Presentation Mode - Change

How to Change the Windows 7 Display Presentation Mode​

   Information

This will show you how to either display the Windows 7 desktop on the Computer only, Duplicate on both computer monitor and external display, Extend to all displays, or show only on a second screen or Projector.

   Note

The application file for this is located at:

C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe.

OPTION ONE

To Change Display Presentation Mode in GUI

1. Press the Windows Key + P.
A) Go to step 3.
OR

2. Open the Start Menu, then type displayswitch.exe in the search box and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. Select the option that you want Windows 7 to be displayed on. (see screenshot below)


NOTE: If you wanted to cancel and close this without making or selecting an option, then you can just click on a empty area on your desktop to do so.

• Computer only - This shows your desktop only on your main display screen.
• Duplicate - This shows your same desktop on both your computer display screen(s) and a connected external projector.
• Extend - This extends your desktop from your computer display screen(s) and a connected external projector.
• Projector only - This shows your desktop only on an external projector.

OPTION TWO

To Change Display Presentation Mode in Command Prompt

1. Open a command prompt.



2. In the command prompt, copy and paste the command in bold below for what you would like to do, and press Enter.

• DisplaySwitch.exe /internal
  • (Computer only) This shows your desktop only on your main display screen.
• DisplaySwitch.exe /clone
  • (Duplicate) This shows your same desktop on both your computer display screen(s) and a connected external display or projector.
• DisplaySwitch.exe /extend
  • (Extend) This extends your desktop from your computer display screen(s) and a connected external display or projector.
• DisplaySwitch.exe /external
  • (Projector only) This shows your desktop only on an external display or projector.

3. When finished, you can close the command prompt.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a Display Switch Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Turn Presentation Settings On or Off in Windows 7
• How to Create a "Presentation Settings" Shortcut in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Open and Use Windows 7 Mobility Center
• How to Change the Main Display in Windows 7
• How to Create a Connect to a Network Projector Shortcut in Windows 7

 

[homamkeh]

Hello Homamkeh,

Does it work when opening the displayswitch.exe file? If so, you might see if creating a shortcut of it, then assigning your own keyboard shortcut to open this shortcut may work for you instead.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

it does not work when clicking on the displayswitch.exe file (i get the same split second view of the icons) , i am using the shortcut method posted here(method 2) as a temporary fix. however i still want to get win+p working again. any ideas?

thanks in advance!

 

[Brink]

You might see if running a sfc /scannow commmand may be able to help since this is a system file.

If not, and since this only started recently, then you might see if doing a system restore using a restore point dated when it worked may fix it.

 

[homamkeh]

You might see if running a sfc /scannow commmand may be able to help since this is a system file.

If not, and since this only started recently, then you might see if doing a system restore using a restore point dated when it worked may fix it.

did the scannow command. did not work.
also tried restoring from a system resore point created over 10 days ago (im sure this started today as i use my projector everyday) also did not work.

i really have no idea what may have caused this

 

[Brink]

Well, if you have a retail Windows 7 copy, a repair install should be able to fix it for you.

 

[homamkeh]

Well, if you have a retail Windows 7 copy, a repair install should be able to fix it for you.

It seems like too much hassle to maybe fix the issue. I would rather install a fresh copy of windows 7 (i have an acronis image of my OS drive from when i first installed windows 7).

for some unknown and extremely strange reason, when using qsynergy (the problematic computer as the master and another working computer as the slave) the salve computer does the same split second view of win+p when the cursor is on the slave computer.

qsynergy is a program that allows one mouse and keyboard to control 2 computers. sadly it stopped working for me and i think all these issues are related but i do not know how or why.

i do not expect to solve this issue anymore. i will probably just wait for it to magically get fixed on its own or wait until im forced to restore my system using my image back up.

many thanks for all your tips and suggestions Shawn.

Best regards,
homamkeh

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Homamkeh. Please let us know how it turns out for you.

 

[homamkeh]

You're welcome Homamkeh. Please let us know how it turns out for you.

my video card went berserk, my screen would show red and gray lines with no picture or would randomly turn gray scale. this happened more than once and i was annoyed from the previous issues i stated above so i decided to restore from my backup.

After restoring from my image, to my surprise, the problems still persisted. WIN + P still flickers, synergy does not work and i had issues with logitech setpoint (v6) i could not set any kind of keystrokes. I also had issues with a program named switcher (i could not set a global shortcut, it would force the key "B" whenever i tried anything).

obviously this meant that it was a hardware problem, i started disconnecting everything one by one. I isolated the problem to my logitech headset. whenever i plugged it in, the problems would occur. It solved all my problems when unplugging the headset. I guess it just malfunctioned the day i posted my problem.

i am still confused however due to the headset working perfectly on my other system (win+p does not flicker).

this is by far one of the most bizarre issues i have ever had. i can't see how the above stated programs are connected.

thanks for your help,
Homamkeh

 

[Brink]

Homamkeh,

That is strange. You might see if there may be a newer driver (if required) for the Logitech headset available at Logitech's website to see if it may address this issue.

 

[homamkeh]

Homamkeh,

That is strange. You might see if there may be a newer driver (if required) for the Logitech headset available at Logitech's website to see if it may address this issue.

No drivers from logitech, the drivers used come from win 7 preloaded. I tried updating, it says my software is up to date.

I read about some other problems with logitech headsets and possible driver issue on the forums. Nothing like what i am going through though. I'll update if i figure it out. thanks again!