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If you are running Windows Vista on a Laptop and wish to utilize dual displays, this is just the article for you. Instead of replicating the content on your laptop screen on to your external display, you’ll be able to extended your desktop across both. By doing so you’ll gain extra screen real estate meaning more space to work in. Once you have a successfully functioning dual display setup, windows can be dragged across from one screen to another and you can have two fully maximized applications visible at once!
Some Small Requirements:
- Decent Laptop with VGA or HDMI output
- A monitor with VGA or HDMI input
- A VGA or HDMI cable to connect both together
Getting To The Settings:
- Connect your laptop to your external monitor
- Right Click on your desktop and select Personalize
- Open the Display settings window (at the bottom)
Next arrange the two monitors to the setup you have. Monitor 1 would be your laptop’s display and Monitor 2 is your additional display. So, for example, if your laptop is on the left and the monitor is on the right, drag the two boxes around so that Monitor 1 is on the left and Monitor 2 is on the right.
Extending The Display:
- Select Monitor 2 in the visual or from the drop-down menu
- Check the box besides “Extend the desktop onto this monitor”
- Just hit Apply. The screen should flash and you are done!
You should now be able to drag a window, this web page for example, from one screen onto another. If you would like to move your Start Menu onto the other display, just drag it onto the other screen. (Right-click and unlock the Taskbar first!) Also note that sometimes Vista messes up the resolutions, so if one of the windows looks horribly wrong go back to the Display Settings and manually drag the bar to the correct resolutions for each monitor. If your machine is using either the NVIDIA or ATI control panel, I suggest using that to configure your setup instead of using the default Vista Display Settings.
If you have any problems, questions, or suggestions feel free to express them below!
Related Article: Setup Multiple Monitors In XP
I wanted to know how to extend my monitors but so they see the same thing? i remember a box coming up the first time i plugged it in and set extended.. but i now want the other option to make them see the same thing :)
Any help please?
Hi James,
I apologise if my answer is strange but I’ll try. If you want both your screens to show the same thing, you should uncheck the “Extend the desktop onto this monitor” button. If it is already unchecked, try to check, then uncheck (this is strange, but it’s what I did to mine and the screens are now perfectly working just as I want them to).
PS: As an engineer, I would always say “Try to fiddle around, click here n there and MAKE SURE you read before you click YES/NO” Hope this helped.
I am trying to do this with a desktop computer. My main monitor is connected to my PC but the problem is: there isn’t a second VGA plug. But there is a DVI plug on each monitor, is that what i need to use?
Has any1 answered your question because i have the same problem
Has anyone answered your question, because ihave the same problem
When I plug the VGA cable from my TV into my laptop the display on the laptop goes black. I would like to have both displays on at the same time.
try pressing FN+F7 which ever has the lcd on it and choose 2 monitors
Hi, just would like you to know, this guide worked for me. (had to adjust the screen resolution for 3 seconds…) all I was missing was “Uncheck and Check the (Extend… button)”. Cheers!
hi, thanks so much for the info but i have a problem. i have a vaio and i am trying to connect my bravia to it. i bought the ever so popular vga to hdmi cable because my tv doesnt have an s-video cable. now when i follow the instructions and have plug everything in i can see the second monitor but it doesnt show on my bravia. what could be the solution.
when I move an apllication from the main screen to the second screen, such as outlook and then open an email, the message opens on the main screen and not the second screen where the outlook is displayed. Can I change a setting so the email opens on the same screen outlook is on.
How do u make it so the tv shows the picture instead of the laptop? Using VGA cable and vista
I have a question. I set up dual monitor on my laptop with my tv. Everything is working great but when I have a movie on netflix on full screen on one monitor and go to the other monitor and click on something it closes the full screen and takes it back to normal browser size. How can I keep it full screen size and still work on the other monitor? I have tried using the tv and laptop monitor as the number 1 screen.
Hey, I have dual monitors, they’re working fine, but I was wondering if there was any way to make the backgrounds on each monitor different. Because right now, whenever I get a new background, and I haven’t seen any way to change that. Help would be appreciated. Thanks :]
i have a sony vaio vgn-fw270j. can my laptop do the dual monitor? the vga is mobile intel 4 series express chipset family. approx total memory is 1759MB. current display mode is 1600 x 900. would this be enough to run another monitor?
Should be enough. It probably will be brought down to its knees if you try playing video-card intensive games or HD video. Otherwise, for most purposes, it should work just fine. Even my $200 Dell Mini 9 with a VGA port does dual monitors. :) It only has a 1.6GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.
