#SETTING UP DUAL MONITORS INSTALL#
#SETTING UP DUAL MONITORS DRIVERS#

Select the ‘Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor’ check box and click OK. On the Settings tab, click the monitor icon that represents the second monitor that you just installed.ħ.

#SETTING UP DUAL MONITORS DRIVERS#

The most recent drivers will not only be technically superior, they often boast features that you will not find in the default drivers.)Ħ.

(If you have additional drivers for the card, then by all means use them instead of the default XP ones.

#SETTING UP DUAL MONITORS INSTALL#

Windows XP will detect the new video card and install the appropriate drivers. Insert the second PCI or AGP video card into an available slot.ģ. Turn off your computer and remove the casing.Ģ. See the July 2002 issue of PC World (page 118) “Upgrader: Enlarging your Desktop area” for full step-by-step details.ġ. The basic steps required are set out below. If you are not comfortable with opening your computer, then get a friend to do it for you or take it to your local computer store. Installing a second card and monitor is a fairly simple affair, but it is necessary to open up the computer. Installing an additional card and monitor You can pick up a cheap video card from a computer store or computer fair just make sure that it is XP compatible. Many people will have a 14in or 15in monitor just laying around unused. The hardest part is acquiring a spare monitor and an additional video card, but as more people upgrade their computers it is easier to come across superseded equipment.

Windows XP makes it easy to install a second monitor. Items can be stretched across multiple desktops, allowing you to see more columns in an Excel spreadsheet, or an entire Web page, without scrolling. You can open different files on each desktop and drag items seamlessly from one to the other. There are many benefits to having a second monitor (and with XP Professional you can have up to 10 monitors). If this sounds like you, then perhaps you should consider installing a second monitor. You switch back and forth between windows so often you get dizzy. Are you a power user who is always burdened with a cluttered desktop? So many programs open that they consume the entire task bar.

Setting up dual monitors