THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"

In Information worker offices, one of the ways that you can make that worker more productive is dual, triple or even quad monitors.  Tonight I learned a lesson in drivers.  I was trying to get a third monitor loaded up onto a system that already had two.  This was a bit of a unique monitor as it's one of the Dell's that can rotate Portait.  Here are a few tips...

1.  When deploying dual or triple monitors using digital output, make your life easier by getting matching monitors and matching cards.  A 24inch widescreen monitor just about launched itself with a little help through a plate glass window because for two days (after I tested it several times) it would not launch properly up to a log in screen when trying to have a 24 and a 20 inch monitor side by side with the 24 as the main monitor.  So when one has a 20inch monitor on the side and it's just sitting there with no log in and the 24 inch widescreen, where the log in is suppose to be is sitting there like a bump on a log, make life easier on yourself and just go get a matching 24 inch widescreen so that the video card doesn't try to throttle down to the smaller monitor and end up just loading up a blue screen with no log in.

2.  When installing driver software and you have the choice between 'just the driver' and the mega mondo control program that wants to install .NET, just choose the driver.  Every time I've been busy and not taken the time to drill down to just the driver and instead let the software load everything up I've regretting the decision.  Middle of the day today the .NET decided it wanted to turn off the monitor that was working.  Fortunately I had spare cards around that I prefer the drivers for and loaded them up instead of the ATI branded card that had the mega mondo .NET graphics bundle.

3.  As much as we complain about Nvidia drivers, ATI drivers are just as horrific if not more so.

4.  When installing two of the dual cards, try to get a machine that can handle two PCI-E.  And if you can't do that an install a PCI-E and a PCI, ensure that the cards are the same driver chipset... both Nvidia for example.  I BSOD'd a box mismatching a ATI driver and a Nvidia driver in the same box.

5.  And always reboot the system.  Mainly because when dealing with digital output it's the only way sometimes that the system will kick the monitors on, and secondly to ensure that while you got them perfect and 'just right', that they will STAY THAT WAY when the person who arrives at 6:30 in the morning while you are still asleep will be able to log into his system properly.

But dual and quad monitors in XP are just as finky as dual and quads in Vista.  And my fingertips are a bit worn off by screwing and unscrewing the cables in and out.  They definitely don't make them easy in and out and I always end up tightening them way too tight when I need to remove them right after I've tightened them too tight.

But at least now we have a bit more "Wow" in both the Vista's and XP's at the office.  The wide screen monitors make for efficient spreadsheets for sure.  I think the "Monitor envy" problem has now been solved.