Dell XPS 420 owner manual Connecting Two or More Monitors

book.book Page 28 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 10:29 AM

Connecting Two or More Monitors

CAUTION: Before you perform any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.

NOTE: Your video card has one DVI (white) port, one DVI-I (black) port, and one VGA (blue) port.

1Save and close all open files and exit all open programs.

2Shut down the operating system:

•In Windows Vista, click Start , click the arrow in the lower-right corner of the Start menu as shown below, and then click Shut Down.

The computer turns off after the operating system shutdown process is complete.

3Ensure that the computer and all attached devices are turned off. If your computer and attached devices did not automatically turn off when you shut down your operating system, press and hold the power button for about 4 seconds to turn them off.

4Connect two or more monitors to the appropriate DVI or VGA ports on the back of the computer.

NOTE: In order to connect a monitor with a VGA connector to the DVI port on the back of your computer, a DVI-to-VGA adapter is required.

To connect two or more monitors directly to the DVI or VGA ports on your computer, see "Connecting a Monitor (Without an Adapter)" on page 25.

To connect the VGA connectors of one or more monitors to the DVI port(s) on your computer, see "Connecting a Monitor (With an Adapter)" on page 26.

NOTE: To connect a monitor with a VGA connector to the DVI-I (black) port on your computer, use a dongle.

5Change the display settings to support multiple monitors (see "Changing the Display Settings" on page 30).

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Setting Up and Using Your Computer