PC Detects 2 monitors, only 1 connected

[Jorsoft]

Okay, my PC detects that I have 2 monitors connected, however, I have only 1 connected. When I right click on the second monitor on the display properties screen, it is not enabled. However, it must somehow think that it is because no OpenGl applications run correctly. OpenGl does not support multi-monitor setups, while DirectX does. I have been able to correct some problems with SciTech's GlDirect (Milkshape 3D and older OpenGl games like Quake 3 run), however newer games such as Neverwinter Nights and Call of Duty either show a black screen when they start or crash all together.
My Setup:
Athlon 1800+
512 MB of SDRAM
MSI MB (VIA Chipset)
SB Live! Soundcard
GeForce FX 5600 (256 MB Version)

I know that it can't be my graphics card, because I recently upgraded from a GeForce MX 420 and the problems still persist. Please Help Me!

 

[stan-the-man]

Stop right clicking i guess,it's probably a choice for video to tv.
or your monitor.

 

[Martin]

Hmm, I'm guessing you either have the card connected to the TV, or have a DVI-to-VGA adapter connected, or both. It's a silly idea, but keep those cables disconnected and make sure you're running the latest official drivers (ForceWare 53.03) - my Ti 4200 used to exhibit the "issue" of detecting 2 displays when only 1 was connected, and a fresh driver installation resolved the issue, though during the ordeal, no games were affected (this also means removing remnants of the old driver through the registry, etc. through a tool such as jv16 PowerTools).

Furthermore, make sure you are running the latest VIA 4-in-1 driver pack, which can be downloaded from http://www.viaarena.com

 

[rapideye95]

THIS IS UR VIDEO CARD...AND IT'S NORMAL FOR NVIDIA CARDS WITH NVIEW TECHNOLOGY NVIDIA geforce2mx and up i guess...all it means is that the OS installs two monitors when you have a second device connected or when you force the secondary device....even if ur not using a secondary device the two monitor drivers will stay...DO NOT be alarmed...it won't lower performance and it's no incompatibility.

 

[Martin]

Actually, it's TwinView.

The same issue can occur on ATI cards, but I was baffled why my defunct Radeon 8500 detected a dual-monitor configuration, when in reality, the card only had a single RAMDAC onboard.

 

[Jorsoft]

Soory I haven't been able to reply (if anyone's still reading this thread anyway), but I've been quite busy. I'm going to reinstall the latest drivers for my videocard and use Driver Cleaner to remove any traces of previous drivers.
If it helps for any further replies, I am not using a second monitor, TV, or DVI-VGA adapter in any way, nor have I ever with this PC. THanks for the advice!

 

[Jorsoft]

I doubt anybody will be reading this thread again, but I've reinstalled drivers and software for this card so many times and with so many different versions that I think I could do it with my eyes closed now! The drivers can't be the problem and no other forums or techies have been able to pinpoint what my problem is. I'm just going to back up my "good stuff" and reinstall Win 98; maybe I'll bump up to XP as well (assuming a reformat and reinstall of '98 works) so that my parts play better together. Thanks to everyone for their help, but this seems like a pretty deep problem that is difficult to describe on-line. Thanks again.