Working in a Dual-Monitor World - Need Some Help

Active Desktop, Spanning, Tranparent Icon Labels, etc.

from Stardock Forums

So I have two monitors - they run 1600x1200 resolution and side side-by-side.  I want pretty wallpapers that span both monitors, especially landscapes.  There are cool ones all over the place, no trouble finding them for sure.  The problem I have is with getting the settings correct.  Also, I love Fences.

So far it looks like my best option is to get a big 3200x1200 image and cut it in two, then use the first half as my wallpaper and the second one I have to set as an Active Desktop object and drag over to my other monitor - then maximize and (maybe) lock it there.

The problem here is that Fences forces a Classic Mode where Active Desktop doesn't work.  Also, separate from Fences requiring this (and possibly related) is the fact that my icon labels lose transparency whenever there are Active Desktop objects on the desktop - then my icon labels look terribly sloppy.

So the question is - is there a better way?  I've done all the googling and changing my drop shadows and blah blah blah - am I missing a key program that will make this work?  Here's the rundown again:

  1. Dual-monitor system
  2. Wallpaper to span both monitors (or I can cut it in two pieces to achieve the same visual effect)
  3. Icon Labels need to be transparent
  4. Fences should work
  5. Prefer not to leverage Active Desktop for this as it appears to break points 3 and 4.
  6. I like free software more than purchased software, but if the answer lies in fairly cheap stuff I am open.
Any help?  Running latest version of XP.  I have some other Stardock stuff but not MyColors or ObjectDesktop.

1,712 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

I spoke with the developer on this one.  Active Desktop and Fences don't get along (Fences will actually explicitly disable it).  I would suggest looking at something like Display Fusion or Ultramon to get the same effect.  These too have issues, but they should be fixed in later builds of Fences.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

This isn't as hard as you think.  Basically, just get the image you want (make sure it is exactly the size of both your monitors across!) and set the display mode to "Tiled" in the background tab of display properties.  That makes the image span both monitors without a single third party tool.

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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Kyanar, reply 2
This isn't as hard as you think.  Basically, just get the image you want (make sure it is exactly the size of both your monitors across!) and set the display mode to "Tiled" in the background tab of display properties.  That makes the image span both monitors without a single third party tool.
End of Kyanar's quote
this doesn't work though with fences activated. i followed your steps and the background from the primary monitor is still copied to the secondary.