Splitting applications over dual screens in Vista?

BenEadir

Hi all,

I've seen this done elsewhere but having tried every display setting under the sun I've had to admit failure and turn to the trusty Boardsies for help - again!!

I have a vista laptop which I bring to and from work every day. At work I plug it into an external monitor which then acts as the main monitor and the laptop screen goes black.

Can anyone tell me how I can have both monitors working in such a way that the laptop monitor displays Outlook and all other applications run on the main monitor? I'd like to keep an eye on my inbox via the laptop monitor without having to tab back and forth between applications on the main monitor. Does that make sense?

Ben

Biggins

You might find the following below useful.
I have one and does the job for me on a pc.

Here is an info link: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/09/15/tritton-unveiled-new-see2-xtreme-usb-to-dvi-converter-to-support-multiple-displays/

This is the one I have:
http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1088606&CatId=467

This really fits my need for a second monitor with my laptop. I'm running a CRT off of the laptop VGA connector and an LCD off of the adapter. It took very little time to setup and everything worked well. This is a business application only, so I can't comment on gaming apps.

Capt'n Midnight

Make / model of laptop ?

for many it's Fn + F5 to toggle external screen

check display in control panel

but you probably need to go into applet that is specific to your video card and adjust the settings there

note: if you move a monitor to the left of your laptop display you get negtive co-ordinates which some apps don't like


another option is to have a desktop PC and use VNC or remote desktop to see the laptop

BenEadir

Biggins, thanks but I'm not looking for a hardware solution. I'm already able to connect the external monitor to my laptop, what I'm trying to do is continue to display Outlook on the laptop screen whilst the external monitor displays the remaining applications.

Capt - I've a Dell XPS 13 with Vista ultimate. The keyboard has a button which allows me to toggle between both screens on (showing the same application), the external screen on and laptop screen off or laptop screen on and external screen off. I have tried customising the dual screen option in the NVIDIA control panel (which seems to have relaced the "Display" option on the Control Panel and I've had some limited success. In the NVIDIA control panel "Set up multiple displays" I selected the two displays and set the laptop display as the primary windows display. This rsults in the currently active application displaying on the external monitor and the desktop displaying on the laptop screen. I also tried setting the external monitor as the primary which results in the external displaying the desktop and the currently active application and the laptop monitor just displaying the wallpaper which normally sits behind the desktop icons. With the external set as primary the laptop just becomes a screen shot of the desktop wallpaper, I can move the cursor over to it but that's it , I can't launch or view any open applications.

I tried ton's of combinations but the above is where I'm at. The missing piece seems to be the ability to somehow assign which apps show on which display. I'd really like to assign Outlook to be permanently open on the laptop screen and for the external monitor to do everthing else.

Help??

steve_r

I think (could be wrong) that it might be a simple case of dragging the actual application across

Display Settings - extend destktop to this monitor?

Then drag the relevant application accross?

I know the idea you are talking about - someone set my laptop up to work that way, the above is how I think they did it but I'm not sure.

Best o' luck!

BenEadir

Hi Steve,

Tried that to no avail but thanks for the reply.

I know I'm close but frustratingly my laptop screen remains a picture of the desktop wallpaper.

Any other ideas anyone?

Fysh

Hi BenEadir,

There are a few things that I think are getting mixed together here, and it might help to separate them out.

The Function Key combination in your laptop is usually at a hardware level and just toggles between the internal and external display, sometimes with a mirroring mode where both show the same image.

Separately to this you've got your display settings configuration (handled either through the Windows Display Settings or through your video card's dedicated applet). This is where you need to go to enable both screens to be used separately. You may have to check whether the default option is Mirror or Dual-Display, as it seems to vary between manufacturers. You should also bear in mind that some configurations let you vary the relative size and orientation of one display to the other (so if your external monitor has twice the resolution of your internal display, the external monitor will have more space for applications than the internal display).

Usually when you've got the dual-display setup working you can start moving applications between displays by dragging them in the relevant direction.

EG if your laptop is the left display and your external monitor is the right display, click & hold your mouse at the top of your Outlook window and drag it over to the right until it disappears from the laptop display and appears on the external monitor.

In terms of "always" opening an application in the right place - if you keep your video configuration static, this should happen automatically (I think, haven't checked this in a while). However, if you regularly undock your laptop and work in single-screen mode it may not be so simple. (I've not had a chance to play with Windows 7 or Vista in this regard but there may be a way of "pinning" applications to the relevant screen, which will likely depend on the presence of the second screen being detected at startup).

Hope this helps.

BenEadir

Fysh,

Thanks for taking the time to post in such detail.

My laptop is to the right and external monitor to the left. I've tried ton's of combinations of one being the main monitor and the desktop extended to the other etc but still no joy and I can't drag applications from one screen to the other.

I know I'm close and must be missing something really obvious!!!

Ben

Capt'n Midnight

try the monitor on the right

BenEadir

Hey Capt'n,

Eureka!!!

The trick is to reduce the size of the open application window so it's not "full screen" then you just drag the top bar from one screen to another. This roots the application to the designated screen and you're in business. If you try and drag an application which is open "full screen" it won't move for ya. Weird or what?

Madly frustrating but now I've discovered it I'll never foget.

Thanks for all your help and to Fysh, Steve and Biggins also.

Regards,

Ben