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Using Remote Desktop with Dual Monitors SplitView

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Posted September 23rd, 2008 by SplitView It is not an understatement to say that onc e y ou are used to the c onv enienc e and inc reased effic ienc y that multiple monitors prov ide, y ou just c annot go bac k to working with a single monitor. So why should y ou use a single monitor when y ou're remotely c onnec ting to another c omputer or v irtual mac hine? You should not, and this quic k guide will show exac tly how y ou c an use Remote Desktop with multiple monitors in three easy steps. Mic rosoft s Remote Desktop c lient (v ersion 6.0) supports spanning ac ross multiple monitors. Only some c onfigurations are supported by Remote Desktop c lient in span

Sea ch Recent blog posts SplitView adds support for Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 SplitView 2011 is here! SplitView 2010 released! Working from home with dual monitors SplitView is Citrix Ready! Using Remote Desktop with Dual Monitors SplitView 2008 reloaded! Improved support for Citrix published applications

mode. This is explained in a little more detail at: http://blogs.msdn.c om/ts/arc hiv e/2006/11/10/multi-monitor-support-in-the... Spec ific ally , the c lient needs the following for span mode to work c orrec tly : o Equal resolution monitors o Total resolution of all monitors not exc eeding 4096 x 2048 o Top-left monitor being the primary So, with this basic setup, let's jump right in!

S ep 1. Check he ba ic
Make sure both y our monitors are using the same resolution and are oriented horizontally . Right c lic k on the desktop. Clic k Properties.

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Windows Server 2008 now supported! SplitView 2008 released!

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In the Display Properties tab, make sure the monitors hav e the same resolution and are oriented horizontally . If not, adjust y our monitor resolution and position so they are. If y ou are using unequal resolution monitors or a different sc reen lay out, see http://www.splitv iew.c om/node/40

Step 2. Get the right ersion of Remote Desktop client

Chec k if y ou hav e the right v ersion of Remote Desktop Connec tion c lient. You need at least v ersion 6.0 In the Start Menu > Run dialog, ty pe mstsc and hit enter.

The ac rony m mstsc stands for Mic rosoft Terminal Serv ic es Client another name for Remote Desktop Connec tion c lient. You c an also start it from Start Menu > All
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P og am > Ac c e

o ie > Remo e De k op Connec ion (o Ac c e

o ie >

Connec ion > Remo e De k op Connec ion) The Remo e De k op Connec ion p og am ho ld open p.

Clic k he moni o ic on in he op-lef c o ne of hi dialog, and c hoo e he "Abo men :

"

Thi

ill ho

he e ion of he Remo e De k op Connec ion c lien . I

ho ld be

e ion 6.0 o highe :

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If y ou hav e an older v ersion, first download and install the newer v ersion from http://www.mic rosoft.c om/downloads/details.aspx?Family Id=6E1EC93D-BDBD-4...

S ep 3. Connec o emo e comp e in ' pan mode'

To hav e the Remote Desktop c onnec tion c lient use both y our monitors, y ou need to start it in span mode. This is done by giv ing the following c ommand in the Run dialog: mstsc /span Open Start Menu, c lic k Run. Then ty pe in mstsc /span and hit Enter or Clic k OK

When the Remote Desktop c lient opens up, enter the remote c omputer name to whic h y ou are c onnec ting, and c lic k Connec t.

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The Remote session should open up and c ov er both y our monitors. If y ou do not hav e SplitView installed on the remote c omputer, y ou will run into a few problems with the span mode: The Windows taskbar will c ov er both monitors Applic ations will maximize ac ross both monitors Popup dialogs and windows will appear in between the two monitors, half on one monitor and half on the other The Windows log on dialog will also appear c ut off by the monitor bezels in between the two monitors This is not the way y ou expec t multi-monitors to work. Instead of inc reasing effic ienc y , suc h a multi-monitor experienc e will be v ery ineffic ient (not to say irritating) to work with, espec ially when y ou hav e to keep mov ing windows so they do not get c hopped off in between the two monitors. To fix these problems, simply install SplitView in Terminal Serv er mode on the remote c omputer. Terminal Serv er mode is an install option. SplitView will fix the abov e mentioned problems and enable a true multi-monitor experienc e with the spanned remote desktop session. Onc e y ou hav e this working, y ou may want to launc h the remote session in an easier way instead of ty ping the mstsc /span c ommand ev ery time. The next sec tion shows how y ou c an c reate an RDP file, so y ou c an launc h a spanned remote desktop session by just double-c lic king a file/shortc ut.

C ea ing an RDP file o la nch a panned emo e de k op e ion co e ing m l iple moni o
Crea e he RDP file
Open Start Menu, c lic k Run. Then ty pe in mstsc /span and hit Enter or Clic k OK

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When the Remote Desktop c lient opens up, enter the remote c omputer name to whic h y ou are c onnec ting, and DON T c lic k Connec t. Instead, c lic k he Op ion button.

The window will open up to rev eal more options:

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Clic k the Sav e As button. A Sav e As dialog will open to sav e the c onnec tion settings to a file. Sav e the file to a known folder, and with a name like remoteserv er.rdp. In this example, let's say we sav ed it to C:\remoteserv er.rdp Now, c lose the Remote Desktop Connec tion program. We are done with this for now.

Edi ing he RDP file

Open Windows Explorer, and browse to the folder c ontaining the file y ou just sav ed (C:\remoteserv er.rdp). Right c lic k the file > c hoose Open With... menu > Choose Program... In the Open With dialog, c hoose Notepad to open the file. Remember to NOT c hec k/enable the Alway s use the selec ted program to open this kind of file option. Clic k OK. The file should open up in Notepad. It is a file with many lines. We need to edit this and add one more line. In the last line of the file, add the following c ommand and hit Enter: pan moni o : i: 1

The file should look something like this (note the last line added manually ):

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Sav e the file (File menu > Sav e) and exit Notepad.

Do ble click... and connec !

From now on, y ou c an c onnec t to the remote c omputer using both monitors (in span mode) by just double-c lic king this file. To add a shortc ut to y our desktop, right c lic k the file, and c hoose Send To> Desktop (c reate shortc ut) . This will plac e a shortc ut to this file on y our desktop, and y ou c an just double c lic k the shortc ut to remotely c onnec t to the remote c omputer using multiple monitors in span mode. SplitView's blog Login or register to post c omments

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