Dual Monitors and the Taskbar

SniperGuy

So I've got Windows 7 and two monitors. What's the best solution to get the taskbar on both so anything on the left monitor shows up on the left monitor and anything on the right monitor shows up on the right, etc? I used to use Ultramon, is that still the best solution for this kinda thing?

Bartholamue

What video card are you using? If it's anything ATI 6xxx, you can go into ATI Catalyst and group the two monitors together and use ATI Eyefinity.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/amd-eyefinity-technology/how-to/Pages/faqs.aspx

Alternatively, you can extend the desktop in the system resolution options, but the taskbar would only come up on the preferred monitor.

Linespider5

For my money I just have the task bar vertical on the left edge of the 'main' screen, and the shared edge being the opposite edge of the main screen. Then I can swap screens quickly while keeping the task bar out of the way of accidental cursor bumping. But I'm weird.

SniperGuy

I'm not certain how that eyefinity thing works. That seems overly complicated for my needs. I have a Radeon 4850 HD I believe anyway.

Bartholamue

I see. Eyefinity is a newer feature, and your 4850 cannot use it. It is a feature that enables you to essentially 'group' monitors to act as a single monitor, so that you get higher resolutions in games and the like.

BlindZenDriver

If Eyefinity is too complicated then I think you're lost. But if you want to give it a go anyway then there is Hydravision for ATI cards, including older ones, which pretty much lets you do all you need - I use it on Windows 8 so it should work fine with Windows 7 as well.

To get Hydravision simply go to the AMD website a use their driver/software page. It's an optional extra thing one downloads on their driver page.

Sinter

There's a simple program that does exactly what you're looking to do: UltraMon.

http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/
(not free, unfortunately, but they do have a 30-day trial)

It also supports some other features such as having different wallpapers on each monitor.

Djeet

Some alternatives, think I've heard good things of Zbar, but I use Ultramon.

SniperGuy

Zbar is perfect! And free! I liked Ultramon, but it has a lot of features I don't need. And BlindZen, I didn't say it was too complicated for me, I said it is overly complicated for my needs. Zbar appears to be lightweight, tiny, and has plenty of customization. Perfect! Thanks!