need tech help with adding second monitor (yes, i've already searched)

[Caveman]

No need for recovery. Just plug in one monitor and get into the setup that way, get it working then add the second monitor.

[youtalkfunny]

OK, I'm unplugging dead monitor and re-booting now.

Thanks again for your help.

[youtalkfunny]

Can't get into BIOS or Set-Up.

Did manage to get into Device Manager, though. The onboard video adapter is listed, but has a big "X" through it.

I've got 2 monitors listed: the Dell (which is the one I am using), and "default monitor" (the HP that hasn't worked since I hooked up the Dell).

I can right-click on it, and I get "disable" and "Uninstall" for options.

Should I try one of these?

[Caveman]

[ QUOTE ]
I've got 2 monitors listed: the Dell (which is the one I am using), and "default monitor" (the HP that hasn't worked since I hooked up the Dell).

I can right-click on it, and I get "disable" and "Uninstall" for options.

Should I try one of these?


[/ QUOTE ]
No


Try to get into the display properties or describe what you can see and get to work right now and I can try to come up with a method for you to get to the display properties screen.

Does your taskbar have a new icon for the new video card?

What happens if you plug in a single monitor? You have 3 ports try all of them until you can get control of your system again.

[AncientPC]

I didn't bother reading the rest of the posts so forgive me if this has been said already.

I hope you still have your receipts and can return the video card / adaptor.

The same video card is available from Newegg for $30.50 with free shipping and handling, and probably sales tax free: linky

I paid $15 for my DVI -> VGA adaptor from the local Fry's and thought that was expensive, I remember seeing the same adaptor on Newegg for ~$4 but I'm too lazy to find it at the moment.

Edit: I realise that $35 is chump change in poker terms, but just buy from Newegg in the future and save yourself some money. If you're not sure what to buy, just post in the internet forums like everyone else with comp questions.

[cball86]

that 7000 is pretty old stuff. i just built a new computer for my poker setup. for the dual monitor display i went with the radeon x800xt. nothing can compare to that card. if you dont have that kind of money i think u can get the x800xl's under 450 now. but if thats still out of the ball park go for an older radeon card thats a bit newer than the one u have. with the double dvi outputs there are very few problems that occur when u try and run dual monitors.

[youtalkfunny]

I cannot get to the Display Properties.

Yes, there's an icon for the new card on the taskbar. I'll now commence screwing with it.

As for saving a few bucks with Newegg--I didn't want to wait a few days for the shipping. That's laughable, now that I've wasted a few days on this.

Getting a nice picture with DVI means absolutely nothing to me. The cheapest card is definitely the way to go (if it WORKS!).

I also found contact info for the maker of the card (the instructions only included CompUSA's number). I'll try them in the morning.

Thanks again to all who've helped, esp Caveman.

[AncientPC]

[ QUOTE ]
that 7000 is pretty old stuff. i just built a new computer for my poker setup. for the dual monitor display i went with the radeon x800xt. nothing can compare to that card. if you dont have that kind of money i think u can get the x800xl's under 450 now. but if thats still out of the ball park go for an older radeon card thats a bit newer than the one u have. with the double dvi outputs there are very few problems that occur when u try and run dual monitors.

[/ QUOTE ]

There is no reason to spend more than $100 (for dual DVI) on a video card if you don't plan on playing games.

My other two computers have Radeon 7000's, my current computer has a Radeon x300. All of my video cards have passive heatsinks because I don't want to deal with a fan rattling 6 months down the road.

[Caveman]

It seems as if we have been going around in circles trying to fix this, so I decided to tell you how I would go about troubleshooting your system.


If the icon in the taskbar doesn't give you access to the display properties, then its time to start over and go through this step by step.


My first priority would be getting into the system setup, according to HP's website you hit the F1 key repeatedly while the computer is booting up.

A single monitor should work on at least one of your video ports. You might have to try both ports on the new card or the old port with a single monitor. You might even have to temporarily remove the new video card but getting control of the system is the priority at this point.

Once in the setup pages look for the advanced page, there should be something listed under here to disable the onboard video. It might be under a submenu, so just go slow and look around carefully. The HP site says there is a way to disable it under this tab, that doesn't mean there is but it needs to be looked into.

If you find a way to disable the card in the setup, save the changes and when the computer starts to reboot just turn it off before it gets to windows, if you have to reinstall your new video card.

If you didn't have to remove the new card you can just boot to windows normally at this point if your single monitor is connected to the new card.


What you are trying to do here is to get windows working properly with the new video card, get it working with one monitor then worry about adding the 2nd monitor.


If you were able to disable the onboard video in the system setup page you can now go into device manager and uninstall the onboard video. Once you disable it in the system setup page windows will not reinstall it everytime you restart your computer. Restart the comp and verify that the onboard video adapter is gone from device manager.


At this point you hopefully have windows working on a single monitor attatched to your new video card. Go into display properties and choose the settings tab. There should be something showing 1 and 2 as monitor options and a dropdown box showing either default monitor on new video card or multiple monitors on video card. Choose multiple even though you only have one monitor hooked up it should work without a problem. Save the changes and exit,then shut down the computer.

Plug in the 2nd monitor and reboot the computer go into display properties and select the little picture icon of the monitor lised as 2 and select the extend widows to this monitor checkbox. The system should be working with 2 monitors at this point if everything went as described above.

If it is still not working do not let your self go on tilt, just continue working on it as patiently as you can.

The first time you hook up multiple monitors can be frustrating, but once you get it working some things will make more sense and you will probably never have this much trouble again.

[youtalkfunny]

Thank you so much, again, for taking all the time that you have been, to help me.

Before I do all that, let me ask one more thing:

I've disabled the new video card, and enabled the old onboard video driver. IOW, it's back to what it was before I started screwing with it.

I've got the flea market monitor plugged in, to the old monitor jack that I've always used. It works fine.

When I shut down the computer; unplug the flea market monitor; plug in the original monitor that I've always had; and re-boot....the original monitor never comes on.

This is the monitor that has not worked since I brought home the flea market monitor.

Is the original monitor blown? Any chance the problem is repair-able? Or am I better off getting a new one? It's two years old, warranty long gone.

Is there any reason why this monitor should not work, when I plug it into a jack that I know is working?