SOLUTION: Intel graphics extended desktop no longer working

[Nate Lau]

I have a customer with an IBM T60 laptop and the Intel Graphics 645
chipset. He used to be able to work with an extended desktop on his
external monitor. All of a sudden, a couple weeks ago, it stopped
working. Whenever he tried clicking "extend desktop onto this monitor"
in the Display Properties, it would immediately uncheck the box after
clicking "Apply". He could work in Dual Display mode, with the
external monitor working as a clone of the LCD, but he could not
extend his desktop onto the monitor.

He swapped his hard drive into another T60 of the same model, but it
still wouldn't work. We tried uninstalling / reinstalling the graphics
driver. We even went to Intel and downloaded the latest drivers
there. The graphics chipset passed PC Doctor Diagnostics. I was at
the end of my rope and about to reimage the machine.

Then I came across this thread on Intel's support forums:

http://communities.intel.com/thread/4023

The solution the suggested was to uninstall PC Tools Spyware Doctor
version 6. It didn't seem logical that an antispyware tool would
affect the graphics adapter, but several people tried it and said they
could get the extended desktop to work once they uninstalled it.

As it turns out, my customer did have Spyware Doctor installed. He
installed it as part of the Google Pack. We uninstalled Spyware
Doctor from Add/Remove Programs, then restarted. I reinstalled the
Intel graphics driver, restarted again and, whaddya know, it works!

It makes no sense to me why Spyware Doctor kills extended desktop.
Maybe it's just a problem with the version of Spyware Doctor. In any
case, it's working now, my customer is happy, and I am happy to share
this solution with you.

Aloha,

Nathan Lau
San Jose, CA
#include <std.disclaimer>

Our Top 10 Favorite Places to Eat in the South Bay
http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2008/08/our-top-10-favorite-places-to-eat-in.html

 

[smlunatick]

I have a customer with an IBM T60 laptop and the Intel Graphics 645
chipset.  He used to be able to work with an extended desktop on his
external monitor.  All of a sudden, a couple weeks ago, it stopped
working. Whenever he tried clicking "extend desktop onto this monitor"
in the Display Properties, it would immediately uncheck the box after
clicking "Apply".  He could work in Dual Display mode, with the
external monitor working as a clone of the LCD, but he could not
extend his desktop onto the monitor.

He swapped his hard drive into another T60 of the same model, but it
still wouldn't work. We tried uninstalling / reinstalling the graphics
driver.  We even went to Intel and downloaded the latest drivers
there.  The graphics chipset passed PC Doctor Diagnostics.  I was at
the end of my rope and about to reimage the machine.

Then I came across this thread on Intel's support forums:

http://communities.intel.com/thread/4023

The solution the suggested was to uninstall PC Tools Spyware Doctor
version 6.  It didn't seem logical that an antispyware tool would
affect the graphics adapter, but several people tried it and said they
could get the extended desktop to work once they uninstalled it.

As it turns  out, my customer did have Spyware Doctor installed.  He
installed it as part of the Google Pack.  We uninstalled Spyware
Doctor from Add/Remove Programs, then restarted.  I reinstalled the
Intel graphics driver, restarted again and, whaddya know, it works!

It makes no sense to me why Spyware Doctor kills extended desktop.
Maybe it's just a problem with the version of Spyware Doctor.  In any
case, it's working now, my customer is happy, and I am happy to share
this solution with you.

Aloha,

Nathan Lau
San Jose, CA
#include <std.disclaimer>

Our Top 10 Favorite Places to Eat in the South Bayhttp://chezannies.blogspot.com/2008/08/our-top-10-favorite-places-to-...

It can make sense since there might be a "common" file / setting that
Spyware Doctor "might" be blocking or replacing.

 

[David B.]

I've seen a few different PC Tools applications cause issues that would
seemingly be unrelated. Had a client with an issue where Threatfire was
causing a loss of keyboard control in a LogMeIn session.

 

[DL]

I cannot say my problem was PC Tools, as I cannot remember the app I was
trialing some time ago, it was a malaware detection app, but it certainly
caused failures of my offline backup software, but nothing else.

 

[José]

eGreat ! You (actually they) have solved my problem with the extended desktop
! But I'm not sure about why it worked fine until this morning. The secondary
monitor became inactive during a screen saver period and it stopped working.
Then I tried unsuccesfully to select "Extended desktop". Only "cloned
monitor" worked fine to me. After uninstalling Spyware Doctor I can use both
coned and extended.

Thanks again,

Jose