External screen for laptop

[Electronics4you]

Hello,

I connect an external LCD screen for my laptop and want to expand my desktop/split into two screens, but it only shows the desktop on the external screen and the laptop screen goes black. What to do? Btw. it's Vista.

 

[things]

since i don't have vista, i don't know what it is like. But does it have a control panel?, can you acess the display settings? you can change that, but someone with vista might be able to help you out

 

[Hero999]

Have you looked at the display settings in control panel?

Have you looked at the BIOS settings for the graphics card?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Hello,

I connect an external LCD screen for my laptop and want to expand my desktop/split into two screens, but it only shows the desktop on the external screen and the laptop screen goes black. What to do? Btw. it's Vista.

Certainly on all the laptops I've tried you can't have both monitors on at the same time.

 

[Sceadwian]

I don't know of any laptops that allow you to 'dual head' with a monitor, but some should allow you to 'clone' the display if the external monitor is at the same resolution as the laptops display.

 

[things]

what do you mean by "dual head"? if you mean split screen (desktop on both sides and you can drag objects between the two) my laptop can do that?

 

[Sceadwian]

No, very few if any laptops can do that, at least I can't name any that can not exactly an 'in demand' feature, even for laptops as desktop replacements, you can just get a PCMCIA video card if you need to do that. But 'cloneing' of the display (the same information on both screens) is a pretty common feature assuming the resolution is the same on both screens. Depends entirely on the maker though.

 

[things]

my laptop can split the desktop between 2 screens, but i have to configure alot of stuff to get it to "clone".oh, my laptop is a acer aspire 3000, the only probs i have with it are the fact that the speakers have blown, and the battery life is crap(10 minutes) but you get what you pay for ($999)

 

[ericgibbs]

I use a USB2 to VGA external module to drive a second monitor.
Measures 8* 10*3 cms.

Drag and drop between screens, its best if both screens are set for the same resolution.

 

[Gayan Soyza]

Looks like you are not saving the primary display which I believe.

Try this

1.Goto Control Panel, click Appearance and Personalization, click Personalization, and then click Display Settings.

2.To designate the primary display on the Monitor tab, click the icon that corresponds to the monitor that you want to designate as the primary display, and then select the This is my main monitor check box.

3.change the screen resolution, color quality, refresh rate, Scale (DPI) if necessary.

Now see what happens.

 

[theinfamousbob]

Honestly, if you had a Mac, it would just work.

I've been able to clone displays and extend the desktop since my mom got her first PowerBook in 2000. I'm surprised it's so hard to do on some systems; always seemed like a commonplace 'til I read this thread.

 

[Marks256]

Hello,

I connect an external LCD screen for my laptop and want to expand my desktop/split into two screens, but it only shows the desktop on the external screen and the laptop screen goes black. What to do? Btw. it's Vista.

What kind of laptop is it? Most laptops have a button to do this for you. On my laptop it is the Fn key + F4 (Fn+F4)

I found this pic on google;
**broken link removed**

I don't know of any laptops that allow you to 'dual head' with a monitor, but some should allow you to 'clone' the display if the external monitor is at the same resolution as the laptops display.

My laptop does it, too. I can clone, or expand my deskop onto two monitors. It is a Gateway 4026.

 

[Electronics4you]

I know you can use that FN+F4 mode, but I don't have that button - strange. But suddently the desktop was duplicated and shown on both screens. When I try to turn on the expand mode both screens go black and I can't control them then. My graphics card seems uncapable to run both screens in expand mode (or what it's called in the English Vista)...

 

[Marks256]

What kind of laptop is it? (make, model, and manufacture)