Community Newsletter: Q&A: 6/16/06 How-to use two monitors on one computer

Honorable mentions

by Lee Koo (ADMIN)  - 6/19/06 9:16 AM

In reply to: 6/16/06 How-to use two monitors on one computer by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

Answer:

I recently had to set up over 50 dual monitor configurations at my work, by adding a 19" flat panel to go with an older 19" CRT. The trick is to get a second video card and install it in an open PCI slot in the computer. This sounds daunting but its actually very easy: just open the case and look for an empty slot that will fit the new video card. Pop out the cover that protects the end of the slot and carefully, but firmly, push the card into the slot so that the video connector sticks out of the back of the computer. Replace the cover. Next, connect the new flat panel monitor to the new video card with a new video cable, leaving the CRT connected to the old video connector.

We used inexpensive cards without fancy graphics options for gamers, but you may want a slight upgrade. When you turn the computer on, Windows should use "plug and play" to install the software needed to run the new video card*. Assuming you have Windows XP, it will also automagically detect that you have a second monitor. However, you have to set it up by doing the following: right-click the Windows desktop, click Properties, then click the Settings tab. You should see two monitors in the upper part of the window, numbered one and two. They will probably be different sizes, and one will be sort of "grayed out". That's the new monitor. Click on this picture and then look near the bottom of the window. There should be two lines, both unchecked. Check the second one, "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor". At that point, you should see the second monitor spring to life, but don't get too entranced! There will also be a dialog box asking if you want to keep these settings, possibly on the other monitor. Quickly now, check yes, as you only have about 15 seconds before it reverts. After this, click on the "Advanced" button to go in and set up the screen resolution (1280 by 1024 is native for most flat panels in landscape mode) and refresh rate (anything above 60 hertz). These changes will also generate the "Keep these settings...?" dialog box. If it looks OK, click Yes.

*If you wish, you can insert the CD that came with the video card to install the software that works with it, but this is mostly extra trimmings not absolutely necessary to normal operation. Windows usually does a good job of loading the "drivers" that make most new hardware work acceptably well.

Submitted by: Tom M.

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Answer:

Hello Steve,

It's not actually a question of wiring, but of video card(s) you use. I have been using two monitors with Windows XP for quite some time. You may use one video card with two connectors, so two monitors can be connected at the same time, or two or more video cards. Your options depend on the slot(s) your motherboard has available -- without an available slot (PCI, AVG, PCI Express), your easiest option may be to replace your existent card with one with two connectors. In that case, make sure you'll buy one that fits the same type of slot your current card uses. The software necessary to set things up comes with the video card, and allows you to choose the resolution, depth, relative position of displays, different backgrounds for each screen and much more. You will also be allowed to choose the behavior of what you want to see, for example a continuous screen where you can grab a browser window and take it to other monitor -- or not: you may have two screens with the same image -- it depends on what you want.

You may use CRT and flat panel devices together. If any of your monitors has a connector other than the video card's (the connectors may be either DVI or HD15, or both), you should easily be able to buy an adaptor that does the job with no problem (pay attention that the adaptor may have been packed with the video card -- read the box -- and you may not need to buy it separately).

Generally speaking, it's easy to love the more-than-one setting, and if you try to go back you'll probably miss the extra space you will get used to; some annoyances can happen, as some programs show throughout the monitors even when they're supposed not to, but you can always change your settings specifically for those cases: they are a small price to pay for the comfort you get.

Submitted by: Renato J.

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Answer:

It is not difficult for you to set up for dual-monitor use.

1. With luck, your current graphic board may already be capable of supporting 2 monitors. Check at the back of your desktop to see whether the board to which your current monitor is connected has another empty monitor connection socket: if so, just connect your second monitor to that empty connector socket and you are all set (see "Connecting Monitors" instructions below). See also "Optional Multi-monitor Software" below if you want added advanced dual-monitor functionality.

2. If your current graphic board has only one monitor connector, then you will have to replace it by a new graphic board that supports dual-monitor. The new board has to match the type of graphic board slot inside your desktop, which will be either the "AGP" or "PCI-Express" type.

