graphics card - Windows 7 treating my third monitor as an extension to my second rather than detecting it as a stand alone

08
2014-07
  • user331837

    I am trying to attach a third monitor to my PC, however I am coming across a rather strange issue. Windows screen resolution is still only showing that I have two monitors connected, but the second has been extended over both the second and third monitors. Basically, it shows as the main display being a normal size, and the secondary as being twice as long as normal. I have my main connected via a the display port, and the second and third are using two of the three mini HDMI ports my video card provides. How do I get windows to accept my third monitor the same as it does my second?

    http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/fyrflii/monitor.png

    • Answers
  • Wes Sayeed

    This is a display driver issue. You need to open up the display driver's control panel (i.e. nVidia Control Panel, or Catalyst Control Center for AMD/ATI cards) and adjust it there. For ATI, you want to disable EyeFinity. For nVidia, I think it's called nView, but I'm not sure (I don't have an nVidia card in my machine, but I've seen it before)


    • Related Question

    How to automatically disable secondary monitor in Windows 7
  • Phenom

    My primary monitor is attached to my onboard video card. My secondary monitor is attached to my PCI-E card. When I first start my computer, only the primary monitor is on, and it is the only monitor that is recognized.

    While I'm in Windows 7, if I turn on my secondary monitor, Windows 7 automatically detects it, and expands my desktop to stretch across both monitors.

    But if I turn off the secondary monitor, Windows 7 doesn't automatically disable it. Is there a way I can get it to automatically disable when I turn it off, or is there a utility that makes it easier to disable it instead of having to go to screen resolution?


    • Related Answers
  • Bill

    In Windows 7, you can also hold down the Windows key and press "p" to cycle through the various monitor enabling/disabling options. I've found this to be the simplest way to do it by far.

  • 8088

    I'm not sure if there is a way to auto disable it when you turn it off, but there is a great utility called UltraMon

    Once you have that you can setup a hotkey to enable/disable the secondary monitor. I use Ctrl + Alt + D, but you can map it whatever key combo you want:

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