Dual-Monitor Issue on Laptop

Hi everyone, I couldn't find a solution anywhere so here goes:

I've been using dual monitors for a while now, with my laptop monitor as main and my external dell monitor as secondary (extension of screen).

It was all good; sometimes when doing work I'd drag my itunes or firefox to the external and close my laptop, since I only needed the mouse. The external would stay a second screen, even though my main monitor was closed.

Recently (and I don't know exactly when or why) whenever I close my laptop screen, the computer switches the external monitor to be the main monitor. When I open the laptop, the monitor switches the laptop one back to main, but then my settings are all screwed up because whatever was on the secondary monitor is now on the laptop monitor, and the windows are all out of proportion. It also flickers for several seconds whenever I open the computer.

I've tried restarting the computer, disconnecting and reconnecting the monitor, and looking through the settings but nothing seems to have changed. I have not tried a graphic driver reinstallation yet but I haven't done anything that I can recall that would change any driver settings.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

Review your monitor and/or power scheme settings? Any gpu update lately? Last but not least, a restore point?

cheers ...

 

Since you are utilizing dual-view on a notebook, check the power settings. Some notebook options will vary from manufacture, but most notebooks have settings that control what happens when your notebook is plugged in, using battery, etc... When you check the power options, make sure you have "notebook stays on" enabled when you have it plugged-in.

 

Thanks for the reply; I checked those, and all settings are either to "high" or otherwise set not to let the notebook turn off.

 

Try toggling the FN key controlling the monitors again, set it to be on both, then try again.

cheers ...

 

After many system restores and FnF8 toggles, I finally rolled back the driver, and now it's all fine and dandy again. I really don't know why it stopped working in the first place though...it was driving me nuts!

Thanks for all the responses guys, I really appreciate it.