Windows 10 - no multiple monitors?

[jbprivate]

Currently using Workstation V.9 and have a virtual machine (vm) with Windows 7.  I have 2 monitors and the current vm Win7 has no problem with spanning the display over the 2 monitors.  I recently "cloned" my Win7 and then did the Windows 10 upgrade on it.  Everything worked well, got the Win10 activated, etc. But now, even though I specifically set the vm Display settings to "2 monitors", it will not let me cycle through the monitors and use both monitors. It only displays in one monitor.  If I go to Windows 10 display settings, it only shows one monitor and when I click "detect", it says only 1 display detected.  So apparently Windows 10 will not see my second monitor for some reason.  My Win7 vm has no problem with 2 monitors.  Even when I run both Win7 and Win10 vm concurrently, the Win7 uses both monitors and Win 10 won't. 

I tried uninstalling Workstation 9 and installing VM Player 12.  Loaded the Win10 vm and same thing...no multiple monitors detected.

Is there some trick to get the Win10 virtual machine to recognize (and use) my second monitor?  This is driving me crazy.  If I can't get multiple monitors to work, I'm stuck using Win 7!

Thanks for any help any one might have.

JB

[rachelsunsm · Accepted solution]

Hi,

thanks for using WS.

can you try to reinstall VMtools on your win10 vm?

What is your host system on which WS running with?

I can switch my win10 guest to two monitors. Can I get your win10 version? So I can try on my environment.

thanks,

[jbprivate]

Brilliant!  Reinstalling VMtools did the trick.  Before I reinstalled it, I checked the Windows Device Manager and noticed that the graphics card was set as something like Microsoft Basic Graphics Adapter.  So first I uninstalled VMtools via the control panel and rebooted.  Then reinstalled VMtools and rebooted (which took a long time to reboot after reinstalling).  When the system came back up this time, voila, I had dual monitor options and could cycle through the choices. I checked the Device Manager again and this time it showed the graphics adapter as a VMWare SVGA adapter.

So uninstalling and reinstalling the VMtools did the trick.

Thank you!

J

[mackpt1]

Here is how to Setup And Configure Multiple Monitors On Windows 10

1- Right click on an empty space in your Windows Desktop(From the monitor that you want as your primary monitor). From the context menu that appears, find and click on the option named Display settings.

2- The Settings window will open up. Click on the link that says Identity to display numbers on the corresponding screens. You will be able to find a drop down menu by the name Multiple Displays. It will have the options Duplicate these displays, Extend these displays, Show only on 1 and Show only on 2. The one you need to select is Extend these displays. Since you want this particular monitor to be set as your primary monitor, you can check the checkbox corresponding to the option Make this my main display.

3- Now if you want to change the orientation of your screen, you can make use of the drop down menu associated with the Orientation option.

4- Also, if you want to Change the size of text, apps and other items, Once you are all done, hit the Apply button for your changes to take over. You can set the settings for the other monitors as well, following the same way.

Source:- https://merabheja.com/multiple-monitors-on-windows-10/