In most 3D applications (...ok, you got me, silly violent games), my primary display shows the action while the secondary doesn't change, so it shows the windows background, IM chats or whatever. However, in Flight Sim running on full screen, it takes over this monitor and displays a blank black screen full of nothing. I can drag panels over no problem and it seems to work great as a second FS display. The question is, how do I get FS to ignore it? How do I get my Windows background / IM chat / etc back?The reason I ask is that I want FS Earth to run on the secondary monitor but this (including its always on top option) only works with FS running in a Window which, even if it's maximized, isn't properly immersive.System:Intel C2D 3.15Ghz, 2GB RAMWindows XP Pro SP2.BFG Geforce 8800GTXPrimary: Dell 20" LCDSecondary: Sony 21" CRT

I don't think that it is possible to do what you want. Interestingly, I have always felt that flight sim has it right and all the other games are doing it wrong.When flight sim is in Windowed Mode, it occupies a normal window and other Windows applications are allowed to open their own windows. When flight sim is in Full Screen Mode, it expects a dedicated system and does what it can (blacks out the other screen) to discourage you from starting other programs.as I recall, FS9 did not black out the second screen but I was unable to start any other programs if I was running in full screen.R-

I think that's right, in FS9 I had to switch to windowed mode, create separate windows for panels and drag them onto the second desktop and then switch back to full mode, which was a right pain. If I'd been using FS Earth then I guess I would have loved it but to have GPS or warning panels on the secondary monitor in FS9 was a pest.It's a shame that Flight Sim has switched to using the secondary display all the time just when I discover FS Earth and no longer want that behaviour. I tried removing all references to Display.1 (the secondary display) from FSX.cfg but the entries were just recreated.

Windowed mode seems to be your only option.Gary