Using XP Professional, I have a laptop using dual monitors (no
additional graphics card - one display is the laptop screen, the other
is an external monitor).  They are set up for different resolutions.

My question is: how can I independently set up different background
images for each monitor?  I have seen some solutions where the two
images are combined into a single large image, but that is not what
I'm looking for.  I would like to be able to specify two separate
background image files - one to be displayed on the laptop monitor and
the other on the external monitor.

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Request for Question Clarification by seizer-ga on 20 Aug 2002 16:16 PDT

Which graphics card is installed in your laptop? This may affect your
ability to do what you request.

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Clarification of Question by cookiemonster-ga on 20 Aug 2002 16:53 PDT

I'm not sure what graphics card is in the laptop.  It's a Dell
Inspiron 8100.  Right now, when I set the background image, I get the
same image on both screens.

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Request for Question Clarification by seizer-ga on 20 Aug 2002 17:04 PDT

I can answer your question, but the answer involves you purchasing
extra software to perform this function. Is this acceptable?

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Clarification of Question by cookiemonster-ga on 20 Aug 2002 17:54 PDT

Purchasing software is an option, provided the price is reasonable -
say $20 or less.

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Request for Question Clarification by seizer-ga on 21 Aug 2002 07:53 PDT

The quoted price is $24.95, but they let you download an evaluation
version for 30 days before you pay. Is this acceptable?

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Clarification of Question by cookiemonster-ga on 21 Aug 2002 08:09 PDT

Yes.  The parameters you indicated are acceptable.

Hi there! The product you're looking for is called UltraMon, and is
made by a company called Realtime Soft. It is available here:

http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

As I stated above, they permit you to download a 30 day trial version,
but usage beyond this period means you must purchase it, at a cost of
$24.95. This software will let you choose different wallpapers for
different monitors:

http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/tour/wallpaper.asp

Since you stated that your laptop is an Inspiron 8100, this means that
it will contain, at the least, the NVidia DDR 4X AGP GeForce2 Go
graphics card. This is compatible with the UltraMon software, provided
that you are running the latest drivers from nVidia:

http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/faq.asp#Laptops

The company does run its own forum (see the link, below) so if you
have specific questions about their software once it's up and running,
it may be useful to ask there!

http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/forum/forums.asp

Good luck with that - if you feel that any clarification is necessary,
don't hesitate to ask.

-- seizer-ga

Search strategy: searched for "multiple monitor" laptop wallpapers on
Google Groups.

Thanks for your assistance.  This is exactly what I was looking for.

In windows2000, you can use active desktop to put different images on
different desktops, without needing to buy additional software.

In windowsXP, I'd expect a similar thing. Under "Customize Desktop" go
to the "Web" tab and click "New", choosing your image.

In windows2000, you'd then position the image on the correct monitor,
maximize it, and then Lock Web Content. Again I'd expect similar
features to exist in WinXP, though I've never used WinXP so I'm not
100% sure. (to move things around on active desktop in windows2000,
"Lock Web Content" must be off. Then if you hover your mouse over an
object a grey bar will appear that you can use to manipulate the
image)