How to turn off the laptop monitor when using an external monitor?

I have a Toshiba Laptop and I have searched all over the place for a solution to the following problem.

I use a Toshiba DynaDock to connect to an external monitor. I used to have Windows Vista, and while using that OS, whenever my external monitor was connected, the laptop monitor turned off completely. I recently upgraded to Windows 7 and that does not happen anymore. The screen stays blank, but the backlight is on.

Since it did work on Windows Vista, and since 7 is extremely similar to Windows Vista, I trust there is a way to set that up.

So my question is, is there a way to completely turn off the laptop monitor whilst using an external one, and whenever the external one is not connected, the laptop monitor works normally?

Also, I cannot use the power settings in 7, I have tried setting the monitor to turn off after a few mins, but it just dims and leaves the backlight on.

paradd0x

Posted 2011-03-01T19:54:52.580

Reputation: 7 771

Answers

There is NO support in Windows 7 to turn off the laptop monitor completely with the backlight and leave the external monitor on. This was most likely a bug in Windows Vista.

paradd0x

Posted 2011-03-01T19:54:52.580

Reputation: 7 771

What about windows 8? – Pacerier – 2015-06-05T05:26:41.747

Have you installed all the drivers and utilities from Toshiba?

Windows 7 by default will install generic drivers that don't always give access to all the low-level facilities of the laptop hardware.

The Toshiba website should contain Windows 7 drivers and utilities that should solve your problem.

Majenko

Posted 2011-03-01T19:54:52.580

Reputation: 29 007

When I updated the DynaDock drivers a few weeks ago, it broke the whole thing and I had to do a system restore. The Toshiba updates do not seem to like the DynaDock and break it. Also, the updates for the computer from Toshiba, I can't find them. There are literally 20 different version numbers for my laptop model. – paradd0x – 2011-03-01T20:15:37.587

On the underside of the laptop is a sticker with Model Name and Part No on it. Mine is Satellite Pro L500-1D4 and PSLS1E-00U00CEN - what's yours? – Majenko – 2011-03-01T20:20:33.790

If it's the backlight this IS a driver problem, there's no two ways around it. If your machine doesn't support Win7 officially you may just have to live with this. – Shinrai – 2011-03-01T21:22:54.987

It's a Satellite L355-S7915. I will look on the Toshiba site for the drivers and see what I can get from there. – paradd0x – 2011-03-02T16:11:48.030

Press WIN+P till you only have the external monitor.

Tamara Wijsman

Posted 2011-03-01T19:54:52.580

Reputation: 54 163

I have tried that already, I also went on the monitor configuration and set it to "Show desktop 2 only". They both "work" in the sense that the laptop does not show anything and everything is displayed on the external monitor. But it does not turn off the laptop monitor backlight. – paradd0x – 2011-03-01T21:03:28.340

Use Speccy to figure out your hardware and then download the drivers from the sites of those brands, the drivers don't have to come from the Toshiba site itself. You'll want to look for chipset and graphics drivers...

– Tamara Wijsman – 2011-03-01T21:24:04.860

All the drivers are up to date. The issue is still occuring. – paradd0x – 2011-03-03T19:14:10.163