How to Set Up a New Monitor and Upgrade a Graphics Card in Vista

Set Up a New Monitor

1. Place the CD that came with your monitor in your CD-ROM drive and choose Start➪Control Panel➪ Hardware and Sound➪Device Manager.

2. In the resulting Device Manager window, click the plus sign to the left of Monitors to display installed monitors. Right-click the new monitor and choose Scan for Hardware Changes from the shortcut menu.

3. If your monitor driver is up to date, you see a message that scanning is in progress, which disappears when the scan is complete. If your monitor driver isn’t up to date, the Hardware Update Wizard appears. Follow the wizard screens to install the monitor drivers.

4. When the wizard is complete, if everything seems to be working fine, you can close the Device Manager window. If you have problems with the monitor, open the Device Manager window, right-click the monitor, and then choose Properties. On the Driver tab, make sure the device shows a Disable button (meaning it’s currently enabled). If things still aren’t working right, check out Windows Help and Support for troubleshooting advice.

Many manufacturers’ device drivers are already stored in Windows. When you install a device by using the Hardware Update Wizard, you might find that you can simply browse the manufacturers’ device drivers rather than download them or select them from a CD. You can make adjustments to your monitor display by using the Appearance and Personalization category of the Control Panel or the Display Item in Windows Classic View of Control Panel options.

Upgrade a Graphics Card

1. Turn off your computer. (Note: This step is very important; you have to open your CPU for this procedure, and you’re in danger of severe electrical shock if you leave your computer on while you play around inside it.) 2. Refer to your computer manual to determine how to open the CPU, how your computer is configured, where graphics cards can be inserted, and which kinds of graphics cards to use.

3. Plug the graphics card into the appropriate slot, close your computer, and replace any screws that you took out when opening the computer.

4. Turn on the computer; Windows Vista detects the new card and installs appropriate drivers.

5. View the information about the installed graphics device by choosing Start➪Control Panel➪Hardware and Sound➪Device Manager.

6. Click the plus sign next to Display Adapters, right-click the graphics card that you installed, and then choose Properties. You see system settings for this card. The Device Status tells you whether it’s working properly. Note that your particular hardware might have its own idiosyncrasies, and new technologies come along that change the way newer computers are configured, so be sure to read your computer users’ manual before dealing with any hardware upgrade. Warning: Be careful about poking metal implements (such as screwdrivers) into the insides of the CPU because you could set off an electrical unpleasantry. Place your computer on a nonconductive surface (such as a rubber mat) before opening it up. Don’t wear an aluminum foil suit for this sort of procedure, and neverleave your computer plugged in or turned on while opening it.