Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions
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Step 1
If you have a Windows computer, see if your current video card can support dual monitors. (Read Microsoft Knowledge Base article 182708 at support.microsoft.com.)
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Step 2
If it can't, buy a monitor switch box and connect both monitors to it. Or buy a new video card that has dual monitor ports.
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Step 3
If it can, buy and install a second video card. Read "How to Install a Video Card," for installation instructions.
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Step 4
Reboot the computer.
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Step 5
Set preferences for your new monitor in the Display control panel under System Preferences (Macintosh) or in the Display control panel (Windows).
Comments
ircmate said
on 5/12/2009 Many day traders need multiple monitors and need 4 or more of them to run from one computer. The best idea is to purchase a prebuilt computer from a multiple monitor computer vendor such as http://www.multiplexpc.com
ircmate said
on 5/12/2009 Many day traders need multiple monitors and need 4 or more of them to run from one computer. The best idea is to purchase a prebuilt computer from a multiple monitor computer vendor such as http://www.multiplexpc.comhttp://www.multiplexpc.com/multiple-monitor-computers-s/24.htm
MartinGugino said
on 2/13/2008 The slide (#2) about a Belkin Omni View SE 2-port switch seems completely off-topic to me. That device is used for attaching one monitor to two computers. (Isn't it?)
6thchamber said
on 6/12/2007 I have an ATI Radeon graphics card with two screen ports - one is standard vga (blue) and the other is a larger grey one (think it's a HD port) - is there any way of connecting a standard vga screen to a HD port (maybe using an adaptor or something) Thanks!
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 I run three monitors on one PC at work (and two monitors on my PC at home). It's fantastic and I absolutely cannot believe everyone is not doing it! Did you know that Windows will support 10 monitors on a single PC? You can do this a few different ways.
a) Install two single VGA video cards.
b) Install one dual VGA video card.
c) Install two dual VGA video cards.
On my PC at work, with three monitors, I have one ATI dual VGA card in an AGP slot and one ATI single VGA card in a PCI slot. Total cost? About $100. At home I'm running two monitors on one GeForce 4600 dual VGA card. Make sure you know what kind of slots you have available on your motherboard (AGP or PCI or both) before you buy your video card(s). You'll need a card(s) that fits in the slot you have. I highly recommend an rather inexpensive piece of software called 'Ultramon'. It's specifically designed to make using multiple monitors more fun (and is worth it's weight in Gold). If your monitor plugs directly into your motherboard you cannot simply add a single VGA video card to get two monitors. No monitor can be plugged into your motherboard or your motherboard will completely ignore any video card you install.