3. A good and relatively inexpensive PCI-Express board is the "ATI All-In-Wonder X600 Pro", that not only supports dual-terminal (at extremely high resolutions up to 2048 x 1536), but also accepts TV signal from your cable box (or TV antenna) to the board's integrated TV tuner to allow you to watch TV on a window on your monitor, record TV program to your hard disk for later replay, and zoon-in, pan, or freeze live-action TV. It is $79.99 + $7 shipping less $40 Mail in Rebate = $46.99 Net, here:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=PCX-X600PRO-256TV-UPC&cm_ven=pricegrabber.com&cm_cat=Shopping&cm_ite=total
A good and relatively inexpensive AGP board is the Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9600 XT AGP 8X 256MB DDR board, at $76.99 (no tax, free shipping) here:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=320756

4. CONNECTING MONITORS: To install new board, just replace old graphic board with the new board, and install the driver software in the CD coming with the board. You may want to check afterwards on the manufacturer's website whether there may be any recent updates to the driver that you can download. On the new board, there will be a VGA (analog) connector (shown in blue on the PCI-E board above) to which you should connect your CRT monitor, and a DVI (digital) connector (shown in white in photo above) to be connected to your flat monitor with a DVI cable if your flat monitor has a DVI input connector. If your flat monitor does not have a DVI input, but only a VGA input, then you need a VGA cable plus a VGA to DVI adapter (which may come with the board, or which you can get on eBay for about $4.00).

5. OPTIONAL MULTI-MONITOR SOFTWARE: It's optional, but you may want to download some dual-monitor utility software for added advanced dual-monitor functions (google "dual monitor software"). A good software that you can download and use for a free trial period is Ultramon, here:

http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

Submitted by: Van N. of New York City

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Answer:

Windows XP supports multiple (you can use as many as video cards you have available) monitors straight out of the box. Earlier versions requires more "tinkering" to get to work.

If you have an additional video output (either you have an AGP video card with both a DVI and VGA, or a video card with two outputs, or you have another PCI video card) Windows XP automatically detect it and ask you for the corresponding drivers.

You should not need any cable other than what came with your monitor. The only thing left is to "arrange" the two monitors so Windows will know which is Left or Right (or Up or Down). If you right-click on your desktop and go to the Properties -> Settings tab you should see another monitor to the right of your main one. There will be a large "1" and a large "2". Depending on the brand of the monitor it may be already "attached", but if is not you can easily attach it by right-clicking and selecting "Attached". The only thing left is to choose your desired resolution, but if it matches your other monitor it will be easy to drag. By the way if you have more than two monitors you can arrange them any way you would like. You can put one above one of the other two.

Be warned that once you get used to multiple monitors it will be very hard to go back to just one. It is extremely useful if you do any CADD. Lego CADD works great with multiple monitors. I have run a TV card or Windows Media Player on one while I use my work on the other monitor.

Submitted by: Luis C.

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Answer:

There is a plethora of information available to you on the Internet by using Google Desktop that you can download from
Click here: Google Software Downloads.

I have done such a Google search for you and have included the link below

Click here: Connecting two monitors to a Computer - Google Search


Instead of regurgitating information readily available to you, I have extracted an excellent article by Jason Kohrs for you which you can access by clicking on the link below. it will answer all the questions that you may have and more :

Click here: Jason Kohrs, Using Dual Computer Monitors, Dual Monitor Set Up, Connecting Dual Monitors, Building a Dual Monitor Computer


There are many excellent video cards using different chipsets and with different connectors . Some only have one DVI and one VGA connector such as the Nvidia GeForce 6800, others have only two DVI connectors, such as the 256 MB nVidea GeForce Go 7800 PCI Graphics card. Hoewever you can convert the DVI connectors on the Card to VGA by an inexpensive adapter.

I use a Dell XPS 600 computer with dual SLI 256 MB nVidia GeForce 6800 chipsets Video Cards in two 16x PCI Express connecters on the mother board. Each nVidia GeForce 6800 video card has a DVI connector and a VGA connector. DVI gives me a better picture. Therefore each flat panel Dell 2001FP monitor is connected to a separate nVidia 6800 Ge Force DVI conector on the video card . The SLI bridge connecting the two nVidia 6800 Ge Force video cards can be removed for the monitors to function properly or you can leave the conector bridge intact and disable SLI from the software provided with the nVidiea 6800 ge. Force video cards.

Dual SLI video connectors give you superior monitor performance only if you are into gaming. If you are not into gaming, you only need one Video Card. For example one nVidai GeForce 6800 Video Card will allow you to connect your flat LCD Monitor to the DVI connector on the Video card and your 19 inch CRT Dell Trinitron Monitor to the VGA connector on the Video card. Cables should come with each monitor.

