Running 2 monitors off a desktop computer ?
 

Hi

What is the best way to run 2 monitors on a Windows XP desktop computer ?

I would like to be able to surf the net on one and watch a TV show / you tube on the other ?

If needed I could put another card in my desktop computer as there is an open slot, and do I need any other software ?

Thanks for your ideas ?

Soarer

http://bit.ly/QuSRCA

That should help you out. First link is from the XP era.

It's really simple. You need to add another graphics card if your current system doesn't have the capabilities to plug in two monitors.

The system should recognize two monitors when you restart, and you can either use them as one giant monitor and spread a worksheet across multiple screens, or you can do exactly what you asked, TV in one and youtube in the other. These documents should help.



http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307873

If you end up adding a video card to your computer, generally ATI cards tend to be a bit easier with dual monitors.

If you have a laptop with docking station, it likely already supports it.

If you have a higher end PC with a dedicated graphics card (not onboard video) there is a chance it may support it as well.

Depends on your existing h/w. Some PC's with integrated graphics on motherboad don't play well with additional video cards. YMMV.

Otherwise an additional video card will work by itself. Most have both DVI and VGA outputs so you can hook one up to each monitor, just check the card supports dual monitors. Or get a dual DVI /dual VGA card and your good to go.

I followed the instructions on the Microsoft site and use mine for doing record reviews. One has the records, the other is my review. Works great, and was really not hard at all to accomplish.

You don't always need a second physical graphics card - my graphics card has a port for DVI, VGA and HDMI. I use two monitors at home, and am able to hook up both my HDMI and DVI ports on the same card and get the second monitor. Even though my card has the 3rd port for VGA, the card isn't capable of doing anymore than 2 monitors, so one always has to be unused.

Hi

thanks for all the advise,

the desktop is 3 years old and only has one VGA port off the motherboard, so I will need to get a card,

is there anything I need to have on the card ?
I am not doing any gaming and its only going to be a 21 inch LCD monitor for the 2nd one

Thanks again

Soarer

Generally the previous series of ATI Radeon cards work well for the price. However, you need to consider your monitor(s) hookup. DVI, VGA, DisplayPort, or HDMI.

Do you know what kind of connectivity your monitors require?

Any cheapo card should do the trick. You need to know what available slots you have in your machine - whether it's PCI or PCI Express, etc.

I have both type of slots and its just a VGA monitor

Thanks again.....

Then I'd go on Newegg or Amazon and find any old ATI Radeon 5xxx or 6xxx series. They will usually have 1 VGA and 1 DVI - you'll need DVI --> VGA adapters if you do not have monitors with DVI.

If you want to go local, assuming there is a Best Buy around, this would work too:

FWIW, if you have a Staples in your area, try them out too, and check their clearance section. A few months back I picked up a Geforce card that was the previous series for $13.99. Retail on it was $99.99.
1) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+A...&skuId=3425907
2) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex%26...0VGA&cp=1&lp=1

If you're looking at a PCI Express, make sure you know which form factor your motherboard has. There are several different possibilities, so check your computer specifics...

looked up the specs and its
PCI Express x16 - DIMM 184-pin,

First, check your machine to see if there is another video port. If not, you'll either have to add another card or replace your existing card. You'll probably get better performance if you replace the existing card--if you're asking the question it's unlikely that you have a motherboard with two x16 slots. Thus a second card would be slower.

Set your screen down to 800x600, swap the cards and install the driver that came with it.

If you're going to add a card try to get one by the same manufacturer as what you currently have in your machine. It's more likely to play nice with the existing one than if you mix manufacturers. Note that rarely have I seen an installer disk that will correctly handle this situation. The downloaded installers generally work better. Simple versions also work better than fancy things that install more than just the driver.

You very well might have to install the driver via Control Panel > System > Device Manager. This requires a driver in standard format, something that's rare to see these days on install disks.


It's likely you won't find a card with two VGA ports on it. However, converting down from the better port types is usually easy. The only port that I haven't found an adapter for is dual-link DVI-D.

This machine has a good video card. There are 5 VGA/DVI-D/DisplayPort/DisplayPort/HDMI. I haven't found any way to use that DVI-D as it's dual-link, I've got VGA monitors hanging off the VGA and both of the DisplayPort ports. All of them work fine. I haven't tried to put anything on the HDMI port as I don't have any more desk space to put another monitor, nor do I think I would be comfortable with a wider set of monitors. I would have to turn my head too far to handle a 4th monitor.