all aps any app that needs attention lights on the taskbar single image accross the desktop background application window larger than a single screen Any disadvantages? P.S. edited this in Windows 7 IE and the formatting I got is above
June 27th, 2009 7:14pm

So far almost noone attempting an answer to this question even understands what XP horizontal-span or XP vertical-span mode is. To break it down for those answering things outside the OPs question, XP span modes are a driver level mode that allows for a single video card GPU with 2 outputs to push a single 3D canvas that can be used as a single virtual display over 2 physical displays. It is set inside the nVidia control panel in the multiple displays window. With the change between XP and Vista neither Microsoft nor nVidia put the option to use this mode anymore. Countless people have asked who to contact to get this implemented again but Microsoft passes the buck to nVidia and nVidia passes the buck to Microsoft on this. Noone will own up to even who is required to be contacted to get this option back in place again. A simple google search of the search terms vista, span modes will turn up a large amount of displaced users that lost this feature although almost everyone posting to this thread don't even know what the mode is. What people posting here and missing the answer are not understanding is that this is a mode for spanning 3D full screen across 2 displays transparently without any special hardware tricks like a Matrox DH2G Digital. Microsoft and nVidia really need to look into this matter because there is a quantifiable set of users that were displaced and disappointed with the removal of this feature set in the transition from XP to Vista and now still missing in Window 7. It's disappointing that an advanced feature like span modes works perfectly in XP but in Vista and Windows 7 it's removed. This is 2 steps backwards as far as feature set progress and a great disappointment to many.
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July 16th, 2009 5:52am

well i just loaded windows 7no horizontal span! so 2x19" monitors not seen as 1 screen WTFso no eveonline with 2 screens ,that game really needs itso i'll be telling the 40000 concurrent playes of eve that dont go windows 7.i suspect the WOW players are doing the same,Windows XP king of operating systems yet again.was going to BUY windows 7 i'll save me money and get a triplehead to go instead and stick with XP.i wanted more monitor support NOT lessannoyed ,disgruntled and removing windows 7horizontal span NO going back
July 19th, 2009 8:17pm

Hi, today I installed ubuntu for my development machine and I noticed that the TwinView (virtualized resolution aka spanning) is still available in the official nVidia driver package, although I am having some problems with it (linux newb). My point being that nVidia did not forget or discard this feature from their driver bundles. What I know about the issue for sure so far is that the WDDM changed. Now, did the MS devs really "screw" things up so bad, or is nVidia being sloppy, not willing to invest time/energy into fixing the matter for us to be able to run the Spanning feature on the new driver model (which is probably better than the old one)?
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July 21st, 2009 1:03am

Found this on extremetech.com website Heterogeneous Graphics and More Windows 7 and DirectX 11 will usher in a few more minor tweaks to the graphics landscape, though they're not the highly impactful things discussed on the previous pages. First, there's heterogeneous multi-adaptor support. In Windows XP, you could have two different graphics adaptors with two different driver stacks running, provided they each were connected to their own monitor. You could even extend the desktop this way. This feature was missing from Vista, but with Win7 and WDDM 1.1 drivers the capability will return. Note that this doesn't let you use two different-brand adaptors together in something like SLI or Crossfire to render one display fasterit's strictly a multi-monitor solution. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2334157,00.asp
August 7th, 2009 10:30pm

Found this on extremetech.com website Heterogeneous Graphics and More Windows 7 and DirectX 11 will usher in a few more minor tweaks to the graphics landscape, though they're not the highly impactful things discussed on the previous pages. First, there's heterogeneous multi-adaptor support. In Windows XP, you could have two different graphics adaptors with two different driver stacks running, provided they each were connected to their own monitor. You could even extend the desktop this way. This feature was missing from Vista, but with Win7 and WDDM 1.1 drivers the capability will return. Note that this doesn't let you use two different-brand adaptors together in something like SLI or Crossfire to render one display fasterit's strictly a multi-monitor solution. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2334157,00.asp I think this has more to do with how the drivers work and nothing to do with actual span modes. I see nowhere in the article where it states span modes are in again. Now if it does add in span modes again, great -- but that article does not read to me like it has anything to do with span modes. Brad Hawthorne EVGA Community Forum Moderator www.evga.com/forums
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August 7th, 2009 11:21pm

Well, me too.Just for a bit of background- Iown a software company and have an MSDN subscription and about 35 years programming experience.I just installed Windows 7. Looks nice. I want to use it to get to know it so I can support clients and test my software on it.However, without span mode it is just unusable for me. I have 2 1600 by 1200 monitors and I need span mode for too many things.So its back toXP for me.
August 11th, 2009 12:16am

I'm saddened that feature appears to be missing from Win7 as I enjoyed it a lot for WoW in XP. Without it I'm definately going back to XP.
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August 13th, 2009 10:31am

I read this on another Microsoft Forum, I hope it helps you out.<<<<Start of Message>>>>>"Hello Andrew, Thank you for using Microsoft Answers forums. Due to architectural changes in the Windows Vista Window Display Driver Model (WDDM), span mode cannot be supported in NVIDIA graphics drivers. This model is similar in Windows 7. Thank you for your time and efforts in evaluating Windows 7. Thanks for using the Answers Forum. Please let us know how this works out. Joseph Microsoft Answers Support Engineer Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think. Marked As Answer byJoseph - Support Engineer Sunday, May 31, 2009 5:27 AM"<<<<<End Of Message>>>>>
August 14th, 2009 5:23am

