Don't toss that display away quite so fast!  You can use it
 

Internet & Technology

This column does not have a single author, but is submitted by a number of experts that contribute regularly to our news source.  Some are in Canada, some in the UK and one is in the far east

To Comment on this article Click Here

Lots of people in the area are switching to laptops from old towers.  Some of the towers have pretty good displays on them.  For example, I had an old Dell Tower that had  a great flat screen display.

I've been using the computer as a print server and not paying attention to the display.  I have a dandy Dell Laptop with lots of memory.

Yesterday I decided to hook up the flat display to my laptop to gain more screen area.  It's very easy to do.  All you have to do is look at your laptop and you'll see that it has a spot for an auxiliary display.  So just plug it in and turn it on and see what happens.

If you are running Windows XP, Vista or the new System 7, you'll see that your normal desktop appears on both screens.   That's not too useful, but if you were running a Power Point Presentation on a large screen, it would be.

You are given options to allow your auxiliary screen to just be added real estate for your laptop screen.  You can select where the cursor should navigate, that is, to the right or left.  Now you can move any window or set of windows to the other screen and have clear space right in front of you without the annoying problem of having to uncover hidden windows.  Moving the cursor to the edge of your laptop screen, you will see it move to the other display.

You can move things back and forth and even share a window part on one display and part on the other.

It's a great productivity tool.   Suppose for example, that you are cutting and pasting from one big document to another.  This makes it duck soup and seamless. 

Guess what?  It does not cost a thing, so don't toss out that old display until it really quits.  Make use of it and make your life easier. 

One good application is to run a movie or Skype on one screen and do some work on the other.

^{for world news, books, sports, movies ...}

Monday, January 25, 2010