Projecting your slideshow in the classroom

Finally!  Well, almost…  To show your slideshow to an audience, you will need a digital projector.  If your classroom doesn’t have one, you can reserve one online from the History Department (follow the links to the Technology and Teaching program from http://hecs.rutgers.edu). 

Even though these instructions are relatively simple, every computer-projector combination is different and it is very common for something to go wrong.  Try it out in advance if possible, and still leave yourself plenty of time to set up.

Advance preparations

1. In the projector case you will find a cable to connect your laptop to the projector.  It will fit most computers, but try it out first.  There should only be one port on your laptop that it could possibly connect with.

2. You might also need a standard extension cord, depending on the classroom

3. If you are planning to play any media with sound, you will need a second cable to link your laptop’s headphone/speaker jack to the audio input on the projector.  This cable looks like a walkman headphone jack on both ends.  The History Department will probably acquire some of these, but if not, they should be fairly cheap to buy at an electronics store.  If you check your computer speakers, there might be one running between them which you can detach.  As a last resort, you could bring in your computer speakers and hook those up to your computer instead

4. Try to find out in advance (from friends, your computer manual, or online) which key combination will get your computer screen to display from the projector.  Unfortunately it is not the same for all computers.  It is usually Fn + some F-key.  On Dell laptops it is Fn + F8.  On Toshiba laptops it is Fn + F5.  On at least some IBM laptops it is Fn + F7.  If you’re lucky, the correct F-key on your laptop will say “CRT/LCD” or have a tiny icon of a computer and screen.  If you have no clue what works, you can try pressing Fn + each F-key without the projector connected.  When your screen temporarily flashes black, and/or if some icons of monitors appear, you have probably found the right combination.  If your screen stays black, that’s still a good sign – just keep pressing the same two keys until your display returns.

Setting up the presentation

1. Start with both projector and laptop off.  (If your computer is already turned on you can try following these instructions anyway – sometimes it works). 

2. Plug in the projector.    

3. Attach your laptop to the projector with the main cable, and the audio cable if necessary.

4. Turn on the projector.  It may take a while to warm up.  You will not see your slideshow yet, but you should see a blue screen projected onto the wall.  If not, check to make sure the power is on and the lens cap is off.

5. Turn on the computer.  Wait for it to boot up, then press the required keys for projector display (Fn + F8 on a Dell laptop).  Your computer screen might go black for a few seconds, but then you should see it displayed on the wall.  If this works but your laptop screen remains black, press Fn + F8 (or whatever keys you pressed before) one more time. 

6. If you are using audio, play a sound file and check the volume.  You should be able to turn the projector volume up fairly high, even though the sound quality is not great.  Turn the volume up on your computer as well, if necessary.  If you still don’t hear anything at all, make sure the mute function is off on both projector and computer, and that the audio input cord is pushed all the way into projector and laptop ports.

7. Open PowerPoint and your slideshow file.  Press F5 to start your slideshow. 

8. Yes, it is possible to get your slideshow to display on the wall and your lecture notes (or whatever you want) to display on your laptop screen.  You need to use dual monitor configuration for this.  Like setting up a projector, it is often a lot more complicated than it should be, and it varies by computer.  You can find instructions in the PowerPoint help files if you like, or through Google.

Desperate last-ditch attempts to make your show appear

1. Try other key combinations.  Press all the F-keys in turn.  Press the Fn-key with each F-key.  Something has to work!

2. Make sure the resolution of your laptop matches that of the projector:

a) Look on the projector and see if you can find the resolution written on it.  It is probably either 1024x768 or 800x600.  If you can’t find it, try these instructions anyway.
b) On your laptop, go to Control Panel à Display, then click on the Settings tab.
c) Under Screen Resolution, move the slider to the correct resolution.  If you don’t know, try 1024x768 pixels.  Click on Apply.  If you still can’t get your screen to display, try 800x600 pixels.  Keep trying resolutions until one works. 

3. Sometimes there are different input sources on the projector.  Find the input button and cycle through these.

4. Turn everything off and turn it on again, starting with the projector.  Good luck!

Running your presentation once the projector is set up

1. Open your PowerPoint file, then press F5 to start your show.

2. Move through your slideshow either by clicking on the mouse or by using the up and down arrows on your keyboard.  (Some projectors also come with a remote control).  A bunch of fancy commands for jumping around in your slideshow are available at:  http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/assistance/HP051953031033.aspx.

3. If you need to go backwards, press the up arrow.

4.If you move your mouse pointer over the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, you will see a menu with several advanced options.  If you click on the pen icon, you can get a “pen” that allows you to draw on your slides (in non-permanent ink). 

5. To leave the slideshow at any time, hit ESC.

6. Congratulations, you’re done! 

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