How can I temporarily disable one monitor in a two-monitor setup?

perkinw · 09 Feb 2019

I was trying to stream a movie from vimeo to my PC. The movie has HDCP protection, and will not play if two monitors are connected. I have a two-monitor setup. Turning off the power to my auxiliary monitor did not solve the problem, but physically disconnecting it by pulling the Display Port cable worked. The movie now played just fine on my main monitor. Later I re-connected the auxiliary monitor and everything seemed fine.

Later, my main monitor would not wake from sleep (the screen was blank). I couldn't do anything to wake it (the auxiliary monitor was just fine). I forced a shutdown by holding the power button. After restarting the PC, the desktop reappeared on my main monitor.

I assume it is unsafe to simply disconnect a video cable from an auxiliary monitor in a multi-display setup. Is there a safe way to do it? Again, my goal is to disconnect temporarily, not permanently, so I'm looking for an easy way.

A related question: is there a way to shutdown your PC normally when the main monitor (the one with the Start button) is blank, but an auxiliary display is working? It would be great if the start button could be replicated on all displays.

townsbg · 10 Feb 2019

Right click on your desktop and select screen resolution. Then there is a drop down box beside multiple displays. Click on that drop down and "select show desktop only on" and then either 1 or 2, which ever one you want to remain enabled. If you don't know which is which click on the button that says identify. Click on ok. If prompted click on keep changes. When you want to enable the monitor under multiple displays drop down select extend these displays and then apply.

perkinw · 10 Feb 2019

Thanks, I'll try that.