Basic 2 Monitor advice for The-GPS-Kid

I use a 21" and my second is a 17" (both CRT's though). I don't know how people use anything less than 17" and in fact it is part of the HSE that monitors in the workplace should be 17" or above.

Anyway, I've had a hard time getting FS2004 working on both monitors so I'm interested in the answer too. The problem I find is that although the Desktop works between the two monitors, FS2004 doesn't really like it. The only split-screen I've managed is with FSNav 'undocked' and even then it left lines all over the second monitor as if the screen wasn't refreshing.

My card is a Gigabyte X-700 PCI-E.

Dave

See if this is of any help to you.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307873

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;837879

Thanks RM - the first article is greatfor the basics on setting up the multiple displays in general on XP....

Sadly the second article (specific to FS2004) states that multi monitors can only be used with FS2004 in window mode, rather than Full screen mode..... (logical when you think about it, but a real shame, I ain't moving to window mode in the Sim, couldn't even consider it!).... so looks like I'll stick with a single (but nice big 😀 ) monitor !

Thanks for the pointers RM !

😉

Too bad, wait a while possibly someone here has a fix for that problem.

😀 WORKAROUND
To work around this issue, run Flight Simulator 2004 in a window. To run Flight Simulator 2004 in a window and to configure multiple monitors, follow these steps:
1. Start Flight Simulator 2004.
2. When you are in the cockpit, click Views, and then click Full Screen.

Note You can also press ALT+ENTER to switch between full-screen and window modes.
3. On the Views menu, click Undock View.
4. Click the title bar of the undocked view and use a drag-and-drop operation to move the view to the monitor where you want the view.
5. Configure each monitor to display Flight Simulator in full-screen or window mode.
Note Multiple full-screen setups are not saved in Flight Simulator 2004 or in flight configuration (.cfg) files. You can save a flight while each display is in windowed mode, and then switch to full-screen mode after you start Flight Simulator 2004.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about multi-monitor support and about how to use multiple accelerators, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulator/fs2004_multimonitor.asp

Ah - thats the instructions I looked at from the MS site that RadarMan gave - but it looks as if I may have misunderstood it and in fact you can still have the main monitor in full screen, once it's all configured - looks good, thanks for that Guest !

😀 You're most welcome!

Sorry to harp on about this. It struck me that You never had to take Your screenshots the hard way. What seems like a lifetime ago now, I read in a magazine that you could take screenshots of your daredevil exploits in a
P-51 for example. Wow!
Following the instructions to the letter I stumbled over the word "clipboard".
Windows temporarely saves the screenshot to the clipboard was the claim.
Always doublechecking as we all know should be a habit when it comes to computers, I opened the "clipboard" to well, yes, doublecheck - wait a minute - open the "clipboard"?
In short: I couldn't find the "clipboard" anywhere. I even considered reinstalling Windows but lacked the courage to go through with it.
As a last resort I rang the folks who made my machine as it was still under warranty. The technician was kind and understanding. What his thoughts were I will never know. It is true: The "clipboard" works in misterious ways.
The problem: I had got stuck at the word "clipboard" while reading the instructions. Needless to say that in my next attempt I chose to ignore that word and BINGO!
I rewrote the instructions in my own words, practiced my newly acquired skills and in no time at all I had memorised the procedure.
The following day - we've all been there: That perfect Touchdown - the sun reflecting off the fully extended flaps smoking rubber - need I say more. Okay: PrintScreen, open Paint and HOW do I get to Paint while I'm in Full Screen Mode??? Couldn't remember, could I. Back to my handwritten instructions: ALT+ENTER! ALT+ENTER! ALT+ENTER!!!
I never forgot this keystroke combination and for anyone who was beginning to wonder what this is all about, well, sorry folks, that's it: ALT+ENTER is what it's all about.

I must thank You GPS Kid for triggering this response and those memories in me. Having read many of Your posts I know You'll have a swell setup shortly.