I read this on another Microsoft Forum, I hope it helps you out. <<<<Start of Message>>>>> "Hello Andrew, Thank you for using Microsoft Answers forums. Due to architectural changes in the Windows Vista Window Display Driver Model (WDDM), span mode cannot be supported in NVIDIA graphics drivers. This model is similar in Windows 7. Thank you for your time and efforts in evaluating Windows 7. Thanks for using the Answers Forum. Please let us know how this works out. Joseph Microsoft Answers Support Engineer Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think. Marked As Answer by Joseph - Support Engineer Sunday, May 31, 2009 5:27 AM" <<<<<End Of Message>>>>> That is essentially just a cop-out answer by Microsoft. They design the Windows Display Driver Model and choose not to support span modes in it. That answer is as though they have no choice, which of course they do have a choice in how they design WDDM to work. Microsoft is deliberately choosing not to support span modes in WDDM because they don't want to budget to put it back into their new driver design. That's unfortunate and a very lazy business decision on their part.Brad Hawthorne * EVGA Community Forum Moderator * www.evga.com/forums
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August 14th, 2009 10:12pm

I, too am another user who is sorely disappointed by the lack of horizontal span in Vista and now, Windows 7. I'll describe another critical use of horizontal span (for me) that no one has mentioned so far. I use two of the legendary IBM T221 DG5 displays, which have 3840 x 2400 resolution (each). No current monitor has yet to exceed this resolution, so for desktop space there is no parallel (an exception is the 4k/8k projectors, but if you have $100,000 lying around you're in a different league).Problem with these 3840 x 2400 monitors is, they require TWO dual link DVI connectors each to push that many pixels (even Displayport doesn't have a single connector bandwidth to do this). So in effect, each T221 becomes two 1920 x 2400 stripes side by side. In Vista (and I assume Windows 7) these two stripes act as totally different monitors even though they are in the same LCD panel!! Total deal breaker. With XP, horizontal span combines the two stripes and I have a 9 megapixel single monitor as it should be. XP even allows me to have two of these 9 Megapixel monitors over two video cards with four heads. Again, count me as another person who will be buying 4 less Windows 7 licences. Microsoft has disappointed me time and again by omitting this feature, though I am sure Nvidia shares some of the blame too.Yeang
August 28th, 2009 6:24am

Has anyone heard from the nVidia folks? I would think that through single or multiple GPUs and multiple monitors they could emulate a single "spanned" monitor to Vista or 7.ATI has done a similar thing using ATI Radeon Eyefinity.
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September 17th, 2009 8:03am

I think there is a solution to No Bloody Span mode in Windows 7: http://www.matrox.com/graphics/surroundgaming/en/home/It's called TripleHead2Go... I'm going to buy it in a couple of weeks and try it out. Matrox guarantees it will work on Windows 7.Hope this helps...Left4Dead hear I come...
November 3rd, 2009 9:35am

Hi Joseph, After having read through this forum I have to say I'm pretty damn disgusted at the MS attitude to this issue. I am currently developing SOE's for our organisation (Government), we use horizontal spanning. I Disovered this issue this morning when attempting to use this configuration in support of a user. MS need to solve this problem otherwise people like me are simply going to say to the heads of Depts. here forget Windows 7 its unsuitable for our use. We'll be recommending XP for this feature. This is very remiss of MS to leave such an important feature out. The fact that its an architectural problem is no excuse. This is simply not good enough! Its NOT just the gaming community that make use of horizontal spanning, and from my organisations perspective alone this question should remain open until MS come out with a workable solution. Last time I checked, we are the customers asking/expecting a product we pay for to live up to the expectations and precendents already set by manufacturers, not the other way around! I really dont think MS is taking this issue seriously enough! Cheers, Dave
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September 3rd, 2010 5:08am

Hi Dave This issue has always been driven by technological advances in the Graphics industry. The operating system just provides the extensibility that supports advances in the graphics technology. Both of the major graphics hardware makers have solved this problem with newer hardware drivers that provide span mode in Windows 7. ATI Calls it EyeFinity, which is available in most of their latest cards and I believe nVidia calls it SLI or 3D Vision configuration which is available in most cards that use their graphic chips. ATI Eyefinity Technology Information and Answer from nVidia Hope this helps. Thank You for using Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP
September 3rd, 2010 12:07pm

Why is SPANNING MODE NOT in Windows 7??? We've been using XP with multi monitor and multi video cards with SPANNING MODE ACTIVE! WHY REMOVING THIS FEATURE??? We've built customer sulutions using these mode, why in the ... removing something that was there??? Anyway, we're just killing the Windows 7 projet, so many copies that will NOT but purchased! Unless we get some explanations... and no, this is not a video card driver problems... WDDM was modified to remove this... WHY?? Anyway, I DONT CARE about the why... we're CUSTOMERS and care about what we used to have... and an UPGRADE is not LESS but MORE, not in the case of WINDOWS 7 for sure. This is BUSINESS users talking here, not just GAMING boys!! By my tone,... yes... we're not happy. good luck
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January 6th, 2011 1:52pm

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