Need Help.. How to reset multiple monitor options..???

[Downunder]

Using XP Pro SP2 on a notebook and using external CMV 17" LCD. Done a silly thing as monitor settings kept disappearing and trying to fix - while dragging 2nd monitor icon past primary icon slipped off mouse and dropped it ontop of primary icon and touch pad gave it a left click.... now it starts up with 2nd monitor option permanently set and I can not get the primary display on my external monitor - wouldn't be too serious except that my main LCD screen is dead..!!!!
All I get on the display/settings tab is just one monitor showing and it will not allow me to select any other options. Have to press F8 at start up and enable vga to get display on external monitor but can not change screen resolutions..
This is really driving me nuts... unable to find a solution via the web, although MS do say something similar is a bug to be fixed in next service pack... great.!! Can anyone please help..??? Thanks Christopher

[Robert]

If you went into setup and changed your primary monitor to vga...meaning you made your external lcd the primary. In a sense, because you are using a portable computer, the default when you plug in your external is that it is the secondary, but you made it your primary. and if you dragged the (monitor icon #2) on top of (#1) by accident then you are merely now seeing your notebook's dead LCD. Perhaps, if this is still set this way, shut down your pc.

Start your Notebook up> press F8 or F1 (whichever takes you to setup where you can choose your default video device....reselect your notebook's LCD video.

Save and Exit

Let it boot up and check back with your results

[Downunder]

Hi Robert, really appreciate your prompt response.
Ok, F1 didn't do anything but F8 gets me into"Advanced Windows OPtion" menu which includes safe mode and VGA mode. Starting in safe mode hangs around ...\mapps but VGA mode allows me to see the main display..yay. i am unable to change any settings in \display\settings tab. Trying to change from default monitor to plug and play, or other settings goes through the motions but revert to how they were before the change. Also unable to alter the screen resolution. Hope this makes sense..?? Look forward to your feedback..
Christopher

[Robert]

Am I understanding correctly that you are running in Safe Mode?

First, let's see if we can get a better starting point:

What's your notebook(laptop) manufacturer?
**if you Dell, I quit. HAHAHAHA j/k

and what type of connection are you using for your external LCD?
***USB, S-Video, etc.

Is it possible for you to boot normally and see any part of the screen?


I have a few ideas to fix this depending on what changes you have made and any programs you may have installed lately. In the meantime,

[Robert]

Hi Robert, really appreciate your prompt response.
Ok, F1 didn't do anything but F8 gets me into"Advanced Windows OPtion" menu which includes safe mode and VGA mode. Starting in safe mode hangs around ...\mapps but VGA mode allows me to see the main display..yay. i am unable to change any settings in \display\settings tab. Trying to change from default monitor to plug and play, or other settingsgoes through the motions but revert to how they were before the change. Also unable to alter the screen resolution. Hope this makes sense..?? Look forward to your feedback..
Christopher

May I ask how your laptop's display fall down go boom? LOL

You are using a notebook/laptop, whatever, using XP PRO. If your laptop uses, Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), making settings changes like you mentioned above incorrectly OR not making them in the proper order could cause damage to not only certain device drivers but to your computer as well, because ACPI manages these changes for you if you have correct hardware profiles defined.
Using Dualview

On many portable computers and some desktop computers (those with two video ports on one video card), you can expand your display to a second monitor by using Dualview. Dualview is very similar to the multiple monitor feature, with the exception that you cannot select the primary display. On a portable computer, the primary monitor is always the LCD display screen. On a desktop computer, it is the monitor that is attached to the first video out port. Once you attach the second monitor and turn on your computer, use the Display tool in Control Panel to configure your settings, just as you do with multiple monitors. You can use Dualview with docked or undocked portable computers.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307873/EN-US/

Having said that, setting default monitor as plug and play is not what you should choose...
During your laptop's Power On self test (POST), usually F1 or F2, or on some laptops, holding the Del key during its POST will take you into BIOS setup. IF YOU ONLY HAVE THE ON-BOARD VIDEO ADAPTER, THEN THIS IS WHERE YOU GO....IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN THE ONBOARD, you may need to make changes through your control panel (in safe mode if you cannot accomplish in normal mode)

--It helps to know what your laptop is(Dell, Compaq, *******, ****, etc,) and also the video adapter used and the current driver supporting that adapter.

