Windows 10: Dual monitors: keeping the primary display primary

I have a Lenovo i7 Desktop PC with an Intel HD Graphics 4600 PCI card with 2 DisplayPort and 1 VGA outputs. One DP output is connected to my primary monitor, a 1080p Lenovo monitor. The other DP output is connected to my 55" Samsung HDTV, also 1080p, via a DisplayPort to HDMI cable. Everything was working well until I added an HDMI electronic switch between the computer and the HDTV So I can connect other video sources; the HDTV has just 2 HDMI inputs and one is taken by my cable TV box. everything else goes through the HDMI switch.


I frequently use the display mode of "Extend these monitors" for applications like ZOOM, but always set the displays to "Show only on the Lenovo monitor" before I shut down. Since I have introduced the switch, I get strange and inconsistent behaviour when I boot the PC. Some of the time, Windows tries to run on the HDTV monitor, even if it is not powered on. If I do have both the Lenovo monitor and the HDTV on and the PC decides to boot to the HDTV, I see the Windows logo, but then Windows seems to revert to the Lenovo monitor. The problem is that in this mode, the Lenovo monitor is in some kind of super-magnified mode, where I can see just a few extra large icons and no taskbar. I can't use windows at all. The only way out seems to be to power off the PC and then power it back on, until it boots into a normal state.


How can I get my PC to always boot to the Lenovo monitor?

:)

 

Dual monitors, both say they are the primary display. Help?

So I was gaming on Facebook in full screen on my secondary display (because I can still see the clock on the primary display, smart huh) when the primary display went black like it just went to sleep. I don't have a task bar on the secondary display, no
clock, no start button, no restart your computer, just hit the big red switch and pray, right? I tried ctr/alt/del, but I guess that popped up on the primary display which was still black. I right-clicked on the secondary display, went to screen resolution
and set that to the primary which worked fine. The task bar switched over and I was able to restart the computer. Both monitors came back up just fine, one with the primary display, one just a blank background. Tracking from left screen to right is fine, but
the screens are switched. Then I went to set the other monitor back to the primary display, but in the screen resolution window, that monitor says it is set as the primary display which it clearly is not. I checked the other monitor. That one says it is set
as the primary display too. AAAHHH! I suppose I could just swap the cables, Windows will still say both are the primary display, but they will work in the right order. But, how can I actually fix the problem?

 

How to make external monitor as primary monitor?

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

We understand that you want to make the external monitor connected to the laptop as a primary display and do not want to mirror the laptop display.

We would suggest you to refer the steps mentioned below:

1. Press Windows key + P, and select
   Extend.
   
2. Now, press Windows key + I, to open
   Settings.
   
3. Click on System, and select
   Display on the left pane.
   
4. Now, under Rearrange your displays, click on Identify to
   Identify the displays.
   
5. Click on the display number that is for external monitor.
   
6. Scroll down, and click on the checkbox for
   Make this my main display.
   

Refer the screenshots below:

Identify and select Display:





Select Primary display:





For additional information, see
Set up dual monitors on Windows 10.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

How do I make games open on the primary display?

I have 3 monitors on a nvidia GTX660Ti, with the latest drivers, on windows 10, upgraded from win7, on a PC that I have been gaming on for quite some time now. The hardware itself has been an excellent gaming rig up until the windows upgrade and/or the
nvidia driver upgrade, but now a number of my games will not start on the primary display, they start on the first display in the list, which is not marked as primary. Both the windows display settings and the nvidia control panel have my central monitor
identified as the primary display.

• Has anybody encountered this behavior?
• Is it likely to be windows 10 related or decided by the nvidia driver?
• Any suggestions on getting this to behave properly, like it used to, without requiring me to disable the other displays to get the primary to be used?