[Ham-Computers] Multiple displays?

[jeff]

Philip (KO6BB) wrote:
> Hi,
> I know, I'm always coming up with "off the wall" questions ;-)  Since I 
> replaced the wife's old desktop with a laptop, I have an "extra" 17" LCD 
> display I can put to use IF it's beneficial.
> 
> The video card (Radeon X300) supports two monitors, the operating system is 
> XP Pro, the machine has an Intel 3.6GHz dual core processor, and 4GB RAM 
> (only 3GB actually in use by the OS).

Shouldn't be a big deal, Philip.  I've done it a bunch of times with 
various hardware of various operating systems.

You are fortunate in that the existing card supports two monitors.
Plug the 2nd monitor in, boot up the computer and it should be 
recognized.  You can set up the orientation (left,right,above,below) and 
resolution(s) by clicking on the desktop, choosing properties, and the 
rightmost tab (I forget what it's called and am not using Windows now).

What I find frustrating with this setup is that you have a lot of 
difficulty controlling where things open.  I find things generally open 
on the `wrong' desktop when I click on them.  This is particularly 
annoying as they open for me on the desktop on top of the one I clicked 
and I have to remember to look UP to see if anything opened.

If things don't cooperate immediately, make sure you have the latest 
drivers.  I haven't had a lot of trouble with XP and multiple monitors. 
  You should not experience any significant performance hit.  You will 
LOVE having 2 monitors.  Technically, XP will support up to ten.  I have 
used four.

If anyone wants to try this on linux, pray that you don't have an ATI 
video card.




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