Okay so you can boot up in Safe mode? and your desktop is visible on your external monitor?

Follow the link in above and below to Microsoft for general information and other terminology that can help you find the correct solution. here are a few more:

How to troubleshoot the video adapter driver in Safe mode in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292460/

[Downunder]

Hi Robert,
Thanks for all your time you are putting in on my behalf.. much appreciated.!!
I have a Compaq Notebook Pressario 1200AN 850Mhz Intel CPU with 40GB HDD with 2 x 20GB partitions, 325Mb Ram
When I turn it on for a normal bootup off HDD, Windows XP logo displayed then goes blank then a very pale blue screen appears and HDD activity stops. At this stage I assume that the login screen is being displayed somewhere in the ether so enter my password and press enter. I get the usual startup tone and see a large version of my normal screen background - no desktop icons, no "Start" or any tray icons - zippo..!!
So in order to use the machine I press the power button quickly and the unit shuts down. I then press the power button and keep pressing F8 to bring up the Windows Advanced optios list which allows me to select "enable VGA Mode" and load XP.
After it loads I get a monsterous login panel followed by my normal desktop with giant size icons. Windows alerts me that it can resize my settings so I enable it to do that and things become just useable.
I then go into control panel, display, settings tab and find i can not set my plug and play monitor or resolutions...
Sorry about the long winded reply Robert, just wanted to clarrify for you.. hope this helps.. I will go try the F2 and delete options as I haven't been able to get into the bios yet...
Many thanks for your patience Robert..!!!
Christopher (in NZ)

[Downunder]

P.S. external LCD off 15 pin ext monitor port, only have onboard video adaptop (trident Cyberblade) and tried reloading all the drivers, not running in safe mode, and glad its not a Dell...hahah
Christopher

[Robert]

if you can let it boot up normally and sort of "feel your way through the logon process" and see part of your desktop, then once you get to that point, right-click>select properties>settings.... then select the your external monitor from the dropdown and check the box that says" make this device the primary monitor". If it is grayed out, then select the other device and select that one as primary. IF NEITHER of these options are available OR there is only one monitor available, please let me know.

[Robert]

Compaq and HP Desktop and Notebook users, take advantage of your manufacturers product support online. They provide a wealth of information and usually answer your questions before you even know what to ask. hehe

HP Notebook PCs - Secondary Display Only Shows Desktop Background
When attempting to use a secondary display (monitor or television), only the desktop wallpaper is shown.

Solution
This could be due to either of two reasons.

Extended Desktop could be enabled. Extended Desktop will allow more than one monitor to spread the desktop over a larger area. The secondary monitor will then display the desktop background only by default. To use the secondary display, move the mouse pointer off the edge of the screen (right side by default) and the pointer will appear on the second display.

If extended desktop is not enabled, the second display will show the view of the first display. This is known as desktop cloning. If the display is larger than the screen's maximum resolution, the display will scroll to view the items off screen. To scroll the secondary screen, move the mouse pointer to the desired area on the primary screen. If the location is off screen on the secondary display, it will scroll to the area on the primary display.

To enable/disable Extended Desktop, click Start > Control Panel > Display > Advanced. If two displays are listed, the extended display option will be
available. By default the extended display will be enabled. If no check is in the box, desktop cloning is enabled.

HP Notebook PCs - Configuring an External Display
Description
The notebook is capable of switching from the LCD display mode to S-Video or external display modes.

