Running a dual-monitor setup with Windows Vista

Posted by:
Brandon LeBlanc
05:52 AM Wednesday
Jun 20, 2007
75 Comments

Earlier this week I received my second Dell UltraSharp 2407FP 24-inch monitor to accompany my already in-use 2407FP monitor. I now have both 2407FP monitors connected to my ATI Radeon X1650 Pro via DVI. I have both monitors running at 1920x1200 screen resolution.

I created a video showing off running Windows Vista with multiple monitors and demonstrate Flip3D when two monitors are in use. I also talk about the ability to choose which monitor Windows Sidebar runs on.

Video: Flip3D with 2 Monitors in Windows Vista

Windows Vista's Display Settings allows you to control both your monitors. You can designate any one of the two monitors as your PC's Primary Display. Using the Identify Monitors button at the top of the Display Settings window you can identify which monitor is 1 and which is monitor 2. When I first connected my second monitor to my PC, it simply mirrored the screen from my first monitor. However, this was not the behavior I wanted. In Display Settings, I clicked on monitor 2 and checked "Extend the desktop to this monitor" to add the second monitor as usable desktop space. With this checked, I was then able to drag apps and use the second monitor's desktop as an extension of my desktop on my Primary Display.

Your PC will save the settings of the apps you drag to the second monitor. For example, I dragged Windows Live Mail over to my second monitor. When I exited Windows Live Mail and then opened it back up - it opened back up on my second monitor. Your PC will preserve - or "remember" - the settings of which monitor that app is opened up on even after rebooting.

So what do I use my second monitor for? I read a lot of RSS feeds and email throughout the day. While working on writing blog posts or editing video content, I keep Windows Live Mail opened up on the second monitor where I can watch and monitor new feeds (and email) as they arrive. I occasionally have Windows Media Center opened up and playing a recorded TV show on the second monitor while I work as well.

If you're running Windows Vista with two monitors, I'd love to hear how you're using both monitors!

You can also check out Nick's post from back in March on a PC running with 4 monitors.

The Dell UltraSharp 2407FP Monitors are Certified for Windows Vista.

Comments

Brandon LeBlanc

Posted on: June 23, 2007 at 3:53AM
Hurricane Andrew and fragility_v2, I plan on doing tests this weekend on both your scenarios. Expect a follow-up post soon!

- Brandon
jchandler

Posted on: June 23, 2007 at 9:56AM
I think I might need to invest in a dual monitor setup, it is really amazing just how well Flip 3D works in this setup
fragility_v2

Posted on: June 24, 2007 at 1:12PM
Thanks for looking into the issue. Lemme give you some more details. The problem occurs almost every time I turn the TV and its already on the HDMI input or if im switching from another input to the HDMI. Im connected via DVI-HDMI cable on a Radeon x700. The HDTV is seen as my primary (1) display with my analog as the secondary (2). I am using the latest ATI drivers. Hope that helps with the troubleshooting!!
Brandon LeBlanc

Posted on: June 25, 2007 at 12:52AM
fragility_v2 and Hurricane Andrew, can you tell me which versions of Windows Vista you are using? Is it Home Premium? Ultimate?

This is important for testing.
fragility_v2

Posted on: June 25, 2007 at 1:27AM
Ultimate
TimSmithCA

Posted on: June 25, 2007 at 5:47AM
Looks really good. I've used dual monitors for years and find it really hard going back to one, although widescreen notebooks aren't quite as bad!

Tim
Hurricane Andrew

Posted on: June 25, 2007 at 10:27AM
Vista Business
creamripper

Posted on: June 25, 2007 at 11:25AM
I have a Dell LCD (3707c) and Vista Ultimate running on a Dell e510 PC with 20" dell LCD. I have a similar issue to Hurricane and Fragility - I run MCE on HDTV and ROW (rest of windows :-)) on Dell girlie-mon (20") and when I boot Vista (with both displays running) the MCE shows up on 20", even though when I exited MCE, it was selected on 2nd monitor.

The desired use case is:

wife sits on couch

wife picks up dell remote and presses power button.

Dell TV turns on

Wife picks up MCE remote and presses green button.

Windows media edition displays on HDTV

Wife listens to music, plays dvds, views pictures of family, and so on.

wife is happy, therefore I am happy.
cammsav

Posted on: June 26, 2007 at 6:17PM
Similar problems here...I've recently installed Vista Ultimate Edition on my 17" notebook PC with external monitor. Here's the specs:

-Gateway M685-E with docking station

-17" built-in LCD "Generic PnP Monitor" 1680x1050

-19" external ViewSonic VA1912wb "VA1912w Series" 1440x900 on docking station VGA port

-NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 w/128 MB RAM

-External monitor is to the left of my primary display

Problems:

-Sometimes when I boot the computer, I get a mirrored display at 1440x900. This doesn't happen all the time.

-When I unlock the workstation, Windows thinks that my external monitor is to the right of my primary display. I have to go to "Display Settings" and move things around. Sometimes the windows that were displayed on the external monitor end up positioned off-screen to the right of my primary display. I have to right-click the window in the taskbar, select "Move" and use a combination of Arrow Keys and Mouse to reposition the window where it belongs.

-Some programs are garbled when they are moved from one screen to another. A minimize and restore will fix the problem.

I've seen some of the exact same problems as the other guys listed above, but the ones I specifically mentioned are the ones I'm currently dealing with. I had been using this PC in the same exact setup with Windows XP a little over a month ago with absolutely no problems.
slimCODE

Posted on: June 28, 2007 at 8:18PM
Someone mentioned UltraMon as a tool for moving windows around monitors. I'm bias, but I must add slimKEYS and its slimSIZE plug-in to the list.

http://www.slimcode.com/slimKEYS

I'm also looking for any kind of feedback from people using two or more monitors, about what tools/options they'd like (from the OS or third party tools) for managing/handling application windows.

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