Is it possible to use an external monitor as an independent desktop in Windows 2000?

[hyuga]

Is it possible to have to distinct desktops in Windows 2000 using the notebook computer's built-in LCD and an external monitor?

Thanks.

[Racer^]

Your statement of "distinct desktops" confuses me. Do you mean that you want two taskbars, two start menu buttons, and two system trays- half one one monitor and the other half on the other? If so, do you also mean that you want separate mice & keyboards to control the separate mouse pointer and keyboard input?

Or do you mean you want a desktop that just spans across both displays? I'd assume this is what you mean as my first example would be very difficult to do...and it would require 3rd party software.

Also, what brand/model of notebook do you have? Some notebooks only support viewing one display at a time (either the LCD or the external connection). Some support viewing both LCD & external at the same time. Of these, some require that the same view is shown by both displays while other notebooks allow different views on the two displays.

If you have a notebook that allows different views on both displays simultaneously, then its fairly easy to do as long as the video drivers and OS you use support it. This depends on your brand/model & vid drivers.

[hyuga]

Thanks for you reply!

Yes. What I meant was a desktop that spans across both displays.

The notebook is not that new. It is an IBM Thinkpad T21 (PIII 800MHz). Someone mentioned that the OS that supports this is Windows XP, and I am running Windows 2000. Do you know if Windows XP is the only OS that supports this?

Thanks.

[krack_it_up]

Every MS OS since 95 has supported this functionality. Where you will have problems is your video card. I have seen laptops that both do and do not support this. Go into the display properties under settings with the monitor plugged in and see what settings are avaliable. If you do it right it will show two monitors on the main settings tab with a large number 1 and 2 in them respectively. Usually in desktops if the vid card doesnt support dual monitors you have to install a second video card to get it to work.

[Racer^]

Just as another confirmation, yes Windows 2000 supports dual monitor fine. However, I had to use fairly recent video card drivers to get it to work the way I wanted. Make sure your vid card drivers are as new as you can find and then try doing what krack_it_up said.

[steppy76]

nevermind racer already answered this.

[Nick_B]

Originally posted by steppy76
Well, unless I'm way off base, no you can't do this because you don't have a second ramdac to send a second independant signal to the monitor. You MAY be able to have both the LCD and the monitor display the same thing(ie clone mode) but without a dual head capable card or secondary display device what you want is impossible.

Almost all laptops support "cloning." I've seen at least a couple that have the ability to drive the monitor separately. You are right though, it would require more to drive it and can only be done if the hardware allows and not on any old laptop.