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I am looking for an application with features as follows:-

  • It will give me a dual monitor set up with a Windows 7 taskbar with Aero peek and the Start Menu on each monitor.

  • The taskbar should display only the applications running on that monitor and the start menu should start applications on the same monitor as it resides.

I have tried the following applications without success:

  • Nvidia nview manager,
  • Ultramon,
  • Display Fusion,
  • Multimon Taskbar Pro

Does such an application exist?

Stevoisiak
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Christopher Edwards
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    It's worth noting that now (three years later), Windows 8 has built-in support for spanning the taskbar across all monitors. Of course, the start menu is no more, but you can open the start screen on any display. – nhinkle Nov 05 '12 at 07:12
  • Related: [Can I extend my taskbar across multiple monitors in Windows 8?](https://superuser.com/q/495874/358766) – Stevoisiak Jun 19 '17 at 20:35
  • I stumbled across this years later. Obviously I'm screaming into the void but this was closed because it was "seeking product [...] recommendations'. But this wasn't the case. I was seeking any product or tool which had a feature, I wasn't soliciting an opinion of any kind - the questions and answers are factual. – Christopher Edwards Mar 26 '21 at 14:02

5 Answers5

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Actual Multiple Monitors is the only tool (that I know of) that has two Start Menu buttons.

Note: link was removed due to excessive spamming of this product on Super User by its creators. Purchase or use this product at your own risk, with the understanding that you are supporting repeat spammers.

nhinkle
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CJM
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    Thanks, this is exactly what I wanted. If only the built in support in Windows for multiple monitors and virtual desktops was better! – Christopher Edwards Oct 22 '09 at 10:55
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    Actual Multiple Monitors 3.1 is amazing. Problem is it's 40 bucks after 30 days. That's crazy for a simple program. $20.00US maybe, and that's pushing it. They would sell tons if they lowered the price. Display Fusion and "UltraMon" are descent but I dont believe they do what your looking for. I've been searching since I got my 2nd monitor as well. –  Apr 13 '11 at 20:34
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    FYI @CJM I removed the link because the authors of this product have spammed it over 60 times in (now deleted) answers on Super User. No punishment to you, of course, since you had no way of knowing that. We just don't want to be rewarding spammers by sending visitors of one of our highest-viewed questions to their site. – nhinkle Mar 23 '12 at 10:00
  • @nhinkle - That's fair enough. It's a good product - it's a shame the publishers couldn't just accept the recommendation without abusing it. – CJM Mar 23 '12 at 12:07
  • @nhinkle Is there a meta post about the link spamming? I'm interested in reading more about what happened. (*I'm also curious why the spam notice was removed, then re-added 2 minutes later*) – Stevoisiak Jun 19 '17 at 20:29
11

I believe that DisplayFusion: Multi-Monitor Taskbar is the only solution for Windows 7 that works at this moment.

Kirill V. Lyadvinsky
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  • Oh well, if that's true, then since that application does not do it, I will have to wait until an application does support this feature. Maybe I'll put in feature requests. – Christopher Edwards Sep 18 '09 at 13:23
  • As far as Windows 7 is concerned Ultramon beta has support for the taskbar requirement, but now the start button requirement. – Greg Buehler Sep 18 '09 at 13:32
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    Be aware that the free version of Display Fusion does not support the multiple monitor taskbar. You need to pay for the Pro version for this feature. – Ashwin Nanjappa Dec 02 '09 at 01:45
2

While it is not possible to duplicate the Windows Start Menu, as a workaround you can use a 'faked' Start Menu by ways of a new tool bar with UltraMon.

Go to "Toolbars" >"New Toolbar"

In the dialog box point it towards "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\" (without the quotes).

enter image description here

Gaff
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1

The newest version of DisplayFusion (version 3.3.1, from May 22nd, 2011) now lets you add Start buttons to taskbars on secondary monitors.

1

I found another utility called Multi-Monitor Taskbar which does this. But, it seemed not to work on my Windows 7.

Ashwin Nanjappa
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