If your Flat panel LCD Monitor has a VGA connection in addition to the DVI connection, and my Dell 2001FP LCD monitors do, a DVI-VGA adapter allows you to VGA connect both the LCD Flat Panel monitor and the 19 inch CRT Trintron monitor to the nVidia 6800 card. However in my opinion, a DVI connection gives you better performance.

It may be intimidating when you first get into it however once you learn it, it will be pretty straight forward. Please do give me a call at 925-934-3902 and I will help you further if you need help.

Submitted by: Arthur B. of Walnut Creek, California

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Answer:

This is a function native in XP Home and Pro. I currently run 3 monitors (Two 17” and one 21” widescreen) in the same PC with only XP home as the OS. The key is your display adaptor(s). You either need one that will support dual displays (usually requires a DVI adaptor) or 2 separate single display cards. For your typical applications IE: Excel and/or PowerPoint you needn’t spend a ton of money on high memory cards to get going. I used to run a 128 meg AGP8 card and a 64 Meg PCI card for dual monitors. Not only did this function for productivity programs just fine but I could never remember which card was connected to which monitor. In other words the 64 Meg PCI was as effective as the 128 AGP. So don’t’ go crazy with the money.

You will enable this thru the display settings of windows, unless, the driver software for your display adaptor(s) have this functionality as well. The two more popular chipsets, nVidia and ATI have dual monitor capabilities in their driver user interfaces but I thought they were somewhat limited. The main utility I use is Ultramon. (Kinda sounds like a superhero huh?) It gives me more flexibility even though it is a program essentially running in the background.

You’ll have to play with this for a bit to get used to and find the way using two monitors best fits your needs. I can only tell you this much. After using two monitors for about 1 ½ years I now have three. I’m concerned that in 10 years I’ll have eight of them.

Seriously, I think you’ll be very pleased.

Submitted by: Randy K.

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Answer:

In order to accomplish this you need one of the following:
1) Two video adapters
2) A single video adapter with dual head capability
3) An external dual head adapter

If you install any of the above with an operating system that supports multiple displays (such as Windows 2000 or above) you can go into the Display Properties, Settings Tab, select the second display, and check the option to Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor. This will allow you to stretch your desktop across multiple displays. Should you need to purchase the adapter to accomplish this, make sure the output connectors on the adapter match the inputs to your monitors (VGA to VGA, DVI to DVI, etc...). An external dual head adapter takes the single VGA output from your computer and splits it across two screen using dual head technology.

One example of this is the Matrox DualHead2Go adapter. As another option, if you have a laptop running Windows 2000 or above that has an external VGA adapter, you can connect an external monitor to the VGA connector and extend your Windows desktop from the laptop screen to the external monitor.

Submitted by: Russell D.

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I have setup a multiple monitor support many times and it's fairly simple. To start off, you will need a video card that has TWO VGA ports on the back of your computer. For those of you who don't know what this is, let me explain it to you in "english." A VGA Port is the jack where you plug in the cable that runs from your monitor to the computer. A Video Card is a green card that you can only see if you open up the computer. The only part of the Video card you can see is what is sticking out from the back. These cards usually go on the empty slots at the very bottom of the computer. Now back to the setup. An example of a Video Card is an nVidia or ATI Radeon. If you don't have one, you can get one for about $100-$150. To connect a video card is easy. Follow the instructions and run the cd that comes with it.

Now, turn off your computer before doing the following. Once you have a video card with two VGA Ports, then all you need are two monitors. Connect the power of each monitor and setup both monitors the way you will want them to stay. Connect one Monitor Cable into one of the two VGA ports from your video card and connect the other monitor cable into the other VGA port that's left in the video card. Once that's finished, turn on the computer and both monitors. Wait until the computer starts and finishes loading. You shouldn't see both monitors on yet, just one. Right Click on your desktop and click Properties. Go to the Settings tab and you should see your normal settings there except, you will see two monitors. One will probably be Black and the other will be Gray stating that it's not activated yet. Click on Identify. The number one should show up on your screen and the number one would be on the monitor that's Black. Click on the number 2 monitor and underneath that, there will be some check marks. Click on the Expand My Windows Desktop onto this Monitor (As in you both your monitors act as One Big Desktop and you can drag multiple windows to either side and have one program on one side and another program on the other side) then you will also check the Expand my Desktop.

Make sure that both Monitors have the same Resolution (either 1024 x 768 or 800 x 600) or which ever resolution you want but be sure that both have the same resolution.

