FixIt Computer Repair

With all of the different homes that I have been called to, I have never seen anybody with a second monitor attached to their one computer. I think the problem is that nobody actually knows what it means to have two monitors connected to their computer, or even that it is possible. Well I am here to save the day! This is a little bit more expensive then other fixes, but in the end I really think it is worth it, definitely worth it.

The first step is to check to see if your video card can already support two monitors, it should have to plugs in the back look almost identical.. kind of like the one to the left here. If your monitor plugs into the blue slot, and you have an open slot next to it that is probably going to be called a ‘Digital Visual Interface’ port, or DVI for short.

Next you will need to make sure you have a monitor that you think is worth taking up more space on your desk. I suggest you just purchase a new one, but it really makes no difference as to which kind of monitors you use, they can be two completely different make, models, brand names, sizes, refresh rates, anything; it doesn’t really matter much at all. Personally I have two 22″ wide screen Acer monitors, and those are both perfect and fit nicely on my desk.

The last and final step you need to check out is to make sure you have the right adapter so that your new monitor (or old monitor) can connect correctly to your video input. The Acer monitor that was linked above comes with both DVI and VGA cables, which makes it a lot easier since you could just plug in the DVI cord to the monitor and to the Video Card. Basically, you just need to make sure that whatever you are connecting to your monitor, needs to be able to fit in the slot on the back of the computer. In the picture above, the BLUE connection is called VGA, and the BLACK connection is the DVI port, if your monitor has no way of using a DVI cable, you can pick up a DVI to VGA converter for less than $10, the one linked is only $3, shipping not included. Stores like Fry’s Electronics or Tiger Direct also have these in stock.

After you have everything connected, powered up, your back reading this blog and everything is working pretty well, you just need to make sure you have your computer recognize that it has two monitors attached. Luckily, this is pretty easy to do, the picture on the left is of course Windows 7, just make sure you have the monitor with the big “2″ selected, then under Multiple Displays you have a few options, best bet is you want “Extend These Displays” – after that click Apply, and you should have double your desktop space!

The picture on the right is Windows XP, and it’s essentially the same two steps, make sure you have the “2″ selected, then chose “Extend my windows desktop on this monitor”, apply, done! Nice and simple.

If you have any problems with blurry images or something such as that, make sure you have the correct resolution set for your monitor, look up the monitors “Native Resolution”, that’s the resolution that the monitor was created to be viewed by, so it will be the clearest at that resolution. Also make sure you have the best color set you can chose, which is Normally “Millions of Colors” or something similar.

I really hope this guide at least shed some light on the situation, because I know that if I didn’t know about the wondrous playground that is Dual Monitors, or “Sidecars”, I would want to know about them. They double your desktop space so why wouldn’t you want to use them? It’s probably one of the cheaper upgrades for your computer, especially if you already have a video card that can handle it. Most new-age video cards come with two outputs built in now-a-days, if you need any assistance just let me know I’ll be glad to help you out!