Thank You also to the simmer who mentioned in one of his posts that SHIFT+Z displays framerates!

Thanks everybody for a great forum!

Your most welcome Guest.

WOW !

Ok, so 100% down to all the great advice I got (as always) on our forum here, last night I got my MULTI-MONITOR set up going ! I bought a £7 adaptor (called a VGA - SDA I think), and hey presto, Windows was immediately recognising my 2nd monitor.... I configured it into the right place within "Display" settings and we're off.

AND YES, WE CAN ENJOY FULL SCREEN MODE, AND HAVE A SECOND MONITOR !

As per the previous advice, all you really need to do is drop it into Windows mode while you are dragging your selected panels / views etc over to the second monitor..... when you have what you want on the second monitor, drag your mouse onto that 2nd monitor and with it sitting anywhere there, hit ALT+ENTER again ....... hey presto - full screen mode on the main screen.... and now I have a dedicated screen at the left side that permanently displays the Throttle Quadrant panel, and FMC .....

Works really well and reduced the "Shift" work needed for the type of flying I do by about 80% .........

COOL 😎

Thanks a million guys for the advice and inspiration. 😂

i set up two monitors as per instructions and it works ok i noticed that on one monitor full screen goes right to the edge of the monitor but full screen on the second monitor leaves a black border all the way around
is this normal

thanks, jimimac

I'd be 99% certain your monitor needs adjusted (horizontal and vertical size) from the front panel.

If it isn't displaying a black border when your Desktop is extended to it then I'd guess you're running FS2004 in a different resolution to your Desktop (and hence it 'defaults' to certain safe display borders if it hasn't been set up to that resolution before now).

Dave

hi dave, there was no borders when i extended the desktop so i will check the res. in 2004 when i next set up dual monitors

thanks jimimac

I've noticed big down side of 2 monitors tonight - used it for the first proper flight after previously just testing and I'm having real problems with my Airplane textures not rendering - sometimes they take a few seconds, sometimes a lot longer, and sometimes the texture just doesn't render.

Considering I'm running 2048Mb of RAM I'm surprised and disappointed at this.... ((Never had this issue at all before using 2nd monitor)).

My Graphics Card is 128Mb as opposed to 256Mb so guess thats not helping but still surprised.

Unless I can find some way of tweaking this, I'll be losing the 2nd monitor as the price is just to high to pay !

Could be coincidence with something else, but since I tried double monitors with my desktop, the PC has been 'pausing' every second, just for an instant. Gaming is impossible and even typing this email the cursor has trouble keeping up. Sometimes the monitor will flick black and then back again too.

I have no idea what it is doing this for, I've reinstalled the drivers again. Maybe a complete reinstall is on the cards again.

I agree - I'm really disappointed about what I've found...

All the excitement in my above posts were when I done a quick test and found that I was able to get the 2nd Mon working, and I was able to stick the instruments on it and switch it back to Full screen mode.

HOWEVER ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I tried to complete a flight last night and WHAT A DISASTER ! I get the pauses every couple of seconds too, and I also find that the textures on almost all of my planes won't load - I ONLY GET THE TEXTURE ON ONE SIDE !

As for the scenery, it starts out fine then after a couple of seconds it literally turns into a lump of green bluuurrrrrghhh !

I checked every possible setting (wasted 4 hours of FS time on this!), and remember I am running over 2 Meg of Memory !

But boy was I in for a further shock - after disabling the 2nd monitor in the Display Settings and disconnecting the actual monitor, I found that even after reverting to a single mon set-up, ALL OF MY GRAPHICS WERE STILL TOTALLY MESSED UP !

To cut a long story short, after 2 hours of dealing with this new nightmare, I had to do a System Restore back to last week to fix my PC.

The 2nd monitor has been put in the cupboard, and I'm just pleased to be at the end of my nightmare with a 2nd monitor.

I think the only time I would reconsider another try is if I upgrade my Sound Card - so I can use a dedicated Video card for EACH monitor !