Discussion: Problem Displaying Results on a Monitor

This may not seem like an orienteering problem but it is. Hundreds of you probably deal with this every year. Me too but now I have a problem.
I'm staging a small -off the radar - event for about 100 people. E-punch will be used and they will download to a laptop, Panasonic Toughbook, running Windows 7. I'll use MeOS or Or for the results program. It's all been done before.
But here is the issue. When I go to plug monitor in to the computer via VGA cable the computer display goes dark. What is happening here? What can I do to get the monitor to duplicate the computer screen and not the other way around?

I'm not a Windows user (I'm a Mac user) but it sounds like you need a laptop that has two video cards.

There is also the ability to switch or toggle between displays as well as have displays mirror or not mirror each other. Usually a function key on the upper section of your keyboard. Might also be a control panel option to control displays.

Try: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/304435/Panasonic...

Hi Gord,

Go into your settings, systems, display and you should be able to change your multi-screen display settings there.

That seems to make a lot of sense Jeff but I'm damned if I can find a place called Settings on that computer. A search of Settings shows up about 30 references to different Windows folders.
But its not the display. The problem is that as soon as the VGA cable connects the laptop to the monitor the laptop screen goes dark.
I was able to get a partial better result with a different monitor which would display the laptop's background image but not the content.

With that different monitor, are you in a situation where the display is extended onto it, rather than duplicating it? That is, can you drag items off of the laptop monitor onto the VGA monitor?

When you right-click on the background on the laptop, do you have "Display Settings" as one of the popup menu options?

As to your second question JJ I sort of have display settings. The right click gives me screen resolution display with a mention of settings.
But why would a laptop screen go dark as soon as the laptop is connected by cable to a monitor?

I wish I still had a working Win7 machine around so could try things.

If your keyboard has an « FN » key you hold that down and press F5 to bring up the display options (takes a second or two to come up).

Windows key + p
Select "duplicate"

The laptop screen goes dark because the default behaviour is to display on the external screen.

As others said, when this happens you just have to right click on the screen and reconfigure this using "Settings". I think it is probably Settings>Display. Then you want "Extended desktop" or something similar. If that works, you typically have a new problem - finding where the mouse pointer went.

@furlong47 has the correct method:
Win key + 'P' lets you select between PC screen only, Duplicate (which you want), Extend (to make a larger desktop) and External only.

Wish it was that easy with my setup but my laptop refuses to recognise either the second or third screens through the DVI cables. Got it to work back when I had a docking station (one through a VGA cable and one through DVI) but that was before that laptop got stolen and I had to reduce myself to an "upgrade" (with keys that fall off at random).

The extended desktop function allows you to spread your desktop across both the internal LCD and the external display. You can drag an object from the internal LCD to the external display and vice versa.

1> Click Start > Control Panel > Other Control Panel Options > Intel GMA Driver > Display Devices.
2> Click "Extended Desktop", and select your [Primary Device] and [Secondary Device].
3> Click [OK].
4> Click [OK].

Thanks all. I'm sure the answer is there but right now I'm away from the computer and monitor for a few days for a control checking project.
Want to see how that works out? Come to the 2019 Florida Rogaine (8 hour) Championships, the Navi-Gator, on April 14th.