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Primary and Attached Desktops

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tfsweet

Technical User
Jul 7, 2004
10
US
I have a laptop and have connected it to an external tv. I want to use the tv as my monitor instead of the laptop monitor. However, when i connect up, i can not see icons or the mouse on the tv. The only thing i see is the desktop image that i have set as my background. I want to switch my tv monitor (which is currently set as 2 or attached) as my primary monitor. Plz help me with this problem. thx guys ^^
 
This IS a HD tv, isn't it? If not, it's going to be a blurry pix.
 
A couple things.

First, realize that the output quality on a standard TV is not going to be anywhere close to a SuperVGA monitor. If you are using this setup for games or movie playback, then that's OK. But don't expect text or fine image details to show up very well.

Second, it's possible that your setup to your TV is fine. Perhaps you are only seeing the middle of your desktop magnified several times. What you have to do is lower the desktop resolution in Windows. Right-click your desktop, go to Properties, and then over to the Settings tab. Lower the resolution to 640x480 if that's an option (800x600 is the lowest in XP).


~cdogg
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I can't remember the exact setting but you need to un-check something like "extend my desktop across two monitors".

From your description it sounds like Windows is trying to give you one large, wide desktop. If you move your mouse over to the right you should see it disappear off your laptop screen and appear on your TV.

You don't want an extended desktop, you want a 'cloned' or 'duplicated' one. The exact settings will depend on your display hardware and driver version - ATI is different to nVidia.

Nelviticus
 
And most notebooks have a FN key + some other key sequence to rotate between notebook display only, both displays, and one display only.

And too, often installing the video driver from the video display manufacturer will give you options through an icon on the notification tray to flip between display on the monitor and the external TV device.
 
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