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Old 09-10-2020, 05:34 PM   #39
ericbsmith
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Binghamton, NY, USA. Near the river Styx in the 5th Circle.
Default Re: GCA4 FAQ - GURPS Character Assistant 4 Frequently Asked Questions

Q: GCA is not responding - a window failed to open or opened off-screen, how to fix?

A: GCA has two types of sub-windows it will open. Some, like the Modifiers and Edit windows, GCA will remember the position of and place them back in the same position the next time you open them. If your monitor configuration changes this means they can open off-screen if you had previously placed them on a monitor that is no longer present.

The second type, "Modal" windows, are general response windows such as the ones that open when you need to specify the specialization of a skill or advantage. These normally open on the same monitor that GCA is active on, but can sometimes open on another monitor, including in the desktop space where a monitor used to be - meaning they can also open off-screen.

When these windows open off-screen it can seem as though GCA is not responding, since these sub-windows have the focus and the main window is inactive until the window closes. Pressing the Escape key should close these windows and should return focus to the main GCA window.

To reset the position of all remembered windows, you can Clear the App Data as described in FAQ entry #3. This will reset all user settings for GCA, not just window positions, so may not be be the best way of resolving the issue. It also won't affect the "modal" windows positions if they are opening off-screen.


If you are using Windows 10 you can reposition most program windows by pressing the Windows Key + Arrow keys to move an active window around. Pressing Win+Right once will snap the window to the right half of the screen; Holding Win and pressing the right arrow a second time will move the window to the next monitor; continuing to tap right again moves the window to the next next monitor. So if a window opens off screen just hold Win and start tapping the Right Arrow until the window moves onto a usable monitor.

Win+Left Arrow works the same way, but pins to the left and moves to the previous monitor.
Win+Up Arrow maximizes a window.
Win+Down Arrow will unmaximize a maximized window and minimize an unmaximized window.

Clever, and easy to remember. However, this generally only works for the non-modal windows in GCA, such as the Edit and Modifiers windows. For modal windows - the response windows - you'll need to use the next method of moving them.


An old trick that should work with all of GCA's sub-windows and in all older versions of Windows (going back to Win 3.1 and NT) is to press Alt+Space. This opens the old system menu for a window; The top option of that menu is Move, which you can select by pressing M. If you then press an arrow key this will move the window a few pixels in that direction *AND* attach the window to your mouse cursor, which should then allow you to move your mouse around and drag the window onto your screen. If that doesn't work try using Alt+Tab to select GCA as the active program and then try Alt+Space again.

Thanks to Bruno for telling us about the old trick trick, as I had to look up her old post (again) to remember it.
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Eric B. Smith GURPS Data File Coordinator
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Last edited by ericbsmith; 09-13-2020 at 08:40 PM.
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