Solution
The external VGA port is enabled by holding the Fn key down and pressing the F4 key at the same time. There are three modes that can be toggled
through:

Internal Display only
Internal Display and External Display
External Display only

Other options can be accessed for configuring the external display or SVIDEO output by right-clicking the Windows desktop or background and selecting Properties from the menu list.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...eC?lc=en&cc=us

[Downunder]

Hey Robert some great suggestions there thanks. OK, started up normally and got a pale blue desktop only on the screen. Entered my password (feeling my way) and got the desktop wallpaper only on my external LCD monitor. Right click and selected properties, saw hourglass briefly appear but nothing else. Decided to try fishing off screen to the left with the cursor and managed to drag a couple of icons onto my external LCD. Even got the Display options window Yayy..!!! Went into settings tab and 2 monitor icons there 2 & 1. Selected # 1 icon but when I clicked on identify I did not get the identification number on my screen regardless which icon I choose,, hmmm.. went into advanced and changed to LCD + CRT setting and Plug & Play for monitor, Clicked apply and use settings then damn PC went and restarted and I ended up back as before.
Tried to get the display window accross again but couldn't hook it - only more icons...!!! How frustrating is that eh.???
BTW my built in LCD blew the voltage converter PCB, melting the lower left corner of the plastic surround as well.
Getting soo close....
Cheers
Christopher

[cawpei]

Have you gone into your control panel and clicked on monitors? If not that is where you can make the change.

[Robert]

Dude!

bootup normally

when its booted up...

Hit FN + F4 (function key + F4)

this enables or "switches" to external monitor only

*special thanks to Britney, HP chat support.*

FREE

[Downunder]

Success...!!!! Robert, thanks heaps for all your help and persistence buddy..!! It kept me sane and kept me trying..
Ok, here's how.... last night after trying since Saturday, finally managed to again hook accross the window that opens from "desktop, right click, properties" after snaring some 15 desktop icons in the process..!!
This time I didn't allow the reset machine option to try things. Selected Icon 1 as primary and under settings, advanced, device adaptor, selected modes and 840x600 32 bit true colour. applied and closed to display option.
Identify finally showed a big 1 on my external lcd and bingo..!! Appears that my external LCD was operating as 2nd monitor on the left of the 1st, but would not identify as such with XP - maybe it was working as a VGA unit..??
Still got a minor issue in that there are no manufacturers options for monitors showing - only plug and play option. Added Default option but need to add my CMV.
Seems they have left the building..
Much happier now thanks to all your help...
Christopher

[Downunder]

P.S. Fn + F4 is the command that puts my notebook into sleep mode as designated on the F4 key. Tried it after your earlier post. oopps I meant 800x600 in the post above. Don't have an icon called monitors in my XP control panel - only "Display".
Cheers

[Robert]

Most Notebooks have a Fn+? key combination to switch to external monitor mode, and sometimes you have to press it again because it toggles between 3 different setups:

LCD | LCD+CRT | CRT --press this key combo at startup, after it starts to the Welcome Screen, it may not work because your hardware profile will be active, which maynot be set correctly to use the external.

Well, it looks like I will be troubleshooting this problem a bit more because I just found a Notebook with:

(no Operating System, no Recovery sector on HD, Backlight is out on LCD screen)

**** **** Notebook Model #:PCG-FXA36
AMD Athlon 4 1.0Ghz, 200Mhz FSB
256MB Memory
20Gig Fixed HD(Built-In)
CD-R-RW/DVD Rom Combo Optical Drive
and lots more

The LCD unit is Hitachi 15.1" (TFT/XGA)
--The Backlight is out, or as a **** rep says, "Backup light" but there is no reference to that in the service manual, lol, go figure.

---I will post with some notes on how I have to get the external monitor up and running on this one.

p.s. - if anyone can find a backlight for this notebook's LCD screen or a CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) Manufacture used for this product, please post any info. Ive searced EVERYWHERE. The more I search, the more frustrating it gets, lol. thanks

[Downunder]

Hi Robert, and a merry xmas to you ..!!

Hmmm, sounds like a nice spec'd notebook but quite a small HDD. Not sure if it helps, but *****'s first laptops came out with a flourescent backlight for their laptop panels..??

have a great new year and thanks again for all the time you spent helping with my PC problem..!! )
Christopher

[Robert]

Have a happy New Year as well, thank you.

Well, here is an update on my notebook:

Im gonna start a new thread for this one...WOW
"Laptop LCD Displays Gone Wild!

Ill post here when I get back to multiple monitor settings.