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Help with Setting up two monitors ...strange frustrating problem

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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I am trying to hook up an external monitor to my desktop (Dell XPS9000 Windows 7)
My desktop’s monitor is hooked up to my video card (ATI Radeon 5450) via DVI port, and I am trying to use my HDTV’s 60” monitor through an HDMI cable connected to the ATI’s HDMI out.

Here is my frustrating problem

I am having difficulty accomplishing any configuration of the two monitors.

Firstly, when I connect the HDMI cable (from the TV) to my video card, my desktop display changes. The desktop icons disappear leaving only the desktop background image. This causes all me to lose all the control on the control panel window and so I lose the ability to extend and configure the two monitors.

I must unplug the HDMI cable from the back of the video card to regain full control of my normal desktop, but then I can't configure the second monitor!!!

Is it maybe not possible to use hdmi in a dual monitor setup by design for some reason???
Jim

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Graphics card Authority
Monitor Expert

In CCC>Desktop Management>Creating and Arranging Desktops, make sure your desktop monitor is No. 1 and TV is No. 2. If not, click on down arrow and swap.

Pyree said:
In CCC>Desktop Management>Creating and Arranging Desktops, make sure your desktop monitor is No. 1 and TV is No. 2. If not, click on down arrow and swap.

thanks for your quick reply
The problem is that I cannot set up CCC desktop management because when I connect the external monitor to the video card via HDMI cable, the CCC window on my desktop display (which is the no1 monitor) disappears and my desktop reverts to just the desktop background image. This prevents me from completing the configuration.
As you can imagine it is very frustrating

One thing I forgot to mention when I use the external monitor via the HDMI cable, the HDTV monitor gets no sound via the hdmi cable.

Thanks again for your help!
Graphics card Authority
Monitor Expert

I think when you plug in the HDMI, what happen is your desktop monitor become an extended display, thus this explain why it is only displaying the background. The TV I assume it is no signal?

Pyree said:
I think when you plug in the HDMI, what happen is your desktop monitor become an extended display, thus this explain why it is only displaying the background. The TV I assume it is no signal?


The large TV is displaying the feed from the PC but with no sound, the sound is played on my PCs speakers
and will not play on the TV.

The PC monitor only displays the desktop background with no icons or folders on it.
Thanks for your help
Graphics card Authority
Monitor Expert

provlima said:
The large TV is displaying the feed from the PC but with no sound


So the TV screen is displaying with the start button and everything like the normal desktop and the computer monitor has nothing like an extended screen. That is promising. Now just have to fix the sound. Have you change the default sound from sound card/mobo sound to sound from HDMI?
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