Hey, everyone. It’s Josh from Computer Fitness yet again. We are a Tech Support Company for Small and Medium businesses located in Reisterstown, MD.
It’s 2010 and one monitor just won’t cut it anymore. That’s the reality for a lot of computer users these days. Graphic designers and a plethora of other people need more than just one monitor to prevent data overload and clutter. It’s the same thing as having too many files on your desk. You buy a return with some drawers to the side to add a little space and keep things more organized. Others use a second monitor for entertainment, such as hooking up your laptop to a TV. This is useful when streaming TV shows from, let’s say, Hulu. Configuring your system to work with this is pretty simple, and the rewards can be pretty cool. Here’s a walkthrough for getting a secondary display attached to your PC or Mac.
PC
- Check to make sure your graphics card has two outputs
- Laptops just use the VGA out port
- Desktops will require a special card if no second output is present
- Power down
- Connect second monitor
- Power on the machine
- If it doesn’t auto detect, right click on desktop
- Select Properties
- Go to change your resolution
- You should see a second monitor in a little window there, and it may be grayed out
- Click on it
- Then check the “Extend My Windows Desktop onto this Display” box directly beneath the monitor diagram
- Click OK
Mac OS
- Plug in the secondary monitor
- Should auto-detect
- Click “System Preferences”
- Open “Displays”
- It will display this window on both monitors
- Will either automatically mirror your existing desktop or extend it
- In this setting panel, choose how you want it to look
- Optional: Enable “Show Displays in Menu Bar”
- Great option if you are frequently hooking up your computer to a TV or any other external display
-Josh
