Dual Monitor Screen Focus

[windowpains]

I have been trying for a couple of years now to get what I want out of GameEx and I can't seem to accomplish it. Can someone maybe help me to solve this issue. I am interested in all angles and semi-solutions.

My problem is this:

I want and even need GameEx to run on a secondary monitor just like Windows Media Center does, (In full screen and able to stay that way while other things are done on the primary monitor. It lets go of the mouse once a task is selected and after that I can multitask.) This is how I have gotten used to having my entertainment on one screen and doing my work or staying in touch with others on the other screen. I have also been accustomed to doing this with virtual machines as well, where the mouse focus is controlled by a hotkey or mouseover events. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do this with GameEx and the last time I asked about it I was told it had some problem to do with the way directX works and that it would be looked into. Well its been a year and I still need this badly. Is there any news and\or are there any work-arounds.

GameEx is the perfect environment for all of the things I do because it allows for key mapping and therefore allows for two separate UI interfaces running simultaneously. Please tell me there is an answer to this!

[Draco1962]

Hi - You mention using Windows Media Center. Are you using Windows Vista or 7? If so, are you also launching GameEx via WMC on the second monitor?

[windowpains]

There's something that I haven't even tried actually, does it give you full access to GameEx including external and html apps? The reason I ask, is I believe that GameEx's real potential is in Front-ending for much much more than just games. Virtualbox is the kind of thing I have in mind. Since I can't run GameEx in VirtualBox I thought I might try it the other way, and run VB in GameEx and combine my two loves.

In answer to your question:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64_bit

Asus M-4A785 MBO

AMD Athlon II X4 630 CPU

ATI HD 4200 Radeon GPU

4GB Memory

[Draco1962]

If you have Windows Media Center, you can launch GameEx from within. I also believe that there are a few forum members that are successfully using VB launches as an external program.

[windowpains]

I've actually already configured VirtualBox to open as an external app within the GameEx interface but because GameEx doesn't stay full screen I am unable to use it like that. The menu would not be visible while I am working and would have to be launched from the taskbar whenever I wish to choose a Virtual Machine to emulate. That would be no different than just opening VirtualBox whenever I wish to do the same. My intent is to have all emulations both game and otherwise in one menu system which I can run constantly on the second screen. The advantage of doing this with GameEx would be the obvious addition of Jukebox, Media Library, and Web Apps, (not to mention the awesome GUI by Tom).

Will have to experiment with WMC Export soon and update you afterwards.

[windowpains]

Ok, I do have GameEx as an entry within WMC but when I click on it, it closes WMC and opens GameEx as if I opened it myself from the start menu. That means it doesn't change the way that GameEx displays.

[windowpains]

Alright, if it is too hard to accomplish this task, then does someone know how to install GameEx within a Virtual Machine and have it actually work? That would solve the problem in the best possible way for me and for anyone else who reads this thread.

[Draco1962]

The only thing I can think of "possibly" is using XP Mode (the MS Virtual PC option not to be confused with Compatibility Mode) that is available. Still not sure if this will serve what you are expecting, but it is worth a shot. The problem you are going to find with most any VM environment are conflicts with the drivers and limitations due to the sound and graphics they are able to employ, memory limitations, etc.

[windowpains]

Yes, that's true! The driver issue is where I ran into trouble. There could be other VM ware that does the job better than VBox but I haven't looked beyond that one myself. I don't think the graphical limitations of a low V-Ram would come into play if the GameEx UI was only meant to support classic games and run an occasional media file. Just wish the drivers were available to support it!

The XP mode of windows was something I was already interested in taking a look at in the near future for compatibility of Windows 98 type games. But I believe the efforts of M$ was to work toward a seamless environment where apps for either operating system could be run simultaneously on the same desktop. Because I need it to be kept separate, I am still in need of a solution or a second computer.

I could give a "look see" and find out if it accommodates separate environments as well. Might actually be a great suggestion for all I know.

[Draco1962]

You have the option of using it as a stand alone virtual machine or integrated into your Windows 7 environment for use with older applications that are not Windows 7 certified. Again, you will be limited by the VM "hardware" as well as the amount of RAM you have in Windows 7 and hard drive space. I believe that you can have USB access with this VM so external drives may be an option if you have a sizeable external library.

[windowpains]

This sounds like something I should take a look at then. Thank you for the suggestion.