Setting up dual monitors enables you to view more applications at once or view large or oversized applications and spreadsheets. It's also helpful for programs like Photoshop that use a lot of menus, allowing you to keep those menus on one monitor and your work on another. With the right hardware, it's simple to configure your system to support multiple monitors.
Check Your Hardware
Not every video card supports dual monitors. The quickest way to add another screen is to use dual monitor video cards, which have two video outputs and keep everything in sync on a single graphics chip.
You can also accomplish this by installing a second video card, although that requires you to configure both video cards very specifically in BIOS and your operating system. This can get very technical, so be prepared to spend time configuring things. If you're considering a second video card, check the prices, as good dual monitor cards don't cost that much more than single-output cards.
Native Support in Windows
Windows itself supports dual monitor setup. You don't need additional software to set up dual monitors, so avoid software that boasts dual-monitor capabilities unless you're looking for specific display management features. If you want to do specific things with yuour monitors, such as split software options or display things in very precise ways, you will want third-party software to manage these features.
When you've got the right hardware, all you need to do is connect everything and set your Display Settings to enable two monitors. In Windows XP, simply go to your Control Panel, and then choose your Display Settings to enable two monitors. In Windows Vista, you can right click on your desktop and select Personalize, or select Personalize from the Control Panel, and then go into the Display Settings option.
From there, you'll see two monitors on the screen. The left monitor is your main monitor, and it is highlighted by default. Select the monitor you want to use as your main monitor from the dropdown menu. To enable the second monitor, click on the grayed-out monitor on the window to highlight it. From there, select the monitor you want to use as your second monitor from the dropdown menu. Adjust the resolution as necessary, and click OK to save the settings.
Working with Two Monitors
Once you've got your monitors configured, simply click on your applications with the mouse and drag them around to display on whichever monitor your choose. Configuring dual monitors is essentially like setting up two desktops. You'll see your mouse pointer move straight from one monitor to the other. Once you establish the dual monitors, the machine remembers your settings until you disable the second monitor, at which point your desktop goes back to normal.
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