I have a three monitor setup. Two 24" LCDs (1x DVI connection, 1x Mini DP), and an audio receiver over HDMI (which outputs through to a plasma TV).
In my everyday use of the computer, I essentially have three monitors running at once -- however, the third "monitor" -- the receiver -- I rarely ever see, as the TV is usually off. Regardless, the receiver still holds its own monitor that stays up with its own desktop, albeit invisible to my eyes.
The problem: When I turn off either LCD (primary or non-primary), after turning it back on, all of my windows and folders have jumped to the receiver's desktop. I then either have to turn the TV on to see that desktop and drag everything off, or use a keyboard shortcut for a program I use (Actual Window Manager) where I will alt-tab to each window, press the shortcut, and have it jump through the monitors back to my main one.
I suppose the essence of the question is -- how does Windows 7 decide which monitor to bring everything to when a primary monitor turns off? Or, how does Windows decide which non-primary to choose as the "new" primary monitor?
EDIT Is it possible to change a monitor's number in the ordering?
Start
+Shift
+Arrow Key
is the official method, which goes straight from monitor to monitor without changing the position onscreen.