2 tax years, 1 monitor

[HV Ken]

I have read the people are using either one large monitor or dual monitors in order to have two years of ATX open side by side when doing preparation in an effort towards a paperless office.

I purchased a nice 23" monitor on Black Friday and would like to know what I need to do so that I can bring up two years of ATX side by side on this new monitor. I am guessing that you somehow divide the monitor into two virtual monitors, but I don't know how to do it. I am running Windows XP Home (Version 2002, Service Pack 3).

Thanks!

[ILLMAS]

Look into winsplit or gridvista. I don't think it can be done without a 3rd party software.

MAS

[Terry D EA]

I have and still do this. I purchased a Radon dual monitor video card that came with the video card. Once you get this up and running, you will never regret it. Check to see if your PC has dual monitor capabilities. Where your current monitor plugs in, see if there is another port for another monitor. If there is, then you won't have to purchase a vide card. If not, then you will have to purchase and install a video card.

[HV Ken]

Thanks for your reply, Terry. This is for two monitors, or one monitor virtually acting as two monitors? I am looking for a solution that takes advantage of one monitor.

I have and still do this. I purchased a Radon dual monitor video card that came with the video card. Once you get this up and running, you will never regret it. Check to see if your PC has dual monitor capabilities. Where your current monitor plugs in, see if there is another port for another monitor. If there is, then you won't have to purchase a vide card. If not, then you will have to purchase and install a video card.

[PapaJoe]

I'm no computer expert, but I don't see why you need adapter cards or any special software. Just crank up this year's program and last year's program and size the windows so you can see both on the monitor at the same time.

[ILLMAS]

I'm no computer expert, but I don't see why you need adapter cards or any special software. Just crank up this year's program and last year's program and size the windows so you can see both on the monitor at the same time.

The software I listed above allows to have many windows open at the same time allowing to see different programs at once. See the link for a demo

http://www.winsplit-revolution.com/screenshots/videos-demos

[JohnH]

It's clear you want to use a single monitor, but here's a thought. You can do a second monitor without lots of fancy 3rd party software. It's the easiest and least-risky route since XP is already set up to handle multiple monitors. If displaying the prior year's return is your main interest, then the second monitor is primarily for reference anyhow, so it doesn't have to be as fancy as your main monitor. Any cheap monitor will do just fine for the second one.

[HV Ken]

I still find myself failing to start my search for answers to questions like this at google.... The answer is actually quite simple!

Open the two windows, right click on a blank spot in the Taskbar and choose Tile Vertically. I set my preference within ATX to Med-Large (120%) and voila! Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but it accomplishes the task, and at the right price.

To undo: right click again and Undo Tile.

[HV Ken]

I am limited by available desktop real estate..., so that's why two monitors is not an optimal solution for me.

It's clear you want to use a single monitor, but here's a thought. You can do a second monitor without lots of fancy 3rd party software. It's the easiest and least-risky route since XP is already set up to handle multiple monitors. If displaying the prior year's return is your main interest, then the second monitor is primarily for reference anyhow, so it doesn't have to be as fancy as your main monitor. Any cheap monitor will do just fine for the second one.

[HV Ken]

winsplit looks great. THANKS!!!

The software I listed above allows to have many windows open at the same time allowing to see different programs at once. See the link for a demo

http://www.winsplit-revolution.com/screenshots/videos-demos

[michaelmars]

i am up to 3 monitors and my partner is at 4, it really is a great help in trying to be paperless. i generally have current and prior year atx open and quickbooks etc on the the third. monitors are faily cheap now but i do understand the problem with desk space. a bracket to mount the monitors on top of each other costs more than the monitor itself. i use a laptop as my main computer so i have 2 23" monitors and i have the use of the laptop screen as my 3rd.

[Jack from Ohio]

Windows 7 and an up to date computer to handle it.

[MN dhawk]

I used to use 2 monitors but changed to one 24". With a 24 you can have two years of ATX side by side without the need to scroll or ATX and a spreadsheet or Quickbooks. This year I'm getting a 27" or 28" so the spreadsheet will be bigger. I see that Micro Center has a 28" for only $250.

[Randall]

I used to use 2 monitors but changed to one 24". With a 24 you can have two years of ATX side by side without the need to scroll or ATX and a spreadsheet or Quickbooks. This year I'm getting a 27" or 28" so the spreadsheet will be bigger. I see that Micro Center has a 28" for only $250.

Why open 2 years of the ATX program? I use my pdf files for the previous year. I have prior year returns, worksheets, client docs available in pdf and can reference the info while working in the current ATX program.

Just got a new system, W7 and 3 monitors (23in). The 3rd is set up for client viewing and mirrors my primary monitor. Recently used the ATX planning function to go over some things with clients. They could view the 3rd monitor while I went thru various scenarios. I could show the ATX screen on half the monitor while showing their return in pdf on the other half of the monitor. For my two monitors, I can use ATX on half of one monitor while using the other half and two halfs of my 2nd monitor and basically have 3 documents (client doc or a research doc) viewable for myself while working in ATX.

[HV Ken]

For me, the benefit is to be able to use the ATX functionality to move (bunny hop) around the return vs. the static nature of the PDF file in the document manager.

Why open 2 years of the ATX program? I use my pdf files for the previous year. I have prior year returns, worksheets, client docs available in pdf and can reference the info while working in the current ATX program.

[grandmabee]

Why open 2 years of the ATX program? I use my pdf files for the previous year. I have prior year returns, worksheets, client docs available in pdf and can reference the info while working in the current ATX program.

Just got a new system, W7 and 3 monitors (23in). The 3rd is set up for client viewing and mirrors my primary monitor. Recently used the ATX planning function to go over some things with clients. They could view the 3rd monitor while I went thru various scenarios. I could show the ATX screen on half the monitor while showing their return in pdf on the other half of the monitor. For my two monitors, I can use ATX on half of one monitor while using the other half and two halfs of my 2nd monitor and basically have 3 documents (client doc or a research doc) viewable for myself while working in ATX.

What kind of new system did you get? I am stll looking and deciding what computer I will be getting. Looking at the dell xps 8100

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

I just bought the XPS 8100 last week, but haven't set it up yet, because I am swamped.

[Randall]

What kind of new system did you get? I am stll looking and deciding what computer I will be getting. Looking at the dell xps 8100

It was custom built by my local computer tech consultant I use, not a name brand. It has 16g RAM and a solid state HD (only 150g) with 2 regular HDs (1 terabyte each) set up on the RAID system. I use the solid state HD for the OS an other apps and use the regular HDs for data, etc. Although ATX told me I couldn't separate their program from the client data so ATX is on the regular HD.