Congratulations. You just set up a dual monitor desktop computer. Have fun!

Submitted by: Gabriel C.

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Answer:

The first thing you're going to need is two monitor connections. Most new graphics cards have two connectors. Usually they have one Analog (DB-25) and one Digital (DVI.) [DualMonitor01.jpg] Your system can have one of each connection or two of both. Most monitors use DB-25 and converters for from DVI to DB-25 are usually between $10-$40. Most new graphics cards will come with one as well. If you only have one monitor connection your are going to need to install an additional graphics card. Now might be a good time to upgrade while you're at it. Now just plug in your main monitor to the connector that is closest to the card and the secondary monitor to the connector closest to the bottom. If your computer is on the monitors should be displaying the same thing. If your computer is off, well turn it on.

You've just completed the hard part. Now go to your control panel and open up the Display setting. Now click on the Settings tab. There should be two rectangles with the numbers 1 and 2 inside of each one. Click on the one that says 2. Click where it says Extend my Windows desktop to this monitor. Set your screen resolution on your second monitor. If you want to drag the monitor to a different position you can. Click on OK. You should be all set.

Submitted by: Gabriel C.

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Answer:

I have done this task many times and it is very easy. All you need is a PC with two video “heads” or output for your monitor. If you don’t have two currently, a new video card isn’t hard to add and can be purchased from any computer retailer. To set up the two monitors, plug both monitors into your PC, one in each port “head” and boot it up if it isn’t already. On the desktop, right click in a clear area and click on properties. This brings up your display properties which can also be found in the control panel. Click on the settings tab and, if properly installed, you should see two boxes. One should be shaded and the other should be solid. The solid box represents the monitor you’re using now and the shaded box represents the other monitor that is currently not working. Click on the shaded box and find the check box under it that is labeled “extend my windows desktop onto this monitor.” Clicking this box will make the selected monitor become the secondary monitor, leaving the other one to be primary. The primary monitor will contain the start menu and be the default monitor for opening applications. If you want the monitors to swap primary/secondary, click the pic of the secondary monitor and select “use this device as the primary monitor.” To change where the mouse transitions from one screen to the next, say you want to go off the left side or top rather than the right, just drag the pic of one of the monitors into the desired position and the computer will reposition the mouse, etc. It may sound like a lot now, but trust me, it’s EASY! Good Luck!

Submitted by: Brent M.

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Answer:

You can do this by purchasing the right video card. Or, by putting a second video card in. All you need is to have two video outputs so that you can actually connect two monitors (or TV's even!). At home, I currently have an Nvidia Geforce 4400 in place with a TV output on it. Some other cards will have dual VGA or even DVI connectors. This is often referred to as a "dual head" card. Install the card using the provided drivers, or find the Microsoft "logo tested" drivers if the Nvidia drivers cause even a small problem. I've actually got both drivers available and I either "update" to the Microsoft driver or "roll back" to the Nvidia driver depending on what I want to do. Morrowind, and some of my larger DVD rips only work with the Nvidia drivers, but I tend to get a crisper display with the MS drivers. Anyway, back to the subject.

In my configuration at home I connect my TV to my video card directly by using an S-Video cable. The S-vido port resembles the PS-2 port that your mouse uses. My card also have standard RCA connections...these are the single-prong, "stereo cables" that come in red-white-yellow groups. All you need is the yellow cable, and they can typically be purchased solo. Plug your TV output into the video card using the appropriate cable, and reboot! When you come back to Windows, open the Display properties in the Control Panel. On the "Settings" tab you should see two boxes labeled 1 and 2. Each of these represents a monitor...with 1 being the default (the one you're working with.) Click on the box with the 2 on it. Look for a check box below labeled "Extend my Windows Desktop onto this monitor." This activates another check box that will allow you to use the second monitor as your primary. What this means is that your task bar will live there as well as any new windows that open will usually pop up on that monitor. As was mentioned in the question, the desktop is treated like one large space. You can drag a window to the edge and it will appear on the other monitor. It takes a little getting used to, but I find it to be pretty intuitive. You will often find yourself adjusting resolution and colors until you find a good configuration for what you are trying to do. I can make Doom 2 work on my 27 inch TV as long as I make the resolution settings as low as possible (800 X 600). Apply your settings, and you're done. With enough memory (both video and RAM), you can literally play a video, full-screen, on one monitor while crunching a spreadsheet on your current monitor...with no performance drag. When your screen saver comes on it will also extend between screens. Pretty neat!

