Possible to re-assign monitor identities/numbers?

djbillyd said:

Well, this is still an issue. Where VGA had been the "1" on those DELL's, but not on any other, I went one further. I "upgraded" my GPU to one that doesn't have a VGA option. It has 2xHDMI, 1xDP, and 1xDVI-D. The "1" monitor on it, is the DVI-D. And naturally, that isn't the monitor that I use as the main monitor. I am going to buy another GPU, WITHOUT a DVI-D, or any VGA. The one I have in mind is MSI Radeon RX 580 DirectX 12 RX 580 8GT 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX. Not sure if it'll be any better, or if I will have any more control of what I can do. But it's another effort. MS wom't do squat!!!

Did you purchase another GPU in the end? Would be interested to see if anything changes. I have a 2060 with no DVI but DP instead that my main monitor is now connected to, with my TV through HDMI. Shame my TV doesn't have DP as would like to see how Windows would react with 2 displays connected via DP.

larebz said:

Did you purchase another GPU in the end? Would be interested to see if anything changes. I have a 2060 with no DVI but DP instead that my main monitor is now connected to, with my TV through HDMI. Shame my TV doesn't have DP as would like to see how Windows would react with 2 displays connected via DP.

Yeah, I did. I bought a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 DirectX 12 GV-N1656OC-4GL 4GB 128-Bit GDDR6 GPU. I used the 2 HDMI, and DVI-D ports, for my 3 monitors. I got my main on HDMI1, and my first secondary on the HDMI2 port, then the third monitor is on the DVI-D port. And they are 1-2-3, just like I wanted them to be. But my primary issue is that my main monitor is now #1.

Just buy HDMI-DP cables and connect away!

So how is it that the 1650 DVI-D port is your 3rd monitor but your old card it was primary?

larebz said:

So how is it that the 1650 DVI-D port is your 3rd monitor but your old card it was primary?

Dude, I dunno. It just is. HDMI, and DP, are higher technologies. On my old card, VGA was king. What can I tell you? It's just the architecture of the card. When I find what IT does, then that's what I ​do.

The problem with the faulty monitor ID numbering is that some games open to my HDMI sound bar and set my main 2k monitor 800x600. I'd rather not have to always remember to turn my sound off and on just to open a game.
Does anyone know if there's a specific registry key to manually edit that would change the ID number?

TB2020 said:

The problem with the faulty monitor ID numbering is that some games open to my HDMI sound bar and set my main 2k monitor 800x600. I'd rather not have to always remember to turn my sound off and on just to open a game.
Does anyone know if there's a specific registry key to manually edit that would change the ID number?

I agree whole-heartedly.

Hello,

New poster to this thread. This issue has been driving me crazy, not being able to change the display numbers. I finally fixed it for my setup. For me, I have 2 Display port cables, 1 connecting to a 4k monitor and 1 to a 1440p monitor. The 4k is my 'primary display' but set as #2 and my second monitor is assigned as #1, i wanted it the other way around.

To change the numbers assigned to the monitor, I did the following steps:-

1. Disconnected one monitor and left the monitor I wanted assigned as #1 plugged in.

2. Deleted the following registry keys(and backed up my registry before touching it) :- [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Configuration]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Connectivity]

3. Shut down my PC

4. Swapped my Display port cables at the back of the PC, so the 4k is in the old 1440p slot and the 1440p went into the old 4k slot. I kept the displayport at the back of the 1440p (desired #2 monitor) unplugged at this point.

5. Booted up the PC to windows.

6. Plugged in the Displayport cable into the back of the 1440p monitor.

7. Monitors now correctly display, primary4k as #1 and 1440p as #2.

Pain in the ass solution, but it worked.

@jdeb8

Thank you so much for posting this solution you found! I've been pulling my hair having the very same issue and following your guide above worked like a charm. Finally I have my main monitor identified as nr 1 in Windows.

Thank you so much!!!

jdeb8 said:

Hello,

New poster to this thread. This issue has been driving me crazy, not being able to change the display numbers. I finally fixed it for my setup. For me, I have 2 Display port cables, 1 connecting to a 4k monitor and 1 to a 1440p monitor. The 4k is my 'primary display' but set as #2 and my second monitor is assigned as #1, i wanted it the other way around.

To change the numbers assigned to the monitor, I did the following steps:-

1. Disconnected one monitor and left the monitor I wanted assigned as #1 plugged in.

2. Deleted the following registry keys(and backed up my registry before touching it) :- [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Configuration]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Connectivity]

3. Shut down my PC

4. Swapped my Display port cables at the back of the PC, so the 4k is in the old 1440p slot and the 1440p went into the old 4k slot. I kept the displayport at the back of the 1440p (desired #2 monitor) unplugged at this point.

5. Booted up the PC to windows.

6. Plugged in the Displayport cable into the back of the 1440p monitor.

7. Monitors now correctly display, primary4k as #1 and 1440p as #2.

Pain in the ass solution, but it worked.

Thank god. Read all of this. And this actually worked. Step by step. Thank you!

jdeb8 said:

Hello,

New poster to this thread. This issue has been driving me crazy, not being able to change the display numbers. I finally fixed it for my setup. For me, I have 2 Display port cables, 1 connecting to a 4k monitor and 1 to a 1440p monitor. The 4k is my 'primary display' but set as #2 and my second monitor is assigned as #1, i wanted it the other way around.

To change the numbers assigned to the monitor, I did the following steps:-

1. Disconnected one monitor and left the monitor I wanted assigned as #1 plugged in.

2. Deleted the following registry keys(and backed up my registry before touching it) :- [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Configuration]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Connectivity]

3. Shut down my PC

4. Swapped my Display port cables at the back of the PC, so the 4k is in the old 1440p slot and the 1440p went into the old 4k slot. I kept the displayport at the back of the 1440p (desired #2 monitor) unplugged at this point.

5. Booted up the PC to windows.

6. Plugged in the Displayport cable into the back of the 1440p monitor.

7. Monitors now correctly display, primary4k as #1 and 1440p as #2.

Pain in the ass solution, but it worked.

Hi

I only registered to this forum because of this thread. I'm glad there's a solution in the end, but question arises: how longterm this solution is really (haven't had the chance to test it on my systems)? E. g. would a vga driver update mess it again or simliar?

Thanks

OFF: can't express how annoying it is to read completely incompetent people keep giving the wrong advice and keep commenting that how it's not an issue for THEM or how uncapable they are imagining that it might be an issue to OTHERS or even keep proving how they are not able to help. Mate, who cares? People are here for looking for a solution, not to read you whining!