Is there a way to fake a dual (second) monitor

Question

Is there a way to fake a dual monitor for testing.

I have only one monitor and I have to make an application that is suitable for two monitors.

The second monitor screen should appear as a window on my primary monitor.

Solution 1

I made Windows think I had two connected displays like this:

1. Right click on the desktop, click 'Screen Resolution'
2. Click 'Detect' on the next screen
3. Click 'Another display not detected' and under the multiple displays option select 'Try to connect anyway on: VGA'
4. Click 'Apply'
5. You can now enable your desktop to be extended as if you have a second screen plugged into your computer.

To view the second screen. This can be done via LogMeIn or TeamViewer on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac and I believe Linux:

I used TeamViewer as I already use it, so already have it installed

1. Opened TeamViewer on iPad
2. Connect to the computer setup previously
3. Using a 'Monitor' button at the bottom, select and show screen number 2.
4. iPad now shows screen 2 from PC.

Solution 2

Another free solution that works:

• install TightVNC
• install a virtual display driver like this or the one coming with zonescreen
• extend the Desktop across both displays
• start TightVNC Server
• in TightVNC properties go to Display, Sharing area and select 'Full desktop'
• start vncviewer and connect to localhost
• scroll to the left/right to your virtual display and you're done

Solution 3

Okay, I found the solution on this site, in another question.

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Since you want Windows to think there are two physical monitors, maybe Matrox PowerDesk or Virtual Display Manager would fit your needs.

Solution 4

I found cheapest way to trick pc by physicaly making an dummy VGA (XGA,RGB) analog connector by simply putting three resistors from 50 up to 150 ohms on some connections. i have school TV setup that needed an external HDMI audio/video output as secondary monitor on windows xp system. The tricky part is that when you disconnect the main VGA monitor the whole desktop is set to the HDMI and whole secondary monitor trick just f***s up, so i made a quick search on the internet and found way to trick GPU to think that it is actual monitor connected as VGA and set that to default desktop and do not transfer desktop to the HDMI. http://www.geeks3d.com/20091230/vga-hack-how-to-make-a-vga-dummy-plug/ the resistors works as and answering mashines and if GPU sends R/G/B signals it is transfered to receiving pins and fooling the GPU that is actualy monitor on that VGA port connected. To view the desktop you can use any remote control program even the native one, and see whole desktop on dummy VGA AAAAND secondary monitor that is REAL :) Hope that will be helpful for someone. P.S. I did cut off old VGA cable connector and strip it apart, used soldering and hot glue to make sure it will not shorten the connector. The shortening of ANY connector on pc can cause malfunctions so be VERY careful and doublecheck EVERYTHING! You have beying warned ;) Good luck and sorry for any spelling mistakes i made. English isn't my language ;)

Solution 5

There is nothing that I know of (in order to "fake" a second monitor in software). Your only option may be to get an application that creates virtual desktops in Windows.

With that said, if this is for work, ask them to buy you one. A second monitor doesn't need to be anything fancy. There are very cheap monitors out there. If this is not for work, you may want to consider getting a second one anyway as a dual monitor setup is very useful for software developers (and in general).

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Comments

[Admin]

I'm actually curious about this too now that you mention it for faking a small (7') monitor. Virtual desktops are useless here unless I have one already and want to use it as my main monitor (err, no.)

[Admin]

possible duplicate of Single Monitor act exactly like dual monitor?

[Admin]

Dell has (today, at least) a 24" 1920x1080 monitor listed (in the Home/Home Office division) for $199. There's no economic reason not to buy a second monitor for a developer.

[Snark]

ZoneScreen is a free alternative to MaxiVista : zoneos.com/zonescreen.htm

[Agnel Kurian]

The superuser question about using a second computer as a monitor (in which both ZoneScreen and MaxiVista are covered) is here: superuser.com/questions/15254

[long al]

Please provide screenshots

[Admin]

Can you expand on that link so that your answer is still useful if it becomes dead? How do you use this particular piece of software, can you post some screenshots in your answer?

[Nzall]

I second a second monitor. As a developer, having a dual (or even triple) monitor setup will save you insane amounts of time with debugging and research. For example, when debugging, you can have your debugger on 1 screen and the app or website you're debugging on the other and immediately see the correlation between what happens inside the app and what the user sees. And you can immediately see what the effect of HTML and CSS changes are on your website. Finally, you can easily follow video tutorials on your second screen while doing the actions they suggest on your main screen.

[Neil]

I tried to do this in a VM, I got a little confused until I realised that I had to disable mouse integration otherwise Windows and VirtualBox couldn't agree as to which screen the mouse was on.

[Michael van der Horst]

This looks like a new feature in Windows 7/8 In WinXP (Yes my question was about WinXP :( ) this was not yet available. Tnx for the reply!

[Ray]

Doesn't work for me: "The display settings could not be saved. Please try a different combination of display settings."

[Ilya Serbis]

My Win 8 didn't show 'Another display not detected' up until I installed iDisplay free windows version. Then I disable it (uncheck 'Start on windows start') and exit - it's no longer needed

[Vinz]

This will work only if your graphics adapter does have a VGA port with no screen connected to it.

[George Profenza]

Just tested on Windows 10, so nice that it still works and doesn't require any extra software (+1)

[Alex]

How do I remove it?

[Jonathon]

This solved my Windows 10 issue. Win+P > Extend > Switched my monitor cable to other port on tower.

[Victor Marchuk]

Doesn't VDM separates a single physical monitor into multiple virtual monitors? How can you create a virtual monitor outside of the screen of the physical monitor?

[taper]

A special note to windows 10: Just press Winkey+P and select Extended, windows will automatically create a second display! This is so wonderfully simple! To remove this extra one, just select back to Computer Only. @Alex

[Markus von Broady]

Can't confirm that it works on Windows 10. I have no VGA output on my graphic card (using a converter for VGA monitor) and installing iDisplay gave me this: i.imgur.com/JoORaoJ.png and this: i.imgur.com/ZKQwmuq.png

[Smith]

@JonasDahl which TeamViwer did you install, whats the name. I tried the steps you outlined, but I couldn't find the 'Monitor' button at the bottom

[CTOverton]

@Smith superuser.com/questions/939158/…

[CTOverton]

What about for laptops? Does the same idea work for HDMI out. Windows 10 doesn't seem to have the option to 'Another display not detected'

[trinity420]

This answer is copied from community.spiceworks.com/topic/…

[Ebram]

@taper I tried it this works fine on desktop but I tried on laptops it didn't work.

[Paul McCarthy]

Does not work on Windows 10