Novice needs help with 2nd monitor!

89ShadowUK · 20 Dec 2014 at 14:37

Hi all.

So I recently decided to make the jump and join the world of dual monitors, simply because I see how much easier things are without having to alt tab etc all the time.

But I am at my absolute whits end with it already.

So I have an nVidia 780, and the spare ports on the back are a DVI-D (I believe, I'm not great with names, hence being a novice haha) an HDMI, and then another HDMI looking port but slightly bigger.

My second monitor is a AOC E2070S, which is VGA only.

Apparently, correct me if I am wrong, but DVI-D to VGA doesn't seem to be a thing. I did buy an adapter that did actually fit in said slot (Just under the DVI one) - but didn't work in the slightest.

So then I bought an HDMI to VGA lead, this is where I started getting a little frustrated! I hooked it up, nothing, so I restarted - when I restarted, the login screen wouldn't show when I booted up :/ It's just a blank green screen (My background color is green), but if I typed my password, and hit enter, I could get onto the desktop - bit then I can't see my mouse or any right clicks (So unless I manage to guess where the mouse is, and where the drop down box is, you get the idea, I can't do anything in terms of trying to detect the second monitor)

And then to get my screen fully back, I have to unplug the HDMI to VGA and restart, but then when I've booted up and plugged back in - I can't detect it.

I tried downloading and installing some Windows 8.1 drivers for my GPU but that didn't change anything.

Does HDMI to VGA even work?

I am on Windows 8.1 64 Bit, and my graphics card is a GeForce 780 GTX
Please help! Thanks!

MoonBoots · 20 Dec 2014 at 14:58

Sounds frustrating!

HDMI to VGA should work, as should DVI to VGA cables. Very cheap cables can be glitchy though.

If you are getting weird behavour click the cursor not being displayed then that sounds like a driver issue to me. You mention that you installed "some Windows 8.1 drivers" but have you definitely installed the official NVIDIA drivers? They can be found here: http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk

Also try updating the drivers for your new monitor.

89ShadowUK · 20 Dec 2014 at 15:02

Yeah, it is so frustrating. The cable was about £12 so it's not necessarily a cheap one!

And I'm sure they were official ones too!

As for drivers for my second monitor, I haven't actually installed any. I would, but my CD drive has decided to fail too, and when I download the drivers (Found here: http://us.aoc.com/support/downloads) - there's no .exe or anything. Just IC files, so I can't install them.

Someone mentioned maybe completely removing my drivers and reinstalling them fresh?

89ShadowUK · 20 Dec 2014 at 15:39

Okay, well, Windows now see's that I have two monitors, but I am now getting cable not connected on the second..

Quartz · 20 Dec 2014 at 17:21

89ShadowUK said:
So I have an nVidia 780, and the spare ports on the back are a DVI-D (I believe, I'm not great with names, hence being a novice haha) an HDMI, and then another HDMI looking port but slightly bigger.

This will be a Displayport port. There will be one DVI-I (integrated) and one DVI-D (digital) port.

My second monitor is a AOC E2070S, which is VGA only.

Probably the easiest thing to do is to move your existing DVI cable to the DVI-D port, because that's digital-only, then plug the DVI to VGA adapter into the DVI-I port, because that can carry the analogue VGA signal.