3 monitors on a laptop

[hedning]

Currently, I am running a lenovo laptop and plug into a docking station with 1 vga port and 2 DVI-D ports. I have 1 VGA monitor and 1 DVI-D monitor running giving me dual. However, I want to be able to have the laptop monitor stay on at the same time giving me 3 monitors, but it shuts itself off when I plug into the docking station. I have tried extending under the "Display" settings in Windows 7 and it forces me to only have 2 monitors regardless of the setup and will shut off the 3rd when I try enabling it. Anyone know how I can get all 3 working? I have looked everywhere online to no avail. Thanks

 

[TechyInAZ]

if your laptop is older then it's pretty much guaranteed it only can do 2 monitors. what model is it?

 

[hedning]

if your laptop is older then it's pretty much guaranteed it only can do 2 monitors. what model is it?

T430s It is running an Intel i5 and Windows 7. Only a couple years old I believe.

 

[skm67]

Check the BIOS, it may have some settings to enable what you need. Though this may depend upon what graphics chip you have in it.

You might also consider buying a third external monitor to hook up to your docking station if the second dvi port is active.

I have an old T60P that is driving 3 external monitors but the dock has a slot for a video card to enable this.

The newer docks don't have the slot anymore. However, my understanding is that they can drive 3 external monitors.