how to setup multiple monitors? help

[irbullet]

I would like to setup 2 monitors on my computer. I know my computer is older but it is very fast and I don't plan on using the monitors on resource hogging stuff
My specs are
Intel pentium 4 3ghz HT ENABLED
4gb ram
1tb hdd
Nvidia gt 520 1gb
windows 7
My monitors are 2 different inputs / outputs
If I just plugged them both in to the plugin on my gpu would it work?
and have to adjust stuff?
I have never used dual monitors so I dont know.
One monitor has a 1600x900 (I plan on this being main monitor)
Other is 1024x768
what do I need to do?
Any GOOD software for this?

EDIT
one of them is dvi and other is vga
Also I am new to this site and I dont know what section this should be in

 

[Franken7]

Win7 has some built in features for multi monitors.

This makes it better DisplayFusion: Multi-Monitor Taskbar, Multi-Monitor Screen Savers, HotKeys, Multi-Monitor Wallpaper, Windows Logon Changer and more...

 

[irbullet]

Win7 has some built in features for multi monitors.

This makes it better DisplayFusion: Multi-Monitor Taskbar, Multi-Monitor Screen Savers, HotKeys, Multi-Monitor Wallpaper, Windows Logon Changer and more...

What I dont know is will my hardware work

 

[JoeDavola]

Turn off you computer, plug the second monitor in,reboot, and go to the Nivida control panel(right click desktop>Nvidia control panel), there you will find options for set up. You will see the number 1 and 2 in the set up, identify and arrange so monitor 1 is your larger monitor.

I used a 2048x1152 and a 1024x768 monitor with no problems, I didn't span or clone the displays, just used the smaller monitor as a second desktop. That way the taskbar and desktop icons stay on the main monitor, I think it's called dual view in the Nvidia control panel.

 

[irbullet]

I don't have the panel as its a a clean install of windows 7 and it wasn't needed

 

[JoeDavola]

I don't have the panel as its a a clean install of windows 7 and it wasn't needed

Then go Control Panel>Display>adjust resolution, it should work pretty much the same as the Nvidia control panel, but I don't use that so I'm not sure.

 

[irbullet]

I don't have the panel as its a a clean install of windows 7 and it wasn't needed

Then go Control Panel>Display>adjust resolution, it should work pretty much the same as the Nvidia control panel, but I don't use that so I'm not sure.

Ill try display fusion as suggested above.
it has more features and can have taskbar on both monitors and 2 different wallpapers on monitors

 

[JoeDavola]

Here you go How To Setup Dual Monitor in Windows 7 ( From Microsoft) - YouTube

 

[JoeDavola]

I don't have the panel as its a a clean install of windows 7 and it wasn't needed

Then go Control Panel>Display>adjust resolution, it should work pretty much the same as the Nvidia control panel, but I don't use that so I'm not sure.

Ill try display fusion as suggested above.
it has more features and can have taskbar on both monitors and 2 different wallpapers on monitors

I'm using Actual Multiple Monitors, and there are some nice features, especially if you use 3 monitors.
The newest Nvidia drivers finally have some desktop management tools for multi monitors, but it takes a tweaked inf file to install them on a 5xx series card.
I'm sure display fusion is great, but I haven't tried it.

 

[irbullet]

Then go Control Panel>Display>adjust resolution, it should work pretty much the same as the Nvidia control panel, but I don't use that so I'm not sure.

Ill try display fusion as suggested above.
it has more features and can have taskbar on both monitors and 2 different wallpapers on monitors

I'm using Actual Multiple Monitors, and there are some nice features, especially if you use 3 monitors.
The newest Nvidia drivers finally have some desktop management tools for multi monitors, but it takes a tweaked inf file to install them on a 5xx series card.
I'm sure display fusion is great, but I haven't tried it.

Would u reccomend it? I don't want to add startup time
Does it automatically start and work good?

 

[JoeDavola]

I'm not sure about boot time since I use an SSD, but it only has 2 processes running. It has a free trail, so no harm in trying it.
You should probably start without it and just use the Win 7 tools to get a feel for dual monitors, and then try them out.

What are you waiting for, turn the computer off, plug in that second monitor and enjoy. I could never go back to a single monitor.

 

[irbullet]

My second monitor is a little older and is not widescreen
I'm thinking about just using it for a month or 2 to see if i like it nd buy a better monitor and scrap the old one
It has a 1024x768 res but its not widescreen I believe. And I don't have that monitor with me Atm
You think it would work fine?

 

[JoeDavola]

My second monitor is a little older and is not widescreen
I'm thinking about just using it for a month or 2 to see if i like it nd buy a better monitor and scrap the old one
It has a 1024x768 res but its not widescreen I believe. And I don't have that monitor with me Atm
You think it would work fine?

It will work fine as a second monitor, but not if you want to span the desktop across both. I used a 2048x1152 with a 1280x1024 with no problems.

 

[irbullet]

My second monitor is a little older and is not widescreen
I'm thinking about just using it for a month or 2 to see if i like it nd buy a better monitor and scrap the old one
It has a 1024x768 res but its not widescreen I believe. And I don't have that monitor with me Atm
You think it would work fine?

It will work fine as a second monitor, but not if you want to span the desktop across both. I used a 2048x1152 with a 1280x1024 with no problems.

Ok I think I'm going to use this second monitor to just try out as I don't want to spend money for no reason
hope it doesnt look like crape

 

[JoeDavola]

Dual monitors are great for having a web browser open in one, and something else like IM in the other monitor. It's great for photoshop, tools on the smaller monitor and image you are working on in the main monitor.

 

[irbullet]

Dual monitors are great for having a web browser open in one, and something else like IM in the other monitor. It's great for photoshop, tools on the smaller monitor and image you are working on in the main monitor.

Will I notice any performance problems?
Should I use the extended option or what? How do I set the better monitor as the main monitor?
thanks for all ur help!

 

[irbullet]

I got it up! They are a lot better
the second monitor has a ok res