I went back and looked at those instructions again this morning.

The only other conclusion I can come up with is you are utilizing a laptop with a built in monitor (monitor1) and therefore the ONLY display output plug you have is being used for monitor 2???????????

Many desktop video cards (the one I'm using right now, for instance. It happens to be a Dell, as well) have a single video connector that can be split into two.

I don't doubt that it's possible, I'm looking for instructions explaining how it's done.

The instructions MoJo linked to show multiple video outputs while you and he have both indicated that's no longer necessary.

A DVI connector can carry both analog and digital signals, the Y-cable simply splits those off into DVI-D via a DVI connector and RGB analog via a 15-pin D-SUB "VGA" connector.

So your video card only has 1 output and it's a DVI, and this is your Desktop or Tower, NOT a laptop....right?

single video output
 

My video card has one DVI output and is split into two VGA outputs thus two monitors. Simple. I looked it up and it is called a "DVI-I to dual VGA" splitter.

Thanks joepole

Kewl...I read a description of one of the products and it didn't really indicate it was capable of multiple settings.

Is monitor2 cloning monitor1 your only option or do better splitters offer more features such as horizontal or vertical spanning?

They are two completely separate video signals that can be arranged the same as a PC with two video cards or a PC with a video card that had two connectors.

I suppose you could probably clone, though.

Thanks for the info....

Isabelle, I hope you've been paying attention. Depending on your computer, this may be a cheaper solution than what I have suggested.

We ordered what we needed today. I will let you know how it works. I was way off on the length of VGA cable we needed, 50 feet.