CARS Bug: Window not opening after login

An occasional bug occurs when a user logs into CARS, wherein the application window does not appear after successfully entering credentials.

This occurs more frequently on laptops, and especially when a user’s device is plugged into multiple monitors, a docking station or a projector. It may be due to the application not recognizing that a monitor or display extension has been disconnected.

Fortunately, there are several ways to work around this issue. If you only have access to your mouse/cursor, follow these steps to try troubleshooting this issue:


  1. Open the CARS application as you normally would. It should appear active on your Start menu bar:

CARS Application Icon

  1. Place your mouse over the icon (do not click), and this should pop up the open instances of CARS. You may not see the exact screen contents (as pictured in the screenshot here), but it will always say "CARS Cloud 11.05.02..." (or whatever the most recent version is) at the top of the window.

a screenshot showing the application pop-up when the cursor is placed over the CARS application icon.

  1. Right-click on the instance (the pop-up window) to open a context menu, like so:


a screenshot of the context menu that appears when the mouse-over pop-up is right-clicked, showing selectable options "Restore", "Maximize" and "Close"

  1. Select "Maximize" - this will force the window to open to the primary display.


If the procedure above has not resolved the issue, you can also try using the Windows Task Viewer:

The Windows Task Viewer Icon

This will bring up all of your active applications in a tile-view. You can right-click on the CARS application (if it appears as a tile) and choose “Show this window on all desktops”.

A screenshot showing the context menu that appears when a task is right-clicked while in Task Viewer mode. The options "Snap left", "Snap right" appear (unchecked) followed by the options "Show this window on all desktops" and "Show windows from this app on all desktops" (both checked), and finally the option to "Close" the context menu.

If you have access to your keyboard, a similar process is possible using hotkeys; follow these steps to try troubleshooting this issue using hotkeys (Note, this will not work on a "maximized" or "minimized" window):

  1. Select the application from the taskbar/start bar (as above)

  2. Use the hotkey combination "Alt + Spacebar" to open a context menu (this may or may not be visible to you, so if nothing appears to happen, do not worry - the menu is likely open)

  3. Visible or not, the top section of this context menu is usually the same for most applications:

  4. The underlined letters indicate what key can be pressed to activate that function. We will try to "Move" the window by pressing the "m" key on your keyboard. This activates move mode on the window, and you will be able to shift the window left and right by pressing the arrow keys on your keyboard.

  5. You might also try to "Maximize" the window by following steps 1 & 2 again, but pressing "x" on your keyboard instead of following step 3.