Extend Desktop to span dual or multiple monitors

You can even create a shortcut to extend the desktop any time you want. Just launch the Secondary Monitor state dialog box and select the option which reads Enable Secondary Monitor in Extended Mode. The Screenshot has been taken on a Windows 7 computer on which there is another relative option which can help you to clone your desktop to all other monitors connected to your windows computer.

In Windows XP or in Windows Vista, you will have the option to extend the desktop across other monitors , however the option to clone the primary monitor would be disabled.

As displayed in the screen shot, you can even disable the extending of desktop and you can even specify not to take any action to change the state of secondary monitor. In case you would like to change the state or mode of the secondary or primary monitors while working on your computer, you can create a dual monitor shortcut to change state or mode of the monitors connected to a windows pc.

Select Monitor for Monitors list

The process to setup different wallpaper on each of the monitor is really simple. Select the Monitor and then select the wallpaper, that’s it. Really easy to use way for setting up different wallpapers for dual monitors. When seleecting wallpaper, you will have option to select the wallpaper from Windows Wallpapers, your own wallpaper from any location on the computer or from Public Pictures folder and even solid color.

Apart from selecting existing wallpaper, you can even download wallpaper straight into the software gallery and use the downloaded wallpaper as background image for either of the dual monitors. In order to download wallpaper from a website, right click on the image and select the option which says Download to MurGeeMon. Once the wallpaper is downloaded it will be available in the MurGeeMon Pictures (selectable from Picture Location list). You can even manage the downloaded wallpapers using Wallpaper Browser (which can be launched from Start Menu – > Programs – > MurGeeMon – > Wallpaper Browser) just like managing files in windows explorer.

One last thing you would need to do to have different wallpapers with dual monitors is check the checkbox on the Monitor Background tab which is displayed above the caption Wallpaper Controller. This will make sure that even when you disable or enable second monitor or even change primary monitor to second monitor or vice versa, the wallpaper for every monitor stays intact. In case you would like to have a single wallpaper across dual monitors, just uncheck the check box and select the desired wallpaper from the wallpaper thumbnails and you will have one wallpaper spanning your dual monitors.

The Single or Dual Wallpaper selection applies only when your monitors are connected in extended mode. In Clone Mode although you may have multiple monitors connected, but as the same desktop would be visible on all the monitors, hence this topic will be applicable only when your monitors are connected in extended mode.

Enable or Disable Automatic Wallpaper Changing

In order to set a single wallpaper, you can use windows wallpaper control panel and in order to use dual wallpapers you can use Dual Monitor Software. In case you would like to have a single wallpaper image and would still like to use the Dual Monitor Software, you can switch off the functionality of the software to manage dual wallpaper images automatically by unchecking the Wallpaper Controller check box in the Monitor Background tab.

Configure Dual Screen Savers for a Dual Monitor Computer

How does this Dual Monitor Screen Saver Works?

This Dual Monitor Screen Saver allows you to select two Screen Savers for two Monitors. This Screen Saver will display selected Screen Saver Preview on each of the Monitor and can be closed using any Key Press on Keyboard and Mouse Click. Note that unlike other Scren Savers this Screen Saver will not close automatically due to Mouse Cursor Movements.

You can get this Screen Saver now by downloading the Dual Monitor Software named MurGeeMon. And this is not all, there is lot to offer in this software download. In case you would like to have a glimpse about the software, have a look at the Dual Monitor Software post where you can find out what all the software bundle has in offer for you.

Dual Monitor Graphics cards can be identified with two ports connected to the same graphics card. There are many types of ports (or connectors on the graphics card to which you can connect your monitor to) such as VGA Port, DVI Port, DisplayPort, S Video Port and many other types of ports. VGA Port is blue in color and has 3 rows of holes in it with 15 holes in it whereas DVI Port is white in color. A simple Dual Monitor Graphics card can have 3 ports i.e. One VGA Port, One DVI Port and one S Vide o Port or it can have 2 DVI Ports and one S Video ports or may be some other combination of ports.

Browse to the Hardware Category from the top of the page to know exactly what you are looking regarding hardware for setting up and using dual monitors. From Dual Monitor Software perspective, Windows does have good support for dual monitors for latest operating system users.

In case you move windows between dual monitors frequently a shortcut key combination can be of help. Let’s say you are working on a application window on first monitor and you wish to move it to second monitor to work on first monitor on another application window, you can use either of the given below ways:-

1. Drag the Window from First Monitor by holding it’s title and drop it onto second monitor.
2. Press a configurable shortcut key to move the active window to the second monitor automatically.

