Screensaver: Using Two Monitors?

TJR357

New member
I am using two monitors on my system at work, and for some reason my "Monitor 2" goes blank when "Monitor 1" is showing the screensaver in action.
Is there any way to have the screensaver on both monitors simultaneously.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
Windows7 native support for dual-monitors sucks (as you're seeing).

If you'd filled out your system specs fully then you might have got a little specific advice regards your graphics adapter... ;)
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom built machine
OS
W7 x64
CPU
Intel Q9300 2.5Ghz Quad LGA775 (Would like Q9650)
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3R (F6 Bios)
Memory
4Gb OCZ Gold 1,333Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
Palit HD4850 O/C Sonic 512Mb DDR3, Dual DViD's
Sound Card
Azalia to twin Samson 50w Studio Monitors
Monitor(s) Displays
Twin Dell (E-IPS) U2311H 23.6" Screens
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz
Hard Drives
Crucial M4 SSD, archives on twin Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX, 2TB, 7200rpm HDD's, Samsung Ritemaster CD/DVD Burner...
PSU
OCZ 600w
Case
Lian-Li PC8 acoustifoamed' aluminium tower
Cooling
Scythe 140mm Zipang
Keyboard
Cherry PS/2 custom model
Mouse
Lenovo USB laser "Thinkpad" Mouse
Internet Speed
ADSL2+ @14Mbps downstream & Cat6 Gigabit Ethernet
Antivirus
NOD32
Browser
Opera
Other Info
Silicon Dust HD Homerun Dual FTA (Ethernet) TV Tuners, Dray Tek Vigor 2850Vn router and 8x HP Gigabit Switch. Lian-Li CR26 Card Reader, Canon MF4430 iSensys laser printer/scanner.
Windows7 native support for dual-monitors sucks (as you're seeing).

If you'd filled out your system specs fully then you might have got a little specific advice regards your graphics adapter... ;)
Well, it says I have a Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family; up to 1244 MB Mobile Intel Media Accelerator 4500MHD.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
Sorry, but this is not possible. Whilst using normal applications, you can use both monitors. However, when the screensaver comes on, it can only be displayed on the primary monitor. Secondary (and subsequent) monitor(s) will go blank. One of the reasons for this is security. When you want to continue, and you log back in, the log-in screen is only visible to you on the primary screen and not to others who may be looking at secondary screen(s) attached to your system.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro RTM x64
CPU
Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.4GHz)
Motherboard
ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
Memory
4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
Graphics Card(s)
MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
Monitor(s) Displays
ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen (VGA)
Screen Resolution
1440x900
Hard Drives
OCZ Agility 3 SSD 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
PSU
XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
Case
Gigabyte IF233
Cooling
1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
Mouse
Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
Internet Speed
NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
Antivirus
Avast! 8.0.1497
Browser
IE 11
Other Info
Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
Sorry, but this is not possible. Whilst using normal applications, you can use both monitors. However, when the screensaver comes on, it can only be displayed on the primary monitor. Secondary (and subsequent) monitor(s) will go blank. One of the reasons for this is security. When you want to continue, and you log back in, the log-in screen is only visible to you on the primary screen and not to others who may be looking at secondary screen(s) attached to your system.
That seems strange, as I've seen screensavers available for "projectors" (in this case my monitor) before...
I have my desktop in Extended mode, rather than Duplicate (using Windows key + P)
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
Sorry, but this is not possible. Whilst using normal applications, you can use both monitors. However, when the screensaver comes on, it can only be displayed on the primary monitor. Secondary (and subsequent) monitor(s) will go blank. One of the reasons for this is security. When you want to continue, and you log back in, the log-in screen is only visible to you on the primary screen and not to others who may be looking at secondary screen(s) attached to your system.
...and it can't be that because some of my screensavers work on both monitors, and some don't.
There must be a setting somewhere, or something...
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
I do not have a problem with screen savers on dual monitors. But just like TJR357 says i depends on the screensaver.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit with XP Mode
CPU
AMD 6400+ 64bit 3.2GHZ Dual core
Motherboard
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
Memory
4GB ,TWIN2X2048-6400C4 Dual Channel 4-4-4-12
Graphics Card(s)
PNY XLR 8800GT , PNY 6600GT
Sound Card
Creative Soundblaster Audigy 4
Monitor(s) Displays
42" HDTV + 27" HDTV
Screen Resolution
42" HDTV 1920 X 1080 - 27" HDTV 1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
36GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM, Maxtor 100GB, 500GB Western Digital X 2
PSU
Antec TruePower TP-750 Blue 750W Continuous Power
Case
Antec 900
I do not have a problem with screen savers on dual monitors.

The OP sounds like he's using a laptop linked to an external monitor; that's a little different to dual monitors on a desktop machine.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom built machine
OS
W7 x64
CPU
Intel Q9300 2.5Ghz Quad LGA775 (Would like Q9650)
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3R (F6 Bios)
Memory
4Gb OCZ Gold 1,333Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
Palit HD4850 O/C Sonic 512Mb DDR3, Dual DViD's
Sound Card
Azalia to twin Samson 50w Studio Monitors
Monitor(s) Displays
Twin Dell (E-IPS) U2311H 23.6" Screens
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz
Hard Drives
Crucial M4 SSD, archives on twin Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX, 2TB, 7200rpm HDD's, Samsung Ritemaster CD/DVD Burner...
PSU
OCZ 600w
Case
Lian-Li PC8 acoustifoamed' aluminium tower
Cooling
Scythe 140mm Zipang
Keyboard
Cherry PS/2 custom model
Mouse
Lenovo USB laser "Thinkpad" Mouse
Internet Speed
ADSL2+ @14Mbps downstream & Cat6 Gigabit Ethernet
Antivirus
NOD32
Browser
Opera
Other Info
Silicon Dust HD Homerun Dual FTA (Ethernet) TV Tuners, Dray Tek Vigor 2850Vn router and 8x HP Gigabit Switch. Lian-Li CR26 Card Reader, Canon MF4430 iSensys laser printer/scanner.
I do not have a problem with screen savers on dual monitors.

The OP sounds like he's using a laptop linked to an external monitor; that's a little different to dual monitors on a desktop machine.
Yes, that is my setup. Why would some screensavers work on the external monitor, and others not work?
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
Screensaver on 2 monitors is possible

Here's the work-around. Set up a theme and make the desktop a slideshow. You can vary the speed of the image changes down to 10 seconds. Unfortunately, the same image appears in both monitors, but it's still better than one in black. If you wish, you can invoke one of the built-in Win 7 screensavers, like Ribbons, which appears on both screens after a set period of time during which the desktop slide show has run.
 

My Computer

OS
Win 7 Home 64
Solution

I just downloaded "gPhotoshow" and it seems to work pretty well with Dual monitor screensavers on laptops.
gPhotoshow

When I used DisplayFusion, you can only set ONE monitor screensaver that ran with "photos" screensaver drop-down list. If you tried to set both monitors with "Photos", DisplayFusion will tell you it'll not function properly and only one screen would work when you actually try previewing it.

However, with DisplayFusion, you can set one monitor to "Photos" and then others to other screensavers (3D Text, Bubbles, Ribbons.etc) and that will work fine as well. Or, there's also an option to temporarily "shutdown" the monitor while the screensaver is on.

So, depending on what you need, there's something for everyone within these 2 programs.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
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