Two monitors is very similar. You'll need a dual-head video card for monitors that only have VGA connectors. Typically these are the blue connectors, while DVI are white. DVI is the better technology, but VGA is far more common. You may use dual video cards and achieve the same thing. This is the setup I have on my work PC. Just install both video cards and plug in both monitors and the setup is virtually the same. You cannot use two AGP based cards because there is only one AGP slot on a mother board. Two PCI cards or a PCI and AGP mix will work though. Check with the salesperson at the computer store and see which cards they recommend. Most newer ATI or Nvidia models will be compatible with themselves, but it's better to check with the experts than return cards all day.

However you achieve it, once you are able to plug more than one display device in, this feature will just be available in your Display properties. Some TV's just aren't capable of producing a good picture, but any one of the more expensive brands should be good to go. I've done this with a Panasonic TV with awesome results, but the TV (Asus) I got on sale at Wal*Mart always displays in black and white. If anyone knows why, I'd LOVE to hear your feedback on that one, but I suspect it's because Windows doesn't have a compatible driver.

Submitted by: Robert B.

(NT) Same with HP and Compaq notebooks (at least with ATI ca

by SantiagoCrespo  - 6/16/06 7:16 AM

Laptop + extra monitor

So would I like to know how to use an external monitor plus an lcd. Anyone know where there is a good guide for this?

Running dual 19" for a year now

In reply to: Honorable mentions by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

I am running a CRT 19" and a new 19" LCD on a NVIDIA GeForce 5500 GTX. The LCD is directly in front of the keyboard, and the CRT is sitting to the right. The NVIDIA software allows me to adjust each screen independently and offers many setup configurations. I can put the 'non-immediate' type programs off to the side, but still be able to glance at them- instead of maybe having to minimize and restore them over and over again. I like being able to have a full-sized ArcMap open in front of me while editing, and have ArcCatalog open on the side to drag files, modify files, or converting new data to add. I can leave outlook or media player open to the side, and be working on the screen in front of me. When I first hooked them up, I had to get used to looking for my mouse, I actually changed the mouse color so I could find it. The screen to the side does not strain my neck, because I do most of the work on the main screen. It has made my work more efficient.

Other suggestions from our members

by Lee Koo (ADMIN)  - 6/15/06 6:46 PM

In reply to: 6/16/06 How-to use two monitors on one computer by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

Answer:

The multiple monitors setup is best driven by a Video Graphics Card with 2 heads. Otherwise, you may experience a slowdown in video performance with the cable-based solutions on the market. Especially with a PowerPoint presentation as you describe in your letter. My favorite is any NVidia card running a GeForce 5x00, 6x00, or 7x00 -series card with 2 DVI (White connectors) connections as it offers the greatest flexibility with monitor connections. Use the DVI to VGA adapters included in the retail versions of the cards to use with your VGA Dell monitor. This card, along with the current Forceware drivers from NVidia, can easily allow you to enable 2 different-sized desktops for one long extended desktop. NVidia calls it "dualview" and it's very easy to enable. Once you have them properly connected, follow these directions.

You must reboot with both monitors on first. Once rebooted and logged in, on any blank part of the desktop, right-click and hit "Properties". In the upper right of the window, click "Settings". Click the button "Advanced" in the middle of the screen. In the window that opens, click on the NVidia tab. Click on the display settings. You should see 2 dropdowns. The top one should have an option called "Dualview". Enable it and hit apply. Your second monitor should appear with the same background and image as your current desktop. If it appears to have your proper/legible resolution, then you're done and you should be able to drag anything over there or play fullscreen video. If it does not, right-click the monitor you want to change and hit "change resolution". Your flat panel has a native resolution that probably isn't the best for your Dell Trinitron. You should see what it is in the manual of the monitor and set it in this "change resolution" window fo that monitor. Once you have your monitors set the way you want them, hit ok in the box you're in now. Then hit ok in the "Display Properties" window. That's it! You're done.

Submitted by: Chris H.

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It's easy and incredibly useful to use two monitors together if you have the space on your desk. Windows XP already comes with all you need to do the job. You have not mentioned what your computer setup is, but it's likely that the only component you will have to buy is a graphics card with a dual output.

