Hmm.. Well, have you tried making one of the monitors extend your desktop to it (preferably they should have the same refresh rate and resolution) and the third be stand-alone (i.e. not have the "extend my desktop" option checked)

i don't understand...if i uncheck the "extend" box, all i have is a black screen..

Really? That's interesting.. Never does that to me.. It clones my wallpaper without a taskbar on any of my 2 monitors.. Hrm.. Is it black but on? Or on standby? Can you move a window onto it?

yeah, if the box is not checked, the monitor just goes on stand-by. won't do anything unless i attach it.

I'm assuming it's one of the monitors on DVI/VGA?

yeah, one of each