Set external display as primary monitor

Menandore · Sep 7, 2009, 11:43 AM

Hello to all; I have run into a brick wall on this one.

I don't know if this issue is best asked here, but this struck me as a knowledgeable community, so I'm giving it a try. First of all, I own a Toshiba A100 notebook, with an nVidia GeForce Go 7600. It had the latest manufacturer's drivers installed, until I just tried installing an Omega set today. I have an LG 23" widescreen monitor attached via VGA. I am running both monitors simultaneously in dualview, via the nvidia control panel.

My problem is, I would prefer to use the external as the primary monitor for fullscreen applications. The options to select which display is used as the primary monitor are entirely disabled.

I suspect this is a product of the Toshiba installation of Windows, installing the omega drivers had no effect regarding this issue whatsoever. Performing a large number of searches on the topic suggested that many notebooks reserve this selection for a Fn key combination, but I have been unable to locate any keys which allow me to select monitor priority. Is there any awareness of this kind of issue? Any suggested solutions?

Thanks for your time.

**temeteus82** · Sep 7, 2009, 12:34 PM

Hi there!

You should be able to do this in the Windows own display properties there should be part that you can define the primary monitor.

Here's a pic what it looks like in Vista ... It should be similar in XP too.

Menandore · Sep 7, 2009, 12:47 PM

Hi! Thanks very much for responding. Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. I should have thought to pop in a few screenshots first time around.

Here's what I'm coming up against.

**temeteus82** · Sep 7, 2009, 12:59 PM

Hmm... that looks like that there is some hardware settings that prevents the use of the external screen as primary..

Menandore · Sep 7, 2009, 01:12 PM

Mhmm, I figure my installation of windows really doesn't like this idea, the concept of a primary monitor has to be software layer though, am I right? So this is technically possible, though admittedly maybe not in my Windows installation.

Obviously when I select only the external monitor, disabling the default display, the external functions quite happily as the primary, which is what I've mostly been doing, but I'd like to not lose the extra monitor space as well, if at all possible.

I dual-boot linux on this system as well, and linux has no problems flip flopping monitors; I'd very much like to be able to do this in Windows as well though. Any further ideas would be appreciated.

Edit: Could it be something in my Bios?

**temeteus82** · Sep 7, 2009, 01:28 PM

I'm not so familiar with laptop BIOS settings but I think that it's not a BIOS issue. You might want to check that to be sure.

Menandore · Sep 12, 2009, 06:51 AM

Wow! After days of tedium and no results, I decided to try an older nvidia driver (167.58), from laptopvideo2go (with their modified .inf file), and bam! First thing it asked me after I rebooted with the install was which monitor I wanted as the primary. I'm not 100% that was the sole factor that fixed it(I played around with all kinds of settings and registry keys), but it was the last piece to fall into place for me.

Hope this helps someone else avoid all that, and thanks for your assistance temeteus.

Sep 7, 2009, 11:43 AM	#1
Menandore DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Set external display as primary monitor Hello to all; I have run into a brick wall on this one. I don't know if this issue is best asked here, but this struck me as a knowledgeable community, so I'm giving it a try. First of all, I own a Toshiba A100 notebook, with an nVidia GeForce Go 7600. It had the latest manufacturer's drivers installed, until I just tried installing an Omega set today. I have an LG 23" widescreen monitor attached via VGA. I am running both monitors simultaneously in dualview, via the nvidia control panel. My problem is, I would prefer to use the external as the primary monitor for fullscreen applications. The options to select which display is used as the primary monitor are entirely disabled. I suspect this is a product of the Toshiba installation of Windows, installing the omega drivers had no effect regarding this issue whatsoever. Performing a large number of searches on the topic suggested that many notebooks reserve this selection for a Fn key combination, but I have been unable to locate any keys which allow me to select monitor priority. Is there any awareness of this kind of issue? Any suggested solutions? Thanks for your time.

Sep 7, 2009, 12:47 PM	Thread Starter #3
Menandore DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Set external display as primary monitor Hi! Thanks very much for responding. Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. I should have thought to pop in a few screenshots first time around. Here's what I'm coming up against.

Sep 7, 2009, 01:12 PM	Thread Starter #5
Menandore DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Set external display as primary monitor Mhmm, I figure my installation of windows really doesn't like this idea, the concept of a primary monitor has to be software layer though, am I right? So this is technically possible, though admittedly maybe not in my Windows installation. Obviously when I select only the external monitor, disabling the default display, the external functions quite happily as the primary, which is what I've mostly been doing, but I'd like to not lose the extra monitor space as well, if at all possible. I dual-boot linux on this system as well, and linux has no problems flip flopping monitors; I'd very much like to be able to do this in Windows as well though. Any further ideas would be appreciated. Edit: Could it be something in my Bios?

Sep 12, 2009, 06:51 AM	Thread Starter #7
Menandore DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Set external display as primary monitor Wow! After days of tedium and no results, I decided to try an older nvidia driver (167.58), from laptopvideo2go (with their modified .inf file), and bam! First thing it asked me after I rebooted with the install was which monitor I wanted as the primary. I'm not 100% that was the sole factor that fixed it(I played around with all kinds of settings and registry keys), but it was the last piece to fall into place for me. Hope this helps someone else avoid all that, and thanks for your assistance temeteus.