Windows 7 Remote Desktop with dual monitors won't wake up

I run Windows 7 64bit with dual monitors at work.

If i connect from home using remote desktop, the next morning i cannot wake up the monitors.

The computer seems to be fine (i can connect again from another pc using remote desktop) but monitor will stay blank.

I've tried unplugging the monitors and reconnecting them but still won't wake up.

The only solution is to restart the machine.

Some specs if it helps.

HP 3000 Pro, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, ATI Radeon HD 4550, Samsung SyncMaster 2243 x2

dev5

Posted 2010-06-03T21:03:59.343

Reputation: 197

I'm not sure if a windows update has fixed this, but i no longer get this issue. – dev5 – 2012-02-01T10:43:42.323

Answers

It's not a fix, but a workaround as I too have the same issue. When this occurs, press the Windows + P key - then left or right arrow, then Enter. Viola!! ; - )

Hungry Jim

Posted 2010-06-03T21:03:59.343

Reputation: 31

For me it was up or down key – Alexander Bartosh – 2018-03-09T09:40:00.390

I have had a similar problem with Vista on a two monitor system. The fix I found was to ensure that the primary monitor as far as Windows is concerned is the first monitor as far as your graphics cards/drivers are concerned. In my (single card) case I see the problem if I have the VGA output as primary in Windows but not if the DVI output is set as primary. So if the problem you are seeing is the same, try switching which monitor Windows considers to be the primary.

Before discovering the "fix" for my issue I found two workarounds:

The machine was actually OK and the login screen was "displayed" ready to accept input even though the monitor was stuck in power-save (as an extra oddity: the other monitor was not in power save, and the mouse cursor could be seen on it). Logging in by remembering the right keyboard sequence sorted it as Windows seemed to reset the screen resolutions and such during the login process which woke up the other monitor.
The machine would power up both monitors fine from sleep, so if you can safely pause the machine for a short while (i.e. it isn't hosting some SLA backed network service) hit the sleep button and then wake the machine back up. If you have no hardware sleep button on the machine you could sleep it when you are finished with the RDC connection instead of just logging out, or you could send the sleep command from another machine on the network via psshutdown or similar.

David Spillett

Posted 2010-06-03T21:03:59.343

Reputation: 22 424

Thank you for the tip about settting "correct" primary display - it seems to work for me. – Erwin – 2011-02-21T08:13:45.193

In my case (win7 x64 with dual monitors and unavailability of disabling auto log off) none of mentioned methods helped. The reason I found in my case was Viber PC client. If it is not launched before starting RDP session - my work pc wakes up without problems. If Viber was launched when started RDP session - then I only able to wake up my pc by reconnectiong usb keyboard an mouse.

smoke_lp

Posted 2010-06-03T21:03:59.343

Reputation: 1

I am having the exact same issue, so there is obviously some issue. Even when I log off instead of simply disconnecting, the issue crops up. I usually end up having to RDP in when I get to work to restart the machine.

Marshall

Posted 2010-06-03T21:03:59.343

Reputation: 1

Rather than restarting, tell the machine to sleep. That way you don't loose your current working environment of open documents and such and if your problem is the same one I saw the screens will be fine upon un-sleeping the machine. If the problem is the same as mine, also try the "switching which screen is primary" thing as this may offer a permenant "fix". – David Spillett – 2010-10-04T13:14:26.477

I've had the same issue and hunting online gave me few more things to try. So I'm listing all steps here for future visitors:

Upgrade your display driver. Even if you have done it, just go to device manager and attempt another one.
Turn off power saving for monitors (you can still save power by switching off monitors manually while leaving.
Make sure that your primary monitor is your main display
Select a notepad or any application and hit Win+left/right arrow few times to move the application to next monitor.

YMMV and you may not have to do all steps.

Mrchief

Posted 2010-06-03T21:03:59.343

Reputation: 452