You don't need to 'link up' the two monitors together, just attach them to the connectors on the card. You will need to get a card that has one VGA output and one DVI output (though you can easily get converters from one to the other) I use two monitors on a NVidia 5700 LE graphics card (which is pretty low end as graphics cards go), with a 17" LG CRT and a 19" LCD monitor. The graphics card will go in the AGP slot (for older motherboards) or the PCIe slot (for newer motherboards). If you get a NVidia card, you will get their NView software to configure your monitors; but the win XP software is also good enough. Once you are used to two monitors, you'll wonder how you ever did without both of them!

Have fun.

Submitted by: Vishwas B.

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Using two monitors is a much more efficient way to use any PC. If your like me and do lots of graphics and video editing, two monitors is absolutely essential. Even if you’re not into graphics and video rendering, two monitors still makes any PC much easier to use. I run two 19" dell flats on my main PC, and you only need one more piece of hardware which should cost around £60-70.

What you need is a dual head graphics card. Mine is fairly basic, was only about £50 and does the job amazingly well. Its a GeForce FX 5200 Tornado. All you do is buy the card, install it, plug both your monitors in and that’s it. There are also various utilities you can get to make the dual monitor system more enjoyable. I use a little program called UltraMon which allows you to add a second taskbar on the second monitor. It also adds two useful icons next to the minimize maximize exit buttons. One to stretch the window across both monitors and one to switch it over to the other window.

Using dual monitors (providing you have the space!) is the first upgrade I would ever consider for any PC.

Submitted by: Peter H. of England

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Hi! You can purchase a video card for your tower computer for as little as $20 that gives you the capability of two monitors sharing desktop space. I got mine from http://Newegg.com. Installation was easy and it works like a charm! All my friends and family are enthralled and envious!

Submitted by: Richlite of La Pine, Oregon

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Here is a article about connecting two monitors to one computer.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11319_7-5620889-1.html

Submitted by: Mike R.

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The name given for such a setup is Dual Monitor configuration. It requires a dual display card, most common one to be found is a Matrox Card. The card has two display outputs on it, as compared to a single output on a standard card.

You would need to connect the display cables of the two monitors to the two display outputs. The moment a matrox card is installed on your system, you would get a display icon on your system tray. Right click the icon and go to matrox properties. Under that you would get a Tab for Dual Head. Click that tab. Under that the first option is Dual Head Multi Display. Select that option.

Now your system has been configured for a dual display. You can drag an excel sheet from one monitor to the other.

If you are using windows XP over a Laptop, then you wont be needing to install a Matrox Card, you can directly plug in a spare monitor to the laptop, and use the monitor as a second screen. For this you need to Right click on the blank desktop and go to the Properties. Click the tab of Settings, You have an option which says Extend my desktop to this monitor. Enable it. and voila you have a dual screen.

But for Desktop systems with Win XP, the Matrox ( or any other dual card ) is the only way out.

Submitted by: Ajay R.

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Just a quick answer to this weeks question in the newsletter about using 2 monitors.
I had a 15" LCD screen and decided I wanted a bigger one so I bought a 19". I was going to sell the smaller one but decided to see if I could use it as well. I rang my local techie to see what I needed and he said that I would need a video card with dual outlets or I could try a 2nd video card in a pci slot.

He brought a 2nd hand one in to try for me. We plugged it in, booted the computer and enabled the stretched desktop in the display properties and bingo! a dual monitor system. I run my music player, have my email open, and some small utilities on the smaller monitor and work on the bigger one.

And best of all, it cost me $10 for the video card.

Submitted by: Jim V.

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Well, that depends on the video card that you have. Most of the more recent video cards have dual heads, probably one analog(for older VGA monitor like your SONY) and one DVI(like your new LCD monitor). If you have an ATI chipset base video card, you need a piece of software call Hydravision to set this up. With nVidia cards, the control is built in the regular drivers. If you have an older machine then your video card probably only has one connector. In that case, you have to add a second video card to do it. If you have a AGP type video card, you can add a PCI video card to hook up to the 2nd display. Your 2nd video card has to be based on the same chipset manufacturere as your 1st one. Hope that helps!

Submitted by: S. L.

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In order to operate 2 (or more) monitors from your computer, you either need 2 video cards, or a video card that supports multiple monitors.

Most video acrd companies now supply at least 1 series of dual monitor cards now, and in teh case of some primary providers, like ATI or nVidia, almost all of the new cards come with dual monitor functionality.

My preference is ATI, but there are others out there that will do the job.

http://www.atitech.com

When you install the new card, it will also install drivers and software on your system to manage the displays. When you check the display settings in control panel on your system (assuming you are on a PC) it will now show you as having 2 displays and provide options as to whether to use it as a single large display over 2 monitors, or to mirror the display on both. The latter is good for doing displays etc because then you can have 1 facing an audience and one facing you with the same thing on it. The former is how you can put items on one screen and others on another.

