Switching to a different monitor

[JP]

What's the proper method of doing it? My video card is set to the right
resolutions and sync frequencies for the old monitor which is not
compatible with the new one. So when I boot up with the new one
connected, I get no picture.

 

[M.I.5¾]

What's the proper method of doing it? My video card is set to the right
resolutions and sync frequencies for the old monitor which is not
compatible with the new one. So when I boot up with the new one connected,
I get no picture.

Set the video to 640x480 16 bit colour at 60Hz refresh. This is guaranteed
to work on any monitor and you can then change to something that works with
the new monitor when it is connected.

 

[Tim Slattery]

What's the proper method of doing it? My video card is set to the right
resolutions and sync frequencies for the old monitor which is not
compatible with the new one. So when I boot up with the new one
connected, I get no picture.

Connect the new monitor and boot into safe mode. That will use a
lowest common denominator driver and a resolution that all monitors
should be able to handle. Once there you can set the parameters that
you want.

 

[JP]

Set the video to 640x480 16 bit colour at 60Hz refresh. This is
guaranteed to work on any monitor and you can then change to something
that works with the new monitor when it is connected.

I've done it just as you suggested and it worked great without going
into safe mode.

Thanks,
jp

 

[smlunatick]

I've done it just as you suggested and it worked great without going
into safe mode.

Thanks,
jp

Another way was to "unistall" the monitor from Device Manager and then
shutdown the PC. After rebooting the PC, with the new monitor
connected, the XP should go through the "New hardware wizard" and let
you configure this monitor.

 

[JP]

Another way was to "unistall" the monitor from Device Manager and then
shutdown the PC. After rebooting the PC, with the new monitor
connected, the XP should go through the "New hardware wizard" and let
you configure this monitor.

I assume you meant uninstalling the monitor's driver, right? I like this
method the most but what is the display going to be like between the
uninstall and the reboot?

 

[M.I.5¾]

I've done it just as you suggested and it worked great without going
into safe mode.

Thanks,
jp

Another way was to "unistall" the monitor from Device Manager and then
shutdown the PC. After rebooting the PC, with the new monitor
connected, the XP should go through the "New hardware wizard" and let
you configure this monitor.

--------------

Depending on the drivers, this doesn't always work as XP often tries to use
the last set resolution and sulks when it can't find a driver for the
monitor or a suitable monitor. Of course if the old monitor and the new
monitor are able to work with XP generic drivers then this isn't a problem
unless the old resolution is not supported by the new monitor (which I
believe was the OP's problem).

 

[smlunatick]

I assume you meant uninstalling the monitor's driver, right? I like this
method the most but what is the display going to be like between the
uninstall and the reboot?

There might not be a monitor driver. The monitor is listed in "Device
Manager" and by uninstalling the monitor entry from "Device Manager,"
the next reboot should force your XP into the 'New Hardware wizard."
There you can set up the new monitor and once the new monitor is
working, you can attempt to remove the older monitor drivers, if they
exist, from Add / Remove Programs.

 

[JP]

There might not be a monitor driver. The monitor is listed in "Device
Manager" and by uninstalling the monitor entry from "Device Manager,"
the next reboot should force your XP into the 'New Hardware wizard."
There you can set up the new monitor and once the new monitor is
working, you can attempt to remove the older monitor drivers, if they
exist, from Add / Remove Programs.

Copied that. If I remember correctly, by uninstalling the specific
monitor (Samsung) entry from under the "Monitor" folder of the Device
Manager, the "Monitor" folder itself would also be deleted as the Device
Manager does not allow empty device place holder folders. Then, after
rebooting with the new monitor, it would be re-established again.

 

[smlunatick]

Copied that. If I remember correctly, by uninstalling the specific
monitor (Samsung) entry from under the "Monitor" folder of the Device
Manager, the "Monitor" folder itself would also be deleted as the Device
Manager does not allow empty device place holder folders. Then, after
rebooting with the new monitor, it would be re-established again.

Not always! Some monitor drivers were just INF files and did not have
an install / uninstall process. The only driver that I see that will
start up an uninstall process once you select to "uninstall" the
Device Manager entry is the nVidia video cards. Several new monitor
have a EDID chip which the Windows "Plug an Pray" (oops! that should
be "Play" instead of "Pray') system reads. With this info, Windows
will look up hardware "codes" and find a match in the driver database.
Once a match is found, if the driver exists locally on your drive, it
will install them. Or if not found locally, it can search the Windows
Update or use the generic drivers.

