(Plugging everything in properly)
For almost all of the cables to plug in, there isn’t any particular order you need to do it in, other than it’s probably best to plug the power cable (shown at the end of this guide) in last.
USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. You don’t have to know what that means, but we can focus on the “universal” part of that. It has largely become the one kind of cable plug used for mice, keyboards, sound bars or speakers, webcams, and other computer peripherals.
That being said, there are a number of different types of USB for different uses. On the computers we have, the most common is going to be USB-type A as pictured below.
The main thing to note is that there is a plastic portion in the plug on the left that has to fit opposite inside the port on the right. It seems like you’d have a 50/50 chance of getting this right if you guess which way it should go, but I find myself trying it 3 or 4 times, which is odd.
The Ethernet cable is a larger sibling to the regular phone cables you might be familiar with. One end plugs into your internet modem or router, and the other end plugs into your computer. This is typically a faster connection than wireless signal, and it’s more secure.
<aside> 🚨 Graphics Card: if your desktop computer has a graphics card, you want to prioritize plugging display cables (from your monitor) into those ports, shown below in the green box. A graphics card is like a small specialized computer inside your desktop computer that specializes in graphics and displaying things better. It’s like the member of your family who makes the best pancakes and is forever forced into making pancakes in the future. In this case, when a graphics card is plugged inside, the computer hands off display duties to those ports inside the green box in one of the expansion slots.
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This is a VGA plug on the left, and the matching port on the right. It’s a cable for video, although it’ll be the most basic option on computers from us. If this is the only option that both your monitor and your computer share in common, it will at least work to get you started. You’ll want to plug one end of the cable into your monitor and the other end into your computer. This plug like all of the cables has a unique shape, so if it fits, it’s plugged in correctly.
This is a DVI plug on the left, and the matching port on the right. This is a better option for your monitors if both the screen and the computer have these ports in common. One end of the cable goes into your monitor, and the other end into the back of your computer.