I do intend to setup windows 7 laptop with windows vista laptop
Thanks for the help.
i set my laptop and monitor to dual screen, sucessfully. the problem i’m having now is my lap top blinks on and off causing the video that i dragged to the monitor to drop back to the laptop. would you know what would cause that?
Does the blinking happen all the time? Or only when playing videos? I was thinking a loose connection.
Help,I clicked the “set the external device as my only monitor, or something like that,” now the external monitor is not working and if I connect to one my laptop goes blank. It’s a HP Pavilion 600 with Vista. Not too techy so please be kind and simple. How can I get back to dual mode again without having the external monitor working. Help, Thanks in advance
Can you please clarify? Do you want to set up dual monitors? Or do you only want a single monitor to be working at a time?
I tried to set up external monitor, after connecting the cable my laptop(HP Pavilion 6000,Vista) detected the external device( but the external device, a LG TV, had not yet shown my desktop on it) I went to “personalization>Device settings and on the left clicked> connect to projector or external display” this prompted me to choose between,1.show screen on my laptop monitor, 2. Show on both monitors or 3. show only on external monitor. I, in my bad judgement chose 3. I had not yet set the external monitor as a device( I had not gone and imposed screen 1 on screen 2 to use external monitor as a device). So now in order to set up the external monitor there are a few steps I have to perform but the problem is that when I connect the cable NOW, the laptop is black and the external device is not set up and I can’t see anything to perform the task of setting up the external monitor ie: go to “personalization>Device setting>Monitor-Drag icon to match monitor” which I think is need to get the external monitor to work. So how do I , be able to see my laptop screen when I connect the external device cable or is there a way to undo what I’ve done. As they say “no knowledge is bliss and little knowledge is downright dangerous”, I am in the latter category. Thanks for your reply and if you can help me it will be greatly appreciated.
You didn’t break anything. Don’t worry. Look at your keyboard, you should have a blue FN button and a icon on one of the F1-F12 keys that looks like a monitor. Press it once and wait a few seconds patiently. It should reset everything back to the laptop screen even when plugged in.
I hooked the cable,(the laptop screen went black) turned on the TV, (“no signal”), pressed Fn key and the F4 key with a monitor icon on it(both together), Nothing, tried tapping the F4(monitor) while holding Fn key, nothing!. Am I supposed to have my computer off when I attach the cable(it was on)? Or is there an order of doing it? Thanks for your help!
(I have set it up earlier about 2 months ago so I know the connection works, the same cable and TV, if only I can get the desktop working at the same time to set it up!)
Laptop-HP Pavilion Entertainment,AMD Turion64, NVIDIA, running Vista.
It WORKED!!!! I wasn’t giving it enough time, It took about good 30 sec to do so. But Now I have another problem. My computer detects the external monitor and have mirrored my display, but there is no signal on the TV. Any suggestions?
I also have NVIDIA, is there a way to work through there, I would really like to get my external TV set as a monitor from time to time. Thanks
I have set up the second monitor and it worked like a charm! However after a week of this my laptop screen is no longer functioning. I went to the setup and it is showing that the 2nd monitor is indeed the 2nd monitor. How do I reinstate my laptop monitor. At this moment it is black and the 2nd screen is acting as my main (though the settings indicate it as my 2nd). I have tried to drag and nothing, it stops as if the main monitor is not there. I could use help with this, because I really enjoy using the both in unison. Thank you!
Does the tutorial from this article not work? You should be able to repeat the process and have it begin working again. Be sure you are clicking “Extend monitors” as described above. Simply dragging around won’t fix the issue alone. Let me know if you still need help!
I hooked my extra screen up and the computer asked if I wanted to duplicate the screen. I clicked yes and they both went black. Now everytime I hook it in they both go black
I am having trouble with my toshiba satellite a215 trying to connect 2 monitors when i check extend the desktop on this monitor…it just stays on the 1 monitor…
I am having trouble with my toshiba satellite a215 trying to connect 2 monitors when i check extend the desktop on this monitor…it just stays on the 1 monitor…
please i need hlep i dont want to have to drag it i want to clone it but i cant seem to do that please someone help me
i can get the duel monitors working ( i have changed in nividia ) but every way i try i cannot open anything up in the new monitor, everything opens up in the old even when i drag a photo over to the new monitor!1 where am i going wrong. cheers
Windows vista Geforce GTS 250 and I set up twp monitors which are detected by the computer but no signal goes to second monitor. PLEASE HELP!