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Use two monitors to increase your productivity October 2007
You can add memory and lessen your system's load to increase your computer's performance. But if you want to improve your productivity, add a second monitor. Researchers at Microsoft found that workers increased their productivity nine to 50 percent by adding a second or third monitor. Consider your uses. A student can surf the Net on one monitor while writing a term paper on another monitor. Gamers can widen their view span. And teachers can enter grades on one while checking e-mail on the other. It's also a great setup for editing digital photographs, video or audio files. One monitor can be used for the program's toolbars and windows; the other monitor can be used solely to work on the file. The possibilities are endless. So what do you need to make it all happen? Obviously, you'll need an extra monitor. You might have an old CRT monitor collecting dust in your basement. If not, this is an excuse to buy that 19-inch flat panel monitor you've always wanted. You don't need two monitors of equal size and quality. Your computer needs a video card that has two video outputs. If your computer was built within the past two years, it most likely has a standard VGA (Video Graphics Array) port as well as a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) port. If not, you can purchase a graphics card with two monitor outputs for as little as $100. Once your computer is ready, just plug in both monitors and turn on your computer. One monitor will probably be dark at first. Windows XP. click Start>>Control Panel>>Display. Click the Settings tab. Move your mouse over the blue rectangle labeled "2." A Not Active tool tip should appear. Right-click your mouse and select Attached. Click Apply. A few seconds later, the second monitor will become active. Place a checkmark next to the "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" check box, and then click Apply. While the Settings tab on the Display dialog box is open, click the Identify button. A large number 1 will display on the primary monitor and a large number 2 will display on the secondary monitor. To change this designation, click on the blue rectangle labeled 1 and drag it to the right of rectangle 2. Windows Vista: When you connect an additional monitor, Windows automatically detects it and applies the video settings best suited to the monitor's display. You no longer need to use Control Panel every time that you want to apply new display settings. In the New Display Detected dialog box, select one of the following display options, and then click OK. Mirrored. Mirrors, or duplicates, your desktop on each display that you connect. Mirrored is the default display option. This option is useful if you plan to use your mobile PC to give a presentation on a projector or a fixed display in a conference room, such as a wall-mounted plasma display or TV-type monitor. Extended. Extends your desktop across all of the displays that you connect. This option is useful if you want to increase your desktop area. External display only. Shows your desktop on each display that you connect, but not on your mobile PC display. This option is useful if you're using a mobile PC and you want to conserve battery power. You can also use this option when you play a DVD on a mobile PC that supports full-screen video playback on only one display. Once your monitors are connected, you can start dragging windows and applications over to your second monitor. For example, open up your Internet browser. Make sure the window is not maximized and then click on the top part of the window. Then drag it over to the secondary monitor. Now open another program in the primary monitor. It may take a little while to get used to moving the cursor and windows across monitors. Soon this becomes second nature. Whether you're connecting your mobile PC to a wall-mounted plasma display in a conference room or to the monitor that you use with your desktop computer, it's easy to enhance your video capability with additional displays.
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