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Old 09-25-2013, 11:31 PM   #1
IanM
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Join Date: Sep 2013
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Default Help for WinXP users trying to set up a single monitor

Whoever wrote the manual for USB Display Link should be sent off to Siberia to work in the salt mines. The manual is VERY confusing for XP users because it fails to mention how to set up a single monitor. It only talks about setting up 2 or more. So in case others using XP are having the same problems (e.g. only getting wallpaper and no desktop, getting desktop but at old resolution), here is what worked for me.

The easiest way to set up this adapter is to have TWO monitors. Luckily I still had my old VGA monitor so brought it out of retirement.

After setting up the drivers, I shut down the PC and plugged in the old VGA monitor, then rebooted. After it had finished booting I made sure the USB display adapter was connected to the NEW monitor, then plugged the adapter in to a USB 2.0 port on my PC.

The next step is to click on the USB Display icon in the toolbar. Get the desktop on to the new monitor by using "mirror" and "extend" until you can get the resolution set to 1920 X 1080. I am still not sure which way around I tried these. All I know is that all of a sudden the desktop appeared on the new screen at the highest resolution. DO NOT do any dragging and dropping from screen to screen.

Just be sure that the resolution is at its highest. If it is lower, this could mean the screen is simply mirroring your old internal graphics adapter. You do not want this, as the resolution may be too low. The trick is to get your PC to recognize the USB adapter as the default adapter. Once you get that, this is half the battle won!

(An important side note here. If you are still having problems, you may also need to check which monitor is No. 1 and 2 in DisplayLink Manager and reverse the order if need be. Make sure they are positioned side by side, NOT above or below one another otherwise the wallpaper will be squashed into the middle.)

Once you are happy with the screen on the new monitor, turn the old monitor "off" in the software. (Do not physically turn it off, only turn it off in the software). To do this select OFF in the USB Display Adaptor software (accessed from the icon in the toolbar). This disables the old monitor and forces the PC to accept the new monitor as default and retains the highest resolution setting.

Remove all cables from old monitor and reboot. Your computer will now accept the USB display adapter as the default at highest resolution. HOWEVER the screen will remain blank right up until the display adapter kicks in, which can take a minute or more on older PCs. So don't think the display adapter has failed. Be patient and the screen will appear. On the first reboot I noticed that the desktop took that little bit longer to appear, but was faster on later reboots.

Lastly, do not under any circumstances disable the onboard graphics adapter on your motherboard as a way to force your PC to recognize the USB adapter as default. If you do you will have a permanently blank screen. This is BAD! If you do happen to do this, let me know as there is a way to roll back your old driver on WinXP even when you are unable to see Windows.

I hope this helps someone else. I was at the point where I was about to throw the adapter out the window until I worked out an easier way to install it. It is difficult to set up without the help of two monitors, mainly because you have to keep switching cables around and it gets confusing. Perhaps it could be done on a single monitor if only the manual explained the process step by step, leaving nothing to chance. Unfortunately it does not.

The owners of the Display Link product really need to sit down and work out a detailed step by step procedure that works and leaves nothing to chance. They seem to have forgotten that some people will only be using one monitor. For me the USB adapter was an inexpensive way of obtaining higher resolutions, because the graphics card on my motherboard is outdated and no updates are available for it.
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