Having trouble setting up dual monitor.

[kai zayin]

I've been trying to help a friend set up their dual monitor, but have been running into some trouble. What *appears* to be happening is the second monitor isn't receiving a signal. The second monitor is kinda old, but I see no reason why it shouldn't work as it has been used before with little trouble. I'm just looking for some suggestions, I'm going to be trying out a different monitor and check to see if the DVI to VGA adapter is perhaps faulty. Thanks in advance.

[Demoness]

I've been trying to help a friend set up their dual monitor, but have been running into some trouble. What *appears* to be happening is the second monitor isn't receiving a signal. The second monitor is kinda old, but I see no reason why it shouldn't work as it has been used before with little trouble. I'm just looking for some suggestions, I'm going to be trying out a different monitor and check to see if the DVI to VGA adapter is perhaps faulty. Thanks in advance.

My guess is he has an ATI card. The reason I say this is because the second DVI port on most ATI cards is DVI-D, and will not accept analog signals from VGA to DVI adaptors, because it requires a digital signal. Try hooking up the newer monitor to the second slot.

[Milkshake86]

it will accept the signal w/ vga-dvi problem is if your resolution is set to high on the monitor it will not display properly. Turn off auto settings on the catalyst control panel move the resolution of monitor to no more than 1280x720

[Demoness]

it will accept the signal w/ vga-dvi problem is if your resolution is set to high on the monitor it will not display properly. Turn off auto settings on the catalyst control panel move the resolution of monitor to no more than 1280x720

Op never clarified what type of card he has. And, no, in fact a card with a dvi-d output will most certainly not work with a dvi-VGA adaptor. I know first hand.
I built a pc for a client and his second monitor would not work at home. He swapped it to the first port and it worked fine. I thought I had a dead port on my hands and asked him to bring it in for me to look at. I hooked up two of my own monitors and they worked fine. Come to find out, the first port on the card is dvi-a and the second is dvi-d. The first port can use an adaptor just fine, but the second cannot. This is actually the case for many ati graphics cards with dual dvi out connectors. Not many people even know there are more than one kind of dvi port. There are actually three that I know of: dvi-A,I, and D.