Getting XP to open new windows a set size, position.

[Sheila Qwann]

I would like each and every new application window (or multiple windows, like firefox) to open centered, and 1244 x 700 in size. Is there any place in the OS to set this as the default?

Thanks

Sheila

[Paul Komski]

Remembeing size/posn/maximised settings is normally a function of the application and not of Windows. Many programs will remember the last used setting particularly if there was only one window of that application open at the time. If it doesnt stick then try closing with the X button in the control box top right while holding down the shift key.

[Sylvander]

I have the same problem in Puppy Linux.

A window will open in a less than perfect/convenient location, and even though I reposition it and close it, it still opens in the same location.

Any easy way to fix the new location?

[Sheila Qwann]

Thanks for the replies. I have my pc connected to a wall-mounted plasma in the other room, via HDMI. I use the pc from that room for multimedia, but also for internet, etc (as I am now). The trouble is that a maximized window is cut off slightly at the top and bottom of the plasma. Programs like Firefox, which open each new window in a cascade fashion, make the problem even worse. I guess this is that whole "desktop" concept, where windows are supposed to look like papers overlapping one another on the top of an actual desk (wasn't that the idea?), I always thought this was a little ridiculous, & prefer alt/tabbing among open windows, with each filling the screen. Other programs also don't seem to recall that I have resized them repeatedly. I have a utility called Sizer which provides a drop down menu of window sizes/positions you have selected when you right-click a window's maximize button. This at least makes it pretty easy to reset the window to the desired position, but it would be nice if there were some global setting where each new window would simply open to the settings I prefer.

Sheila

[Paul Komski]

With a browser you can use javascript bookmarklets to resize to any size of your choosing.

For example ...
javascript:window.resizeTo(1024,768)

... as per THIS PAGE (http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/resize-firefox-window-with-bookmarklet/) which relates to Firefox.

There is a whole library of bookmarklets (https://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/) with some obvious differences between browsers.

[Sheila Qwann]

Paul - Thanks for the suggestion. The utility I mentioned pretty much does the same thing on any window. Sure wish there was just a way to accomplish this globally.

Sheila

[Paul Komski]

Just to say that in my own Firefox, if I set the size/position of a lone opened window and close it with the X button, that size/position is retained until I manually move or resize the window myself. The about:config value of dom.disable_window_move_resize doesn't seem to affect the outcome. I'm sure that what you want is to be able to fix a constant size/position and since this can be done programatically by the developer of Windows applications (by choosing the window's "type" etc in its load or open value) perhaps there could be a way to alter a customised compilation (https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Build_Documentation). It's not an avenue that I have yet explored.

You could of course set your homepage to

javascript:moveTo(20,20);window.resizeTo(1244,700) (EDIT: I thought this worked but now it doesn't seem to. Sorry.)

which would give you a blank page - though the javascript should be capable of being modified to also open a specific html page I guess.

I suppose another nice feature, if it could be found, would be to have a keyboard shortcut that would open a specific bookmark - but that might not be possible.

As an offshoot, while researching this I discovered how to use tags for bookmarks in Firefox and can see it is another way of organising multiple bookmarked pages.