[duanedobson]

Started using XMBC a few months back and have got it tuned rather well, decent movie collection, decent TV collection, even added in Spotify and Vevo to it, after alot of tweaking it works really well, I use the Android remote as well as my Logitech harmony. I even split the HDMI output on my PC and ran a cable upstairs to the bedroom to have XBMC in my room (controlled via android remote over wifi).

I do however have a problem I cannot fathom or find a fix for.....

My media PC is located in my front room, and I regularly use the pc for work / emails / torrenting etc on my primary monitor, whilst XBMC is playing on the TV..... However you can't do that because as soon as i touch the PC's primary monitor with my mouse, XBMC minimizes..... I have gone through the settings and found "window" mode works ok, but..... its not as smooth, and i'm left with a nasty blue windows bar across the top of my films etc etc....

I was a hardcore VLC user before XBMC, and I could work fine on the PC's primary monitor when that was in full screen mode on the secondary monitor.....

I have seen others with the same issue, I just wondered if there was a solution, or a plug in that allows this. I've tried a couple of fixes, including adding in a line in the advancedsettings.xml file, however no fix as yet.

I must say though, i think XBMC is a fantastic program, and so far I have introduced a few friends to it as well, it kinda sells itself and looks fantastic.

Any ideas or work arounds for my secondary monitor minimizing when using primary screen I'd be very, very grateful..... the kid has to watch disney cars on a weekly basis ! and i'm trying to work on the same PC.......

[MassIV]

Window mode is correct, yes it takes a performance hit.
If you right click on the task bar, go into properties, there is an option you can uncheck to show bar on multiple monitors, then it will get rid of the bar on your second screen.
Or maybe not use clone but extend desktop.

-edit-
If you didn't mean the taskbar (that you had put at the top of your monitor for some reason?) but meant the top of windowed mode (where x button is):
Go to settings ->system -> choose which display to run xbmc (e.g. monitor #2)
Then it should launch to monitor 2 in full screen (no borders, but in windowed mode) without taskbar.

[duanedobson]

Yeah, im not cloning the desktop, literally extending the desktop onto my TV, as i say the windowed mode works ok, it stays on the screen when i use the primary, but i get the bar across the top as you do with all windows apps with the red x etc.... and in this mode i also noticed a bit of stutter when navigating.

fullmode#2 works perfectly no stutter and looks great, but i cant use the primary monitor to do normal work, i imagine xbmc or windows cant handle the 2 resolutions running at one time.

[MassIV]

Lets not have a communication error. Using confluence skin.

Set:
settings -> system -> video output -> display -> Full Screen #2 (so NOT windowed here)

And like 2 steps below that:
settings -> system -> video output -> display -> Use fullscreen window rather then true fullscreen. (YES windowed here)

Exit & start again.