General Question

Fred931's avatar

Why does my external monitor do this?

Asked by Fred931 (9434points) May 25th, 2010

Out of boredom, I’ve plugged in the old monitor from my desktop into my laptop to use as a second monitor. However, it only displays picture for a second or two before going blank again. The power indicator on the monitor says that it thinks it’s connected to a powered-up computer. My laptop’s monitor is working fine, otherwise I wouldn’t be typing this from it. What can I try to fix it?

Specs, anyone?
Operating System: MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2
Processor: Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T5850 @ 2.16GHz Merom 65nm Technology
RAM: 3.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 332MHz 5–5-5–15
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0H282K (Microprocessor)
Monitors: Generic PnP Monitor @ 1280×800 [my laptop’s screen]
DELL E153FP @ 1024×768[the old screen]
Graphics: 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series (Dell)
I’ve got more if you need ‘em.

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6 Answers

the100thmonkey's avatar

You need to switch the display adapter on, I think – there’s usually a Fn key on the bottom row of a laptop keyboard. Press it and hold it, then look at the number keys – there ashould be one with a little rectangle/square on it – puching that key ought to tell the graphics adapter to switch on.

jaytkay's avatar

On the laptop, have you tried messing with Display Settings?
Either right-click on the desktop or
Start Menu->Control Panel->Personalization->Display Settings

Is there another PC handy to test the monitor?

Fred931's avatar

I did something that I can’t remember, considering it was a few hours ago, that fixed the problem. So… yeah…

jaytkay's avatar

SORRY!! I posted my answer to an entirely different question here.

Anyway, glad you got it working. A 2nd monitor can really help!

Fred931's avatar

@jaytkay Actually, it stopped working again. Also, the computer was stolen by a sibling at a sleepover, so I won’t have the time to try the suggestions until she comes back.

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