# Dual monitor in Vista



## wsjfan (Mar 3, 2008)

Hi I just installed Vista on my Dell and the dual monitor is not working.
Dual monitor worked fine when I had XP.
When I reboot the computer, it will show BIOS/Windows page on both screens but after that, before the desktop shows up, the second monitor would turn off.
I can't locate the 2nd monitor in the device manager and when I attach the 2nd monitor in the display settings, nothing happens, the 2nd monitor does not turn on. 
Please let me know how I can fix this problem. Thanks!


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## jamiemac2005 (Jul 5, 2007)

hey, i had some problems setting dual moniters up too, but firstly i had to make sure i had the tablet pc tools thing installed (control panel->programs and features->install/whatever windows features[apologies for inaccuracy]) because i had an error connecting it without... Then check your display settings (e.g. control panel->personalization->display settings->monitor tab) and see if it recognises that 2 monitors are able to be used(and make sure extend desktop... is checked on the second one if found... If you cant find anything there then i recon trying to use your laptops "presentation" feature (usually fn+F[3-5]) one of the functions and see if the monitor responds... if it doesnt then you may need drivers etc?

i hope i helped at all...
maybe shove your dell's model details online (or google and see if anyone else has problems)...

I found it very hard to sort this because of vista's new control panel thing haha...

oh and on another note i realised i had disabled a service (start->run->"services.msc") which mentioned dual monitors... maybe you've done the same? 

p.s. if you do get it sorted see if when you remove the second monitor the taskbar becomes transparent because thats a problem i'm having right now

Again i hope i was of any use,
Jamey


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## wsjfan (Mar 3, 2008)

I can't find dual monitor in services... do you know what it's exactly called??
And I am not using a laptop I am using a desktop..
Another thing I realized is that when I do print screen and paste, it shows not only the current screen but an empty desktop attached to the current screen (does that make sense?)


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## jamiemac2005 (Jul 5, 2007)

hahah urm, okay, sorry i cant remember the service name sorry, i took a while looking through the descriptions of them all... 

Oh, well laptop/desktop i dont know wether that makes a difference sorry...

Yeah that makes a lot of sence: 
Go to your display settings(control panel->personalisation->display settings) and look where monitor 2 is in relation to monitor 1...(usually its on the right) then try drag something onto it? or move your mouse onto it? if that doesnt work then i dont know... (e.g. if in your display settings the monitor 2 box is on the right then try move your mouse over to the right until it appears ont he second monitor? ) haha sorry i'm guessing a little now because i dont know your exact situation... but when i added the monitor the second monitor displayed an empty desktop with no taskbar etc.


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## wsjfan (Mar 3, 2008)

Also one of my monitors use VGA and another DVI would that be a problem?


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## jamiemac2005 (Jul 5, 2007)

oooo... a little extra, i've noticed many inconsistencies in vista's dual monitor and positioning stuff(.e.g on removal things go missing off screen).. you may be experiencing one of these, if it still doesnt display 2 moniters in your display settings you could try extending the width of the resolution on the main monitor... altenatively it could be something with your graphics card/driver...


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## jamiemac2005 (Jul 5, 2007)

(in response to your last message, i'm sorry i dont know, but if it worked in XP then i see no reason for it not to)


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## jamiemac2005 (Jul 5, 2007)

Just out of curiosity i googled "dual monitor vista" and the first page was http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/display/multimonVista.mspx ... in the section "WDDM and Multimonitor Configurations" it states that both VGA and DVI can be used at once with no problem... maybe looking through that article could help?


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## maggie331 (May 12, 2008)

ok so I didn't know where to put this question but the headline looked promising. I dual monitor with my laptop, up till last night this was no problem. I play WoW and such on one screen and movies on another. Once again no issue. Then last night my computer decides to turn itself off anytime I try to watch any type of video on both screens. This includes dual boxing WoW or even a youtube video. Now my icons are on one screen and my start bar is on another.... I didn't know this was possible. Any clue what's going on? Btw my vid card is a nVidia 7600go.


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## bullsguy (May 12, 2008)

Here is a link to a Windows based explanation of using and configuring multiple monitors in Vista.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/c90105a0-57c1-4f0e-b095-b5ed1de8fc431033.mspx


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