 

[JP]

Not always! Some monitor drivers were just INF files and did not have
an install / uninstall process. The only driver that I see that will
start up an uninstall process once you select to "uninstall" the
Device Manager entry is the nVidia video cards. Several new monitor
have a EDID chip which the Windows "Plug an Pray" (oops! that should
be "Play" instead of "Pray') system reads. With this info, Windows
will look up hardware "codes" and find a match in the driver database.
Once a match is found, if the driver exists locally on your drive, it
will install them. Or if not found locally, it can search the Windows
Update or use the generic drivers.

Interesting. Just so happens that I do have an nVidia GeForce4 video
card. Thanks for the info.

 

[JP]

Another way was to "unistall" the monitor from Device Manager and then
shutdown the PC. After rebooting the PC, with the new monitor
connected, the XP should go through the "New hardware wizard" and let
you configure this monitor.

--------------

Depending on the drivers, this doesn't always work as XP often tries
to use the last set resolution and sulks when it can't find a driver
for the monitor or a suitable monitor. Of course if the old monitor
and the new monitor are able to work with XP generic drivers then this
isn't a problem unless the old resolution is not supported by the new
monitor (which I believe was the OP's problem).

What if I also wanted to use this new LCD monitor with my Vista laptop?
I obviously cannot uninstall its own display.

 

[M.I.53]

What if I also wanted to use this new LCD monitor with my Vista laptop? I
obviously cannot uninstall its own display.

You just plug the monitor into the VGA port and install the drivers.
Laptops give you the option of using either the laptop's own screen or the
external monitor. You can often use both, and how the laptop handles this
depends on the graphic card. Practically all laptops made since 2002 have
dual head graphic adaptors which means that both the laptop screen and the
external monitor are handled as different screens. If you do want the same
display on both screens, then you need to peruse the graphics adaptor's book
of instructions as they don't all work the same.

 

[JP]

You just plug the monitor into the VGA port and install the drivers.
Laptops give you the option of using either the laptop's own screen or
the external monitor. You can often use both, and how the laptop
handles this depends on the graphic card. Practically all laptops
made since 2002 have dual head graphic adaptors which means that both
the laptop screen and the external monitor are handled as different
screens. If you do want the same display on both screens, then you
need to peruse the graphics adaptor's book of instructions as they
don't all work the same.

Thanks, I will try it but first I'll try to find some kind of A/B switch
that allows convenient switching of the monitor between the desktop and
laptop PC.

 

[BillW50]

In JP typed on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:49:41 -0700:

Thanks, I will try it but first I'll try to find some kind of A/B
switch that allows convenient switching of the monitor between the
desktop and laptop PC.

I used to use an A/B switch years ago that switched between the desktop
<-> laptop for the display and keyboard/mouse. Although I didn't like
the delay factor after the switch. Like a second or two for the monitor
to adjust and the computers sensing the new keyboard/mouse being
connected.

Nowadays I just use laptops and netbooks. So now it is far easier to
just move the video and the wireless cables than to keep using the
switch. But it does work. <grin>

 

[smlunatick]

Thanks, I will try it but first I'll try to find some kind of A/B switch
that allows convenient switching of the monitor between the desktop and
laptop PC.

Most laptops already have a special FN key to switch between the
internal, external or have both "displays" on at the same time.

 

[M.I.53]

Thanks, I will try it but first I'll try to find some kind of A/B switch
that allows convenient switching of the monitor between the desktop and
laptop PC.

If you googgle for "KVM switch", you will find what you are looking for.
They also switch a keyboard and mouse. If you are still using a CRT
monitor, they can be a bit sensitive to cross talk between the two sources
(it can be minimised by setting the two sources to different refresh rates).
LCD monitors do not seem to be a problem.

 

[JP]

If you googgle for "KVM switch", you will find what you are looking
for. They also switch a keyboard and mouse. If you are still using a
CRT monitor, they can be a bit sensitive to cross talk between the two
sources (it can be minimised by setting the two sources to different
refresh rates). LCD monitors do not seem to be a problem.

That's the name I was looking for! I guess KVM stands for
Keyboard-Video-Mouse. Fortunately with this new LCD monitor I got rid
off my last CRT monitor, so I should be fine, thank you.

 

[M.I.5¾]

Thanks, I will try it but first I'll try to find some kind of A/B switch
that allows convenient switching of the monitor between the desktop and
laptop PC.

Most laptops already have a special FN key to switch between the
internal, external or have both "displays" on at the same time.

-------

While true, the OP is actually trying to do it the other way around.

Having said, if the OP is in the market for a new monitor, there are
monitors that offer equivalent functionality by accepting 2 inputs (though
they are often 1 x DVI and 1 x VGA).