Second monitor listed as "Generic non PNP"

There are a number of threads on this but none really answer my specific question.

Out of the blue, my second monitor started listing as "generic non pnp monitor". Previously it recognized it as the correct "Sylvania". The native 1650 x 1080 resolution went away.

The only thing I can think of that may have affected it is that I installed VLC media player. Since then, it's like windows is treating my second monitor as an HD display. I don't know if the two are related at all.

Is there a simple fix to this that I'm missing?

I never even look to see what my monitors are listed as....as long as the proper resolution can be set, it doesn't matter.

Yup, the native resolution went away which means I can't set it at 1650 x 1080 anymore. Just some really lame low res like 1024 x 768.

amurguia said:

Out of the blue, my second monitor started listing as "generic non pnp monitor". Previously it recognized it as the correct "Sylvania". The native 1650 x 1080 resolution went away.

Have you done a video driver update recently? Perhaps Windows Update did one for you?

What does your Device Manager -> Display adapter show? What is the driver associated with it?

Normally Microsoft generic drivers may support the graphics hardware (card/chip and monitors) but in a generic way, and not the way your Nvidia card would have been supported with real Nvidia drivers.

Have you tried installing the latest Nvidia driver?

The only thing I can think of that may have affected it is that I installed VLC media player.

Nah... nothing to do with anything.

Since then, it's like windows is treating my second monitor as an HD display.

Sounds like you recently had some change to your video card's driver made...

What does "display adapter" show?

If you go to screen resolution then select the monitor, advanced settings, view all modes it should be listed there and then it will automatically save your settings.
Hope this helps.

dsperber thank you.

Display driver looks right. NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX (yeah, I know...due for another card).
Driver is the correct NVIDIA driver. It's also the latest.
Correct resolutions do not show up (even in advanced and custom settings).

amurguia said:

Yup, the native resolution went away which means I can't set it at 1650 x 1080 anymore. Just some really lame low res like 1024 x 768.

That more likely means a video card driver problem.

amurguia said:

Display driver looks right. NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX.

Driver is the correct NVIDIA driver. It's also the latest.

Correct resolutions do not show up (even in advanced and custom settings).

Hmmm...

Something had to have changed recently, for this to have happened suddenly. When did this happen... in the past day or two?

Are you absolutely certain the monitor itself has not just gone south? Do you have any other monitor you can try in its place, just to confirm that the second video port on your graphics card hasn't flaked out?

Do you have a "system image" taken recently (but older than the current state of things, so that things would still be working at that time) that you can restore from? I'm not talking about "system restore", although you could certain try that first if you have one from fairly recently but when you monitor was still handled properly.

Restoring a "system image" would restore the whole C-drive (and whatever else is in that image), so you'd of course lose any current data on the C-drive since that time. Be sure to first backup anything you need to preserve that's newer than the system image date/time.


Of course, I'm not inclined to think of this as a software issue, since you say the same Nvidia drivers are still installed and you haven't made any other known hardware or software changes very recently. I'm more inclined to think of this as a possible hardware issue.

I'm just thinking out loud here, because a PnP monitor should certainly announce itself and be instantly supported by any properly functioning graphics card, and then on to Windows itself. And obviously this WAS working before, and now it's not. This doesn't just happen without an explanation.

So either the monitor is in trouble, or the graphics card is in trouble. If Windows and the Nvidia drivers still show just what they were, it would sure seem like a more fundamental hardware issue.

Don't know what else to suggest, other than some trial-and-error hardware substitution and see if that fixes it. If you were going to replace the GTX card anyway, maybe now??

Thank you! I'll try swapping out monitors and isolate the issue. If that doesn't work, yeah, maybe now's the time for that new card.