Display Properties Question

[GBRPG]

I have a Dell Dimension that I installed XP Pro on. The hard drive was brand new and I did a clean install. Wwhen I look at the display properties on the settings tab, I see two monitors. I only have one monitor connect to the system. The first one is active and has the correct settings, and drivers. The second on is labeled default monitor. I have an ATI Radeon 7000 64Mb AGP video card installed. (I think the second monitor was creadted during the initial install of XP.) Under the device monitor there is only one video adapter and one monitor listed. Will this have any adverse performance impact on my system? Shouldn't there only be one monitor listed? How do I go about showing only one monitor in the display properties?

This is from the settings tab of the display properites:
Monitor 1: Dell M781s on Radeon 7000/Radeon VE
Monitor 2: (Default Monitor) on Radoen 7000/Radeon VE

 

[RLKnox]

To put your mind at ease, I have the same setup and have never experienced any problems. Don't know why it is, though.

 

[linney]

Does this card have two outlets for dual monitors or a TV Out, or some such thing?

If not, you could try uninstalling the ATI Radeon driver found under Display Adapter in Device Manager. Reboot and let XP rediscover it as new hardware and reload the driver for you.

 

[gbaughma]

The ATI cards have support for two monitors; either a VGA and a digital, or VGA and TV Out (even if you don't have the jacks there).

It's perfectly normal to see two displays listed in your properties.

--Greg

 

[GBRPG]

yes this card does have support for tv and dvi. so that is where the second monitor is coming from? I updated the drivers for the card to the ones on the cd that came w/the card, but the initial screens in windows look terrible. There are vertical lines on the screen and the initial dialog boxes (log in, etc.) are fuzzy and hard to read. Now this does clear up as the machine is used. Do I need to adjust the hardware acceleration down a notch or two? I have downloaded the latest drivers from ATI, and the same thing occurs. any suggestions?

Thanks again for the help.

Glenn

 

[gbaughma]

I have seen those same vertical lines and stuff before on my ATI card.

Switch the settings to STANDARD VGA, Uninstall the ATI Drivers using the uninstaller or add/remove programs, then re-install the new drivers.

ATI is kind of picky about using existing drivers while upgrading to new ones. They suggest you be in "VGA" mode only when you install, so that all of the appropriate files can be replaced while not in use.

Just my $.02

--Greg