Usable desktop space smaller when using second monitor

[tilgare]

Take a look here at my desktop:



I got a new 27" 1080p monitor for my birthday, however, if I use my second monitor, the amount of space I have for desktop icons is limited by the resolution of the second monitor. I illustrate that with the yellow box I drew on both sides indicating the usable space on the 1080p monitor and consuming the desktop of the 1440x900 monitor. I'm using Actual Multiple Monitors (mostly for the extra taskbar, but it's useful for multimonitor wallpapers and setting up keybindings to handle windows). I'm using a GTX 560 SE for both displays.

Anyone know if there is any way to fix this issue? I noticed it when I would plug in my wife's second monitor every now and then (same 1440x900 res oddly), but I lost one row from the bottom and that didn't bother me. This is a pretty big difference though.

Edit: Scaled back picture.

[DeltrusDisc]

Eh, I think this happens whenever you use different sized, especially different aspect ratio monitors.

I myself use a 1920x1080 21.5" display and to the right of it a 22" 1680x1050 display. I don't really use my desktop though, so it doesn't matter much at all to me, nor have I tried to find a fix. I mean, when you have Chrome filling the 1050p monitor and then games/Skype filling the 1080p monitor, really, what's the point to care so much? =/

[tilgare]

Hopefully I can find a fix, it will drive me NUTS. I like to use my desktop to launch games, as well as store (and subsequently clean up) browser downloads. Seems like a silly thing for Windows to do.

Edit: Oh man, strange development - I tried moving my second monitor (in NVIDIA control panel) so that they JUST barely meet at the top corner. This made all of my icons disappear somewhere above the primary monitor. Guess I'll set up a keybinding to send my cursor between monitors which will accomplish what I was trying to do with that.

[DeltrusDisc]

Hopefully I can find a fix, it will drive me NUTS. I like to use my desktop to launch games, as well as store (and subsequently clean up) browser downloads. Seems like a silly thing for Windows to do.

I think it has to do with the aspect ratios of your monitors, one being 16:9 - the 1920x1080 and one being 16:10, the 1440x900.

[Armond]

When I last ran into this sort of issue, the problem turned out to be an overscanning option enabled in the monitor lacking space (the left one, in your picture). Dunno if it's the same thing for you, but worth looking into.

To clarify, this would be an issue of the actual monitor (as in, you should press the menu button on the monitor itself and see if you can find it there).

[almaderp]

you should be able to have it run different resolutions for each screen

[Dedweight]

I think it has to do with the aspect ratios of your monitors, one being 16:9 - the 1920x1080 and one being 16:10, the 1440x900.

I guess that's possible though I have two different aspect ratios for my monitors(one running 1920x1080 and the other 1280x1024) using Vista without the problem the OP described so I wouldn't be so sure that would be the problem. I'd personally lean to some setting in the drivers(or possibly the drivers themselves) as being the problem.

[DeltrusDisc]

I guess that's possible though I have two different aspect ratios for my monitors(one running 1920x1080 and the other 1280x1024) using Vista without the problem the OP described so I wouldn't be so sure that would be the problem. I'd personally lean to some setting in the drivers(or possibly the drivers themselves) as being the problem.

I've been on several different drivers over the past year, no change. I think it is probably a setting...

[tilgare]

Went into the monitor settings and turned on overscan, but it just blew everything up and didn't do anything for my desktop problem.

I am using two different resolutions, almaderp, but that's not the problem.

As for the 16:9 and 16:10 discrepancy, I was using my wife's secondary monitor periodically and I would notice this issue - although it was only cutting off the last line on the desktop. Both monitors are 19", 1440x900. As far as I can tell, there is no setting in the GPU drivers that could affect this and nothing that I can see in the Windows 7 options.