Interesting problem?

[DH]

I have a customer that has two laptops. He is using an external monitor
with both. (Note: the same monitor.) With laptop A the monitor works fine.
With laptop B, the monitor comes up with the wallpaper but nothing else. If
he disconnects the monitor, and reboots, the lcd screen displays everything
and boots into windows perfectly.

I am appreciative of any suggestions or tests,

Dave H.

 

[JS]

Check the Refresh Rate and Resolution settings on both laptops, are they the
same?

JS

 

[DH]

Check the Refresh Rate and Resolution settings on both laptops, are they
the same?

JS

Thanks for your reply.

I don't believe the refresh rate would allow the wallpaper to display and
not the icons, task bar,..... Would it?

Dave H.

 

[Ghostrider]

Thanks for your reply.

I don't believe the refresh rate would allow the wallpaper to display and
not the icons, task bar,..... Would it?

Dave H.

Maybe not. But what about the monitor.ini file? It might provide
some sense of commonality between the two 2 laptops, especially
if they are not similar.

 

[DH]

Maybe not. But what about the monitor.ini file? It might provide
some sense of commonality between the two 2 laptops, especially
if they are not similar.

Again thanks.

I suspect that both systems are using the generic monitor drivers. I will
however check it out.

Dave H.

 

[JS]

Probable not but it's a good place to start.
It sounds like the monitor is trying to match your video output and on the
second try succeeds.
Instead of disconnecting and then rebooting have you tried turning the
monitor off and then on again?

JS

 

[DH]

Probable not but it's a good place to start.
It sounds like the monitor is trying to match your video output and on the
second try succeeds.
Instead of disconnecting and then rebooting have you tried turning the
monitor off and then on again?

JS

I have to admit that I am not going to have my hands on this unit until
romorrow. I am communicating with this person via email. Are you saying
that turning off th monitor and then turning it on again would bring up the
icons, bars, start button.... As crazy as it seams, I will ask him to try
it.

Thanks,

Dave H.

 

[P. Johnson]

I have a customer that has two laptops. He is using an external monitor
with both. (Note: the same monitor.) With laptop A the monitor works
fine.
With laptop B, the monitor comes up with the wallpaper but nothing else.
If he disconnects the monitor, and reboots, the lcd screen displays
everything and boots into windows perfectly.

I am appreciative of any suggestions or tests,

Sounds like the laptop B is switching into some kind of dual monitor mode.
Try right-clicking, hit Properties, and take a look at the Settings tab. I
bet you're looking at Monitor 2 if you click Identify...

 

[JS]

Not likely, but it can't hurt to try. It also eliminates a bad cable if it
does solve the problem.

JS

 

[DH]

Sounds like the laptop B is switching into some kind of dual monitor mode.
Try right-clicking, hit Properties, and take a look at the Settings tab.
I
bet you're looking at Monitor 2 if you click Identify...

Why didn't I think of that? Great diagnosis.

Dave H.

 

[Bob I]

Thanks for your reply.

I don't believe the refresh rate would allow the wallpaper to display and
not the icons, task bar,..... Would it?

Dave H.

Move the mouse to the right, and see if it appears on the monitor, it
could be set to Extend desktop, which would give the view you describe.