RUN TWO MONITORS AT ONCE THIS IS REALLY GREAT This is a true story. I was going SCUBA diving in Maui. I was taking a new notebook computer that came loaded with Windows 98 with me and so I had bought a book on "Mastering Windows 98" to see what I could do. Like a lot of my friends, I had stayed with Windows 95 because I saw no reason to upgrade. Wow was I in for a surprise. For about $50 and using one of your old or spare monitors you can run two (and up to 9) monitors at a time. For some reason, very few people seem to know about this. YOU CAN HAVE IT TOO. And like everything else, I learned about this from reading a manual. I'm usually the only one lying out by the pool reading a Fireworks manual instead of a novel. But hey, we all make our choices. I go diving. But, I do it with a notebook computer and pile of manuals and textbooks. In today's information age, we never stop learning. So, if you're running Windows 98, just 'right click' your mouse on your desktop and you'll get the pop-up box you see to the left. Then select properties and let's go.

IT'S JUST THIS EASY! OK, here's all you do. Install a cheap PCI card in your computer. Chances are you already have a GRP or PCI card running your primary monitor. Click on the "settings tab" and your wonderful 'Plug and Play' Windows 98/ME/XP computer will automatically recognize that you have two video cards. Then just drag the second monitor Icon to the left, to the top or to the bottom. I've dragged mine to the left. That way, your computer knows where you've physically placed the monitor. It couldn't be much simpler. You've doubled your screen real estate. You can open two full screen programs and move information between them. Well, check below and I'll give you some examples. But if you're like me nothing short of doing this yourself will prepare you for the thrill of having your mouse seamlessly fly between monitors. WOW!

WOW IS THIS GREAT, OR WHAT? Here you see my two monitors. I've actually used my Macintosh monitor (a simple flip will do it) to be my second monitor. You could use an old BSR 14" monitor, or almost anything. Anyway, LOOK AT ALL YOU CAN DO. I'm running Dreamweaver 4 on my main monitor so I can see the actual graphics and I've got all the pallets and code on the left. This makes web work a snap. But, how about surfing on your primary monitor and opening Word on the second monitor. Then whenever you see something you want, just copy the paste into Word. It's simple. Just highlight the text, copy it and paste it into Word. It's great. And your mouse thinks you've got one big monitor so it moves freely back and forth. I love it. I often open Excel on my left monitor and have Word open on my right. Or I'll have an address book or program open on the left and copy and paste information into letters as I write them. There's no limit. I can have PhotoShop open on the left and Fireworks on the right. I use them both. And when I'm creating web ideas, I'll put up two windows to compare them. Anyway you can do all this with Windows 98/ME/XP and a cheap video card and an old spare monitor. And remember, I stumbled across this in a manual on a dive trip. Pretty neat!

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