Reader Jean has a dual-monitor desktop running Windows XP. Unfortunately, her screensaver won’t stretch beyond a single monitor (the second one, incidentally). “Any ideas on how to remedy this?” she asks.
Yes, yes I do. Have ideas, that is.
Option #1: upgrade to Windows 7. On my system, it has no problem spreading its screensavers across multiple monitors. (Anyone know if Vista works similarly?) Of course, of all the worthwhile reasons to make the move to Windows 7, dual-monitor screensaver support is probably pretty low on the list.
Option #2: check out Really Slick Screensavers, a dazzling batch of screensavers that can run on multiple monitors. Just make sure to download the 0.1 version (listed under Outdated Windows versions). The catch is that you need to have your system configured for “span” mode, meaning that Windows stretches the wallpaper across both monitors.
Option #3: forget the screensavers altogether, and just set Windows to blank your monitors after a preset amount of time. That’ll save you a bit of energy. And, really, screensavers are so 1990s. (Kidding!)
Let me caveat all this by saying I’ve barely touched Windows XP in the past year, and I never used a dual-monitor setup with it. If any readers out there have any other suggestions or recommendations for Jean, please leave a comment!