Computer detecting nonexistent second monitor

October 28, 2008 11:53 AM

I just started up my new Windows Vista laptop for the second time and it told me that it detected a second monitor. I don't have a second monitor and one has never been plugged in, the first time I started up the computer all I did was do the mandatory first-time-startup configuration, and it's never been connected to the Internet (I'm writing this from another computer). Should I just ignore the message, or might something be wrong I should look into? (I started up the computer again to check whether this would happen again, and it didn't, although the screen went black for a while after the desktop was fully loaded.)
posted by Cucurbit to computers & internet (4 answers total)

"my new Windows Vista laptop" isn't a very precise description of what you have and what hardware is in it and "it told me that it detected a second monitor" describes what happened in only the vaguest terms, so it's difficult to say. But I think you can cheerfully ignore the message unless it returns.
posted by majick at 12:01 PM on October 28, 2008

I'd check for any debris that may have been stuck in the external monitor port. I'd check to see if that external out is actually working too. If not, then I wouldn't worry about it.
posted by wongcorgi at 12:20 PM on October 28, 2008

Don't be worried until the phantom monitor becomes the default desktop where windows open. Or if your mouse falls off the screen. Or if the background stretches in a weird way. Just smile and remind your laptop not to tell lies or no one will believe it when it really matters.
posted by cowbellemoo at 12:28 PM on October 28, 2008

Nah, it detected the ability to output to another monitor, as in to an LCD projector or something. You usually switch to it via a laptop function key, on this dell it's...Fn+f8.

If it should ever decide to use the output as the default, pressing that function key will bring it back to the actual laptop screen.

I wouldn't worry.
posted by TomMelee at 12:39 PM on October 28, 2008 [1 favorite]