Support for Multiple Monitors in Windows Media Center Edition 2004

When you extend the desktop to a secondary monitor in Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2004, you may experience any one of the following behaviors:

• If the Media Center window is open while you turn on multiple monitor support, the Media Center window may become completely black.
• When the Media Center window is maximized, you may not be able to move your pointer to the secondary display.
• When you try to run the Media Center window on the secondary monitor, performance may be poor when you watch Live TV or DVDs.
• When you maximizing the Media Center window, Media Center automatically appears on the primary display even if Media Center was initially on the secondary display.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article.

Microsoft supports Windows Media Center 2004 in a multiple monitor (multimon) configuration. However, when you enable multiple monitor support with Windows Media Center 2004, use the following guidelines:

• Close or minimize the Media Center window before you turn on multiple monitor support through Display Properties. After you turn on multiple monitor support, restart Media Center or restore the window.
• If you have turned on multiple monitor support and Media Center is running in full-screen mode, you cannot point to the secondary display. If you must use the secondary display while Media Center is running, you must run Media Center in windowed mode.
• For performance reasons, do not run Media Center on the secondary display. If you do so, you may lose frames and the display may become choppy when you watch Live TV or DVDs. When you try to run Media Center on the secondary display, you may receive the following warning message:
  Multimonitor Display
  
  Part of Media Center is being displayed on a secondary monitor. Media Center must be run on the primary monitor for optimal video performance.

Media Center Technical Support

Because Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition was included with your hardware device or system, the hardware manufacturer provides technical support and assistance for this software. Your manufacturer may have customized the installation with unique components such as specific device drivers and optional settings to maximize the performance of that manufacturer's hardware. If you require technical help with Windows XP Media Center Edition, contact your manufacturer directly because the manufacturer is best qualified to support the software that the manufacturer has installed on the hardware.

You can also visit the Windows XP Media Center Edition product information Web site at the following Microsoft Web site: