Connecting the Cables

Now it's time to get connected. Position your system unit so that you easily can access all the connections on the back, and carefully run the cables from each of the other components so that they're hanging loose at the rear of the system unit.

Connect in Order

It's important that you connect the cables in a particular order. To make sure that the most critical devices are connected first, follow the instructions in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1. Connecting Your System Components

Order	Connection	Looks Like
1.	Connect your mouse to the mouse connectoror, if you have a USB mouse, connect to an open USB port.
2.	Connect your keyboard to the keyboard connectoror, if you have a USB keyboard, connect to an open USB port.
3.	Connect your video monitor to the video connector.
4.	If your printer has a parallel cable connect to your PC's parallel connector (sometimes labeled "printer" or "LPT1").If your printer uses a USB connection, connect to an open USB port on your PC.
5.	If you're using a dial-up Internet connection, connect a cable from your telephone line to the "line in" connector on your modem or modem board, then connect another cable from the "line out" connector on your modem to your telephone.(You can skip this step if you're using a cable or DSL modem; wait until you have the rest of your system up and running, then follow the instructions you were given by yourInternet service provider.)
6.	Connect the phono jack from your speaker system to the "audio out" or "sound out" connector. Run the necessary cables between your right and left speakers and your subwoofer, as directed by the manufacturer.
7.	Connect any other devices to the appropriate USB, FireWire, parallel, or serial connector.
8.	Plug the power cable of your video monitor into a power outlet.
9.	If your system includes powered speakers, plug them into a power outlet.
10.	Plug any other powered external component into a power outlet.
11.	Plug the power cable of your system unit into a power outlet.

caution

Before you connect anything to your system unit, make sure that it's turned off.

Connect by Color

Most PC manufacturers color-code the cables and connectors to make the connection even easierjust plug the blue cable into the blue connector, and so on. If you're not sure what color cable goes to what device, take a look at the standard cable color coding in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2. Connector Color Codes

Connector	Color
VGA (analog) monitor	Blue
Digital monitor	White
Video out	Yellow
Mouse	Green
Keyboard	Purple
Serial	Teal or turquoise
Parallel (printer)	Burgundy
USB	Black
FireWire (IEEE 1394)	Gray
Audio line out (left)	Red
Audio line out (right)	White
Audio line out (headphones)	Lime
Speaker out/subwoofer	Orange
Right-to-left speaker	Brown
Audio line in	Light blue
Microphone	Pink
Gameport/MIDI	Gold

caution

Make sure that every cable is firmly connectedboth to the system unit and the specific piece of hardware. Loose cables can cause all sorts of weird problems, so be sure they're plugged in really good.