I am trying to extend my desktop to a second monitor. Yes, I know how it is supposed to work with the display settings, but I can not get the operating system to recognize the existence of two monitors. Let me first explain some details because my situation is not like the others. First of all, it was working and suddenly it stopped. Also, according to the Windows 10 OS, my drivers are all updated.

I am also able to reboot and have the system work with either monitor and looked into either port on the video card.

Please advise.

The problem seems to be that the drive for the monitors does not work:



I first tried uninstalling the associated software for the driver:



I was wondering if there was physically something wrong with my video card. So I dusted out the interior of the CPU, disconnected the video card, sprayed "endust" everywhere and reattached the video card, but there was till the same issue.

I downloaded a tool from NVIDIA that is supposed to install the proper driver. I did this and rebooted but I continued to have the same issue and nothing I did helped.


There does not seem to be a graphics connection on the motherboard and so all connections to the monitor or monitors comes from the graphics card.

I did a number of tests. I have confirmed that both monitors work. I have also confirmed that either connection on the graphics card will be accepted by the OS at start up. So I am puzzled.

Also, the entire system was working perfectly and suddenly stopped.

Does this give you any ideas of where to look now and what action I should take?

From the CMD set command here is the processor information:
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=AMD64
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=Intel64 Family 6 Model 60 Stepping 3, GenuineIntel
PROCESSOR_LEVEL=6
PROCESSOR_REVISION=3c03

Here is the Basic information about my computer:

Windows edition
Windows 10 Pro

System
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) I=i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz 3.50 GHz
Installed memory(RAM): 16.0 GB
System type: 64-bit Operating System, x64 bsed processor


Motherboard:
For the mother board, I typed from the command line:
wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer,version,serialnumber

Manufacturer Product SerialNumber Version
MSI Z87M GAMING (MS-7866) To be filled by O.E.M. 1.0

From Pinform Speccy we have this information:

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 4690K @ 3.50GHz 58 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 933MHz (10-11-10-30)
Motherboard
MSI Z87M GAMING (MS-7866) (SOCKET 0) 31 °C
Graphics
Generic Non-PnP Monitor (1600x1200@64Hz)
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS (NVIDIA)
Storage
238GB Crucial_CT256MX100SSD1 (SSD) 23 °C
698GB Seagate ST3750640AS (SATA) 23 °C
698GB Western Digital WDC WD7501AALS-00J7B0 (SATA) 29 °C
3GB JetFlash Transcend 4GB USB Device (USB)
Optical Drives
ASUS DRW-2014L1T
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio


RAM
Memory slots
Total memory slots 4
Used memory slots 2
Free memory slots 2
Memory
Type DDR3
Size 16384 MBytes
Channels # Dual
DRAM Frequency 933.5 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 10 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 11 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 10 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 30 clocks
Command Rate (CR) 1T
Physical Memory
Memory Usage 51 %
Total Physical 16 GB
Available Physical 7.81 GB
Total Virtual 18 GB
Available Virtual 8.82 GB
SPD
Number Of SPD Modules 2
Slot #1
Slot #2




Graphics
Monitor
Name Generic Non-PnP Monitor on Microsoft Basic Display Driver
Current Resolution 1600x1200 pixels
Work Resolution 1600x1160 pixels
State Enabled, Primary
Monitor Width 1600
Monitor Height 1200
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 64 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Model GeForce 8800 GTS
GPU G80
Device ID 10DE-0193
Revision A3
Subvendor NVIDIA (10DE)
Series GeForce 8
Current Performance Level Level 0
Technology 90 nm
Die Size 484 mm²
Transistors 681 M
Release Date 2006
DirectX Support 10.0
DirectX Shader Model 4.0
OpenGL Support 3.0
Driver version 21.21.13.4201
ROPs 20
Shaders 96 unified
Memory Type GDDR3
Bus Width 64x5 (320 bit)
Anti Aliasing Modes -?-
Filtering Modes Bilinear, Trilinear, 2x Anisotropic, 4x Anisotropic, 8x Anisotropic, 16x Anisotropic
Noise Level Moderate
Max Power Draw 147 Watts
Count of performance levels : 1
Level 1 - "Perf Level 0"

OS:
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Computer type: Desktop


Monitors and resolution:

There are two monitors. One is Compaq and the other is AOC

Here is the informaiotn abut the AOC:



Here is the information about the Compaq

Thanks for going to the trouble to provide so many details. I would prefer to leave possible solutions up to someone else. But just wanted to comment that your video card was originally put onto the market 10 years ago. Not that this should be an issue however. I'm not a Windows fixer (Mac) which is why I'd prefer someone else to help you. I also have the 8800 card except mine is the 750 MB Vram version (gtx I think) after my first two died (previous gts a year ago.)

Have you perhaps tried reducing the monitor resolution? Have you tried changing the interfacing setting on the monitor(s) between DVI and Analogue?
Are you using an interface converter between the monitors and computer (such as DVI to HDMI, etc.)?
You said you tried running the main monitor from both ports right? Just to be sure both still work.