Device Management

This section describes problems that might occur when using multiple monitors. As a general troubleshooting step, make sure that your video card is included on the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) and that you are using an updated driver.

The system does not detect the secondary adapters.

Make sure that you have the correct drivers for your monitors. Restart the computer, and start Device Manager. Expand the node for the monitor, and right-click to open the Properties dialog box. On the Drivers tab, click Update Driver , insert a disk containing the correct drivers, and then select Display a list of known drivers for this device so that I can choose a specific driver . Select Have Disk , and then click Next . When the files have been copied, click Finish .

If the problem is not corrected, you might have an unsupported display adapter. Choose an adapter that is supported and repeat the procedure for setting up multiple monitors. For more information about supported adapters, see the Hardware Compatibility List link on the Web Resources page at https://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources .

The primary monitor displays the startup screen and the secondary monitor is blank.

Check that the secondary monitor is plugged in and turned on. Check the power connections and cabling. Check that the monitor is capable of displaying the mode and refresh rates that are set up for it.

If you are still having a problem, switch the primary and secondary monitors.

The primary monitor displays the startup screen and the secondary monitor displays the desktop.

Shut down the computer and remove the secondary adapter. Check that you disabled VGA on the secondary adapter display. Disable VGA and reinstall the adapter.

If the VGA was disabled, restart the computer and open Device Manager. Under Display Adapters double-click the secondary adapter. On the General tab, check Device Status to see if there is a resource conflict. Change the resource and restart.

If neither of these procedures resolves the problem, you might have incompatible display adapters. Select a new primary or secondary display adapter and repeat the procedure To add a secondary monitor to your computer earlier in this chapter.

After installing the secondary monitor, the system does not complete the POST routine and there is no display on either monitor.

Turn off the computer and place the secondary display adapter in another PCI slot. Make sure that the primary display adapter is in PCI slot 1. Restart the computer and set up the primary display. Confirm that the drivers are correctly loaded. If this does not work, you might need to use a different PCI slot for your primary adapter. If the display adapters do not work in any of the PCI slots, you might have incompatible display adapters. Select a new primary or secondary display adapter and repeat the procedure To add a secondary monitor to your computer earlier in this chapter.

If one of the displays is AGP, check in the BIOS to make sure that the Primary Video option is set correctly for the VGA-enabled device. For example, if the VGA device is PCI, set the Primary Video to PCI.

The secondary monitor performs a POST, and only the secondary monitor is listed in the Display Properties.

The VGA-disabled device completed the POST routine instead of the primary display, preventing the multiple monitor configuration from working with the VGA device. Switch PCI slots between the two adapters (if they are both PCI) or set the BIOS option to run the POST routine the display port that corresponds to the VGA device.

After restarting, the secondary monitor has no display.

In Control Panel, double-click Display , and then click the Settings tab. Check that Extend my Windows desktop into this monitor is selected. If it is not, select this option and restart the computer.

If two monitor icons are not displayed in the Display Properties dialog box on the Settings tab, you might have incompatible display adapters. Select a new primary or secondary display adapter and repeat the procedure To add a secondary monitor to your computer earlier in this chapter.