How do I make the most of my dual-monitor setup?

[Flodos]

I recently was able to start using two monitors on windows 7, but am running into a number of issues, especially while gaming:

-Is there a way to lock the mouse to one monitor without blacking out the other screen? I want to play games fullscreen on one monitor while having other screens like IM clients open on the other, but most games black out the other monitor when I use fullscreen, or do not lock the mouse when I use borderless windowed. If possible, I want to be able to switch between screens quickly using ALT+TAB.

-Is it possible to have a task bar (complete with start menu and the ability to pin icons to it) on both screens? I've found tools that add a taskbar, but none that also add a start menu or let you pin icons.

Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[m7mod]

i don't know about the black out , but for the taskbar i'd recommend a software called DisplayFusion it has a lot of features for dual monitor setup