Disable Laptop Screen When Using External Monitor
Windows also has a nasty habit of opening windows on the second monitor which can make it difficult to use if that monitor is disabled. The exception is laptops where you can press something like Function F4 to switch on and off the additional monitor and run the laptop display and the monitor.
- I went through a similar question, but the answer was informing how to hide the monitor, but not how to disable it. I do not want any new windows to creep into the laptop display when the external display is connected. I could not find any in the Display Settings (under System Preferences).
- In today's how-to video, I'll be showing you how to use an external monitor with a laptop closed. This is great for people who have a dedicated desk setup, but run it off of a laptop.
I keep my laptop tucked away and solely use an external display with it via HDMI. In Windows 7 display settings, I have it set up to 'Show desktop only on 2 [my external display]' This works fine in all cases except when I boot the laptop when the external display is already connected. In that case, the laptop's display stays on and sticks at the Windows 7 boot logo unless I manually shut the display off. (I should mention that while the laptop's display is stuck at the boot logo, the external monitor and computer are running just fine.)
The laptop is an Asus N56VZ with Nvidia 650m graphics and the latest drivers. I've checked Nvidia's control panel as well as the BIOS and nothing looked very promising.
Any ideas as to how I can get my laptop screen to shut itself off after booting into Windows?
Edit 1For clarification, if I boot the laptop without the external display plugged in, and THEN plug in the HDMI, the laptop screen shuts off and the external monitor works as it should.
Edit 2Thanks to the answer from @harrymc I now have something working. I created a batch that switches the laptop display to primary and then back again (Simply setting the external display to primary doesn't work and the laptop screen stays 'stuck'):
Unfortunately, the change in resolutions causes my windows/icons to become messed up which then need to be resized, so it's really just trading one annoyance for another.
On to more testing!
3 Answers
The free command-line utility Display Changer can be used to write a batch file that will setthe external monitor to be the primary.
You could then add the batch file to Start / Programs / Startup, so it runs every time.
Test first if the script fails when the external monitor is not connected, so as not to leaveyou without a monitor in this case.
harrymcharrymcYou need to disable built-in display in Device Manager.
BUT!!! - Do not disable the monitor unless you have already installed and verified the functionality of a secondary monitor. Once disabled from the 'Device Manager,' the main screen will not turn back on automatically, even when an external screen is unplugged.
I would suggest the next 2 methods:
- Switch to an external monitor by pressing Windows + P keys.
- Configure power options to use external display when closing LID.
Disable Laptop Screen When Using External Monitor Mac
Volodymyr M.Volodymyr M.I got almost the same problem, just worse, as my laptop + the monitor are hanging on the win7 logo, when I power on the display AFTER powering on the laptop but while booting. sometimes everything freezes (!) + have to hard shutdown. anoying
