I use a laptop as my primary workstation. Sometimes I work alone on it, but a significant portion of the time, I’m at my office desk and I hook up an external monitor to increase my workspace.

Every time I perform this action, I click the same dialog boxes in Windows Vista to setup the dual screen and position the window. It seems like a repeatable task that I could automate.

I’d like to be able to plug in my monitor cable, double click a program and have it automatically configure the monitor.

What type of program could do this? I haven’t found much online that relates. I’m thinking of trying an autohotkey script, or the Windows Accessibility API with PowerShell. Has this problem already been solved?

Clarification: I’m specifically looking to automate the steps I use with my mouse that invoke the base functionality in Windows Vista.

1. Right click on desktop
2. Select Personalize in context menu
3. Click display settings
4. Click monitor #2, then click checkbox to “Extend desktop to this monitor”
5. Click and drag monitor #2 to the left of monitor #1
6. Click OK to close the dialog
7. Click Yes in the subsequent pop up to accept these monitor settings

Update: Windows 7 does this automatically

I just upgraded to Windows 7 and it remembered my dual monitor settings. I set them once at work as listed above, then unplugged and worked at home over the weekend. I came in on Monday morning, booted up, plugged in and whammo! It just worked. Thanks Windows 7!

Here I am, three years later, answering my own question! Yay!!!

This is easily scripted with http://www.autohotkey.com

Here’s an example script for swapping between one monitor and two monitors with Windows+1 and Windows+2. AutoHotKey also allows for click and drag behavior that would be needed to swap the position of the second monitor.