The shortcut key said above can sound like a small thing, but can be really useful to explore the powers of having dual monitors conncted to your computer. The Move Window Shortcut (or Hotkey combination) Key when pressed on a Maximized Window would move the seleactive window to second monitor and would maximize it on the second monitor. In case the Shortcut Key is pressed when a non maximized window is active, the non maximized window would be moved to the second or next monitor in multiple monitor chain automatically. Have a look at the Window Mover Shortcut document to know how you can assign the above said shortcut key and move windows between dual monitors with a single key press. Also you can have a look at the extended mode post to know how you can switch to it and other relative information and extend your workspace to fully utilize the benefits of having dual monitors.

Have a look at the given below wallpaper changer which is a simple and easy to use wallpaper changer which does supports dual monitors.

Wallpaper Changer which supports Dual Monitors

The Wallpaper Changer displayed here can be used to change wallpaper of each of the dual monitors automatically at configured intervals. The Dual Monitor Wallpaper Changer provides a way to change the Monitor wallpaper in many different ways. Configurable duration to change wallpaper automatically is one of the features. You can also specify whether you would like to have different wallpaper on each of the dual monitors or you would like to have the same wallpaper on both of the Monitors.

Indeed the different wallpaper on each of the dual monitor would be effective only when your Monitors are configured to be in Extended Mode where as in Clone Mode, you will have option of chanaging Wallpaper of only one Monitor (as in Clone Mode the same output would be displayed on both of the Monitors)

However in extended mode you will have two options :-

Configure different Wallpaper for every Monitor or have only one Wallpaper spanning across the Dual Monitors.

Sounds great? How about leaving a comment or anything else you would like to have in this Dual Monitor Wallpaper Changer. In case you would like to change Wallpaper for each of the Dual Monitors from a selectable list and not in an automatic way, the post Wallpaper Changer for Dual Monitors can be of help.

Dual Monitors on Windows can work in many different ways on a windows computer. The way in which the external monitor or projector can display depends on how you have configured your computer’s settings. Let’s call the settings controlling display of computer and projector as mode.

Windows can drive dual monitors or other display devices in many modes. Given below is a short description which can be helpful to understand your computer’s working.

• Clone Mode : This is the mode or way in which the display of your computer will be visible on both of the Monitors or Display Devices connected to the computer. Here an important thing to note is that the maximum resolution of the clone mode will be the minimum resolution supported by any of the Display Device and associated hardware. Now in case you have a Projector connected to your computer, then in this mode you will be able to see the same computer’s output on your computer screen and on projector as well. The Document Clone Mode talks more in detail about the Clone Mode.
• Extended Mode : Here with dual monitors connected to your computer, you will get more desktop area or in other words you desktop will encompass two monitor’s screens. In order to move mouse cursor to the second monitor, you will need to move the mouse cursor in the direction where your next monitor is connected virtually to your primary monitor. The Extended ModeDocument talks in more detail about the mode and discusses possible uses of the mode.
• Projector Only : Now here the name may be different in other documents or technical papers but the concept is that in this mode the output of the computer is displayed only on the external display device (which can be a Monitor or a Projector). The Keyboard and Mouse work as normal and you will be able to do normal computer operations, however in case the external display device is a projector projecting onto a screen or something, you will have to look to the projection in order to move mouse or do some typing etc instead of looking onto your Computer’s Monitor.
• Computer Monitor Only : Just like the Projector only mode, here the output of the computer would be visible only on your computer’s monitor and the external display device (projector or secondary monitor) would be disabled. By saying disabled here i mean to say that the secondary display device would not display anything and will go into low power state, depending on your hardware your secondary device may have an LED indicator to indicate the low power state.

Does above information sounds useful and something like you can use when doing the next presentation with Power Point or with any other Software? Do you wish that if you could have some software feature or some software utility that could help you when giving out presentations, leave a comment here and we will try to provide the feature to you.

Advantages of Dual Monitor Background Wallpaper : A Single Image to span across your dual monitors when your computer’s output is in extended mode will give you the view of your dual monitors as single monitor.  Imagine a Dual Monitor background image of a train spanning across your dual Monitors, how magnificent it can be.

Disadvantages of Dual Monitor Background Wallpaper : The Dual Monitor Background image will really look great if your both of the monitors are running in same resolution, however if you have connected a high resolution monitor and a low resolution monitor in extended mode, the background wallpaper may be difficult to show it’s full effect and the wallpaper image may be visible partially.

Alternative to a Single Image spanning Dual Monitors : Select different wallpaper for each of the Dual Monitors for your Dual Monitor Computer using MurGeeMon which is a Dual Monitor Software offering lots of features for controlling your dual monitors.