using two monitors, one pc

[judge alba]

i have a question regarding using two monitors on one PC (well OK maybe a couple)
firstly i have two sockets in my graphics card that appear to be for monitors, in deed one is used for a monitor. what i was wondering is can i plug in a second monitor to the un used socket?

secondly will i need special software to use both monitors to put some progs on one and some on another?.
i do a lot of drawing but need a reference drawing every so often so what i was thinking was have the main drawing that I'm working on on the 22" monitor while having the reference pic on the smaller 19" one

thirdly will i need to some sort of resetting of the settings or will windows do that automatically.
lastly if i do something wrong with the setting up will i knacker the computer? or card.

sorry if these are pretty daft questions but i am thinking of two monitor for more work space for a while now.
thanks for any help

 

[Alpha_Geek]

For questions 1 & 2: In windows 98, 2000 and beyond, yes. ... and it's easy!

Shut down.

Connect new monitor.

Start up.

Log in

Right click anywhere on the desktop and go to properties.

Click the settings tab. You should see both monitors with one of them grayed out.

Click they grayed out one and check the "Extend desktop on to this monitor" box.

Drag the monitors around till their placement on the screen resembles your physical layout, or you'll get really flustered as the mouse dissapears on the right side of one monitor and appears on the far side of the other one.



Question 3: Most windows software will fill one screen when you select maximize, but if you make the select "restore" you can drag the sides of the window fram for most applications so that the app fills both screens.

 

[Mr. B]

It's basically plug and play on a modern OS as described by the above post. Special software is only required for things like separate color profiles for each monitor in Windows. Some dualie users like a program called UltraMon which offers certain features Windows does not.

 

[Verteron]

One thing to note is that in Windows Vista it's no-longer possible to install two graphics cards for dual monitor unless they're from the same manufacturer and require the same driver. Vista can support multiple cards, but only one driver at once, for some godforsaken reason.

That said, most people looking to go dual will be using two outputs on the same card, given most cards except the very most cheapest ones now come with two outputs.

 

[judge alba]

ah cool thanks guys i'll give it a go later

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Glad to help. Be sure to share any victory or problem!

 

[judge alba]

got working fine thanks again guys wasn't expecting it to be quite so easy

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Congrats!

 

[trekkiedane]

One thing to note is that in Windows Vista it's no-longer possible to install two graphics cards for dual monitor unless they're from the same manufacturer and require the same driver. Vista can support multiple cards, but only one driver at once, for some godforsaken reason.

So THAT'S why I cant install the driver to my new USB graphics card! - I've been sweating over that for two days now!

Still have the original problem then: how do I get a third monitor to work with Vista???

 

[Hermiod]

^That's strange. Any USB monitor setup based on DisplayLink shouldn't be affected by the driver restriction since it's still your graphics hardware doing all the work.

 

[Good]

got working fine thanks again guys wasn't expecting it to be quite so easy

Welcome to dual monitor mode!

Now, if you're like me, you have two desktops to completely cover with rarely used icons and folders!

 

[trekkiedane]

^
But if you're anything like me, you have no icons on either monitor but one of them cluttered with loads of little helpful applications and programs that you'll find that you rarely use...

 

[Yoda]

One thing to note is that in Windows Vista it's no-longer possible to install two graphics cards for dual monitor unless they're from the same manufacturer and require the same driver. Vista can support multiple cards, but only one driver at once, for some godforsaken reason.

So THAT'S why I cant install the driver to my new USB graphics card! - I've been sweating over that for two days now!

Still have the original problem then: how do I get a third monitor to work with Vista???

I have one Nvida 9800gt card and one.... 8600gt or something like that for the extra monitors. 3x1920x1200 works pretty well, but if I run VNC server (remote desktop program) sometimes my resolution gets screwed up. I'm not thrilled with Vista multi-monitor support, but it works well enough for my purposes.