Turn off dual-monitor function on laptop?

[tsurikov]

Hi all,

I have a colleague who has a relatively modern laptop (Medion, 1.9 GHz, WinXP) with SiS video which apparently has dual monitor function - i.e., you plug a monitor / projector into the onboard VGA connector, and the laptop treats it as an independent second monitor. (You see this in the "Display" properties, too - there they are, two separate monitors.) I've never seen a laptop with this feature, and it's kind of cool.

But... my question is - Is there a way to turn this dual-monitor function off? We don't need it - and sometimes (like when we do PowerPoint presentations) it actually hinders us! Most laptops that I know of don't function this way - when you plug in an external monitor or projector, you only get a duplicate of what you see on the laptop screen. This is what we want!

I've tried all the obvious places (in Display settings and using function-key combinations), to no avail. Thanks for any help!

--Michael

 

[TonyGroves]

Did you try the BIOS? It could have a setting for that.

 

[tsurikov]

I did try the BIOS - there is a Display setting there with the choices "Auto" (selected), "CRT", "LCD", and "TV". None of them really suggest anything to do with dual-monitor functionality, and I've learned not to mess with BIOS settings that aren't clear to me! (Nor are they described in the user manual... how convenient).

Thanks!
--Michael