If you are going to buy a new card, you may want to try and buy something fairly new, as some of the older cards are being phased out, and if you are the type of person that keeps the OS current, only newer cards are being considered for things like Vista. At ATI, good middle ground cards would fit in the Radeon 9000 series or better. If you want to spend the money, get into the latest X series cards - they are awesome, even if they are pricey.

Submitted by: Glen P. of Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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Answer:

I first set up a second monitor with my monochrome Macintosh SE in 1986. I was able to create one large virtual desktop and move icons from one screen to another. I recall impressing my friends with a sine wave screen saver that appeared to leap through thin air from one monitor to the next. It was simply a matter of adding a second video card to the mother board and hooking up a monitor. The Mac OS at the time, System 3.0, did the rest.
My point is that the simplest way to make use of more than two screens at a time is to go the “GAM” (Get A Mac) route. Every new Mac supports at least two monitors right out of the box; more if your Mac has room for additional video cards. Mac OS X detects the number of monitors connected and allows you to position your virtual desktop via a simple to use graphic control panel. This is particularly helpful with laptops. When I work at my desk, I connect my PowerBook G4 to my 21 in. LCD Monitor. If things don’t re-configure automatically after making the connection, I select “Detect Displays” from the Displays menu and BINGO, everything is set to go.

I hope this information is helpful. If it’s unclear, I recommend a quick trip to your closest Apple Store to see multiple screens in action. The only other alternative, I believe, is to wait for VISTA which, I understand, supports multiple monitors.

Submitted by: Peter W.

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Answer:

First of all, you'll need two connecting ports in order to connect both of your monitors to your computer. For that you may need to install another graphics card on your computer. You may go for an entry level graphics card for the purpose you've mentioned here.

Now, Windows XP offers a very easy way to use two monitors simultaneously. Follow these steps:

1. Right click on the desktop and choose "Properties". Click on "Settings" tab.
2. Now, check on the box containing option " Extend my windows desktop onto this monitor".
3. Click OK

Now you can open excel on one monitor and powerpoint on another. Just drag the window from on monitor to another.

Submitted by: Ayan

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Answer:

The dual monitor question is simple – the “newbie’s” need a new video card, that has two outputs. I use a NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 that came over on the Mayflower and it works great – allows you to drag programs from one screen to the other … with different programs running on each monitor – and you can set the resolution stats for each separately. Quick and easy – and a great addition.

Submitted by: J. P. M. of Lions Bay, B. C. Canada

dual monitor options

I have an alternate way without requiring you to open your machine. It works best with USB 2.0 though.
I have an alternate way without requiring you to open your machine. It works best with USB 2.0 though.

"USB 2.0 Hi-Speed USB Video Card Adapter SVGA
Features : New Features: Add one application of Mirror function, so this adapter can be as Primary, Extended, or Mirror of Primary screen on system, display function.
04-11-2005 We have added new driver support for Hi-Resolution up to 1280X1024 at 16-bit Color. Please see our driver download section! USB 2.0 SVGA Adapter enables you to connect any monitor, LCD, projector to your PC or notebook. You can use it as an extended desktop or as a larger/different display...
Part No. USBG-SVGA2" just one of at least 2 companies that I know exists.

I even took it one step further. I got a USB over Ethernet device (picked up at COMPUSA but don’t remember the brand off hand). Put it on a wireless router. Installed the software on my desktop running wireless and it found the monitor and added it to my machine. Now this was overboard and took a minute or two to catch up initially but it worked.

So not only did I add a second monitor without opening my machine. I added a remote monitor that was in a different room all together. Makes figuring out where you are on that monitor a bit hard but it was fun.
Also the wireless unit on my system is an 802.11.b linksys USB.

However back to reality.

The USB Video converter is a very fast way with newer faster machines to add more than one monitor and never need to open the case. Let’s face it we all are getting units with at least 4 if not 6 USB ports.


"USB 2.0 Hi-Speed USB Video Card Adapter SVGA
Features : New Features: Add one application of Mirror function, so this adapter can be as Primary, Extended, or Mirror of Primary screen on system, display function.
04-11-2005 We have added new driver support for Hi-Resolution up to 1280X1024 at 16-bit Color. Please see our driver download section! USB 2.0 SVGA Adapter enables you to connect any monitor, LCD, projector to your PC or notebook. You can use it as an extended desktop or as a larger/different display...
Part No. USBG-SVGA2" just one of at least 2 companies that I know exists.

