Dual Monitor Setup

A dual monitor setup display works as one very large display area, not only can the screens be set in landscape, but also portrait, this means of course that much more can fit onto the display area, for me personally it means I can have emails on one screen while I can use the other for word/internet etc.

To setup a dual display you first need to make sure that your computer or laptop can support 2 monitors.

Next you need to make sure your operating system can also support dual monitors, Windows XP or Windows Vista work well and will auto detect something plugged into video ports.

For a desktop computer it’s simply a question of adding another graphics card (although it is better to actually add a dual display card) but using the onboard graphics and a third party card with a single output works ok.

If you have a laptop it’s a different story, laptops generally only have a single video output. This can be overcome by using a docking station or port replicator, many of these come with dual video outputs, normally a VGA (analogue) and DVI (digital), by using both of these ports we can output the image to two displays.

If using a laptop change the following setting
Control panel > Power options > Advanced, under the power buttons sub menu > change “When I close the lid of my portable computer” Do nothing

Power on your computer and laptop, to begin with the computer will only output to one screen
Once booted up right click on the desktop, select Properties > Settings > on monitor number 2 tick the option Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor. The monitor should now be an extension of screen 1. Try moving your mouse between the two

You may need to change the resolution to make both monitor images the same

Troubleshooting
If you find the monitors are appearing the wrong way around, from the settings screen simply drag the monitor to the correct side.

If you wish to swap the default monitor (the one that has all the menus on it) with the other, (most people prefer this on the left) the easiest way to do this is to make a note of which cable runs to which monitor, remove the video cable to the monitor you do not wish to use as the default, power back up you’ll now get the image on the single plugged in screen. Many software packages have this option, but it can be a real headache, so in my opinion this is the easiest method.

Once you’ve logged in plug the other screen back in and extend the desktop again, this will now remember the new screen order for you.

Which type of screen do you want for your dual monitor setup

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