I even took it one step further. I got a usb over ethernet device (picked up at COMPUSA but dont remember the brand off hand). Put it on a wireless router. installed the software on my desktop running wireless. and it found the monitor and added it to my machine. Now this was overboard and took a minute or two to catch up initialy but it worked.

So not only did I add a second monitor without opening my machine. I added a remote monitor that was in a diffrent room all together. Makes figuring out where you are on that monitor a bit hard but it was fun.
Also the wireless unit on my system is a 802.11.b linksys usb.

However back to reality.

The USB Video converter is a very fast way with newer faster machines to add more than one monitor and never need to open the case. lets face it we all are getting units with at least 4 if not 6 usb ports.

Don't forget the pan-and-scan virtual desktop

In reply to: Other suggestions from our members by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

Even before I started using dual monitors, I could achieve part of their purpose of getting more screen real estate with a pan-and-scan virtual desktop.

"Say what?" you may ask. Pioneered by an add-on to the classic desktop publishing program Xerox Ventura Publisher (still alive and well in version 10 from Corel), this feature gives you a desktop that is larger than your monitor's screen. Move your cursor to the edge and the screen moves to reveal additional real estate. This enables you to open your applications full size - never use a scroll bar again in word processing, spreadsheets, or desktop publishing. It also lets you open several applications next to each other. It's a great productivity enhancer and it can be easily achieved in Windows XP with a single monitor (even with some notebooks) and dual monitors.

The key is having an ATI video card and using ATI display drivers without the Catalyst Control Center. So just download the drivers from ATI's site if you don't already have them installed. Uninstall your older ATI drivers, reboot, and install the newer drivers you downloaded (ignore Windows' attempt to automatically install drivers). You may be able to do all this with your current ATI drivers installed. The only way to know is to try it.

To get the pan-and-scan virtual desktop:

(1) Right click your desktop and select "Properties." In the Display Properties window, pick the "Settings" tab.

(2) Click on Display #1 and pick "Advanced."
Select the "Display" tab. (IF you're using a notebook computer, choose the "Monitor" tab and uncheck thee box for "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display."

(3) Click on the "Displays" tab and then on the first "Monitor" button. Before clicking on "Monitor," if using multiple monitors, be sure that the "1" is also chosen.

(4) Uncheck "Use DDC information." If using an LCD monitor, set the "Maximum Refresh" to 60 Hz. If using a conventional monitor (CRT), set the maximum refresh to whatever is suitable.

(5) Now, under "Maximum Resolution" set the resolution for your monitor to something low, like 800 x 600 or 960 x 720.

(6) "Okay" your way back to the "Settings" screen and set the "Screen Resolution" for Display #1 to something high like 1600 x 1200.

(7) Click "Apply" and you've got your pan-and-scan virtual desktop on a single monitor or Monitor 1.

(8) To get the pan-san-scan virtual desktop on Monitor 2, follow these same steps, but start by clicking on Monitor 2 and then checking the box for "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor." Click "Apply." Then, with Display #2 still selected, click on "Advanced."

(9) Follow steps 2 through 7 again, but be sure to pick the second monitor button in step 3 and be sure that "2" is selected for that monitor.

(10) And bingo, you've got a ton of desktop real estate on one or two monitors. To go back to a static desktop, all you really have to do is check the "Use DCC Information" button.

If these different tabs are not available, then you using Windows' own drivers and need to install drivers from ATI.

IF you use a laptop or notebook computer with any video card, you may be able to get the pan-and-scan virtual desktop. This technique generally works with ATI video, but sometimes also with NVIDIA video in notebooks. There's no guarantee it will work, but you are extremely unlikely to harm your monitor by trying.

(1) Right click your desktop and select "Properties."

(2) In the Display Properties window, pick the "Settings" tab. Click on Display #1 and pick "Advanced."

(3) Select the "Display" tab. Choose the "Monitor" tab and uncheck the box for "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display." Then click on "Okay" and return to the Display Properties - Settings window. Change the screen resolution to a higher setting - try 1600 x 1200 pixels and click "Apply." If that doesn't work, try a lower resolution. The key is that the resolution you choose should be higher than the screen's native resolution.

Good luck and enjoy the convenience and greater productivity the pan-and-scan virtual desktop offers.