[RESOLVED] Aero shuts off when 2nd display added

[Magill]

Hi there,
I've had my computer connected to my television many times in recent weeks. The TV is a Samsung with a DVI input so it is an easy connection from my laptop. Each time I connected, Vista would figure out that I was adding a 2nd monitor and adjust accordingly. I would get the same image on the TV as I did on the computer. Tonight when I did the usual, I immediately got a message saying that some visual elements were shut off and Aero was changing to Basic. As soon as I disconnected from the TV, it reverted back to Aero. I cant figure out why. I dont think I have installed or changed anything since I last had it all working successfully. Any ideas?

[SuperSparks]

Try reinstalling or updating the graphics drivers.

[Magill]

Nick, I finally got around to updating my graphics drivers, also doubled my RAM to 4Gb. Still no improvement. Any ideas?

[SuperSparks]

Well the other thing I might suggest is to try System Restore. It often works well to fix things that suddenly start happening out of the blue like that.

[Magill]

Thanks for the suggestion, Nick. Even with the "show restore points older than 5 days" box ticked, my oldest restore point only seems to be 6 days ago. Does that seem strange? I want to go back about 2 weeks.

[SuperSparks]

Yes, they normally go back further than that. Have you done a Disk Cleanup recently?

[Magill]

I have done a Disk Cleanup lately. I just looked at the cleanup settings and I don't think it was set to delete restore points. I also did a full backup of the system to an external drive a while back (after the Aero issue developed, I think). Would there be earlier restore points on that back up drive, and if so where?

[yvesj]

you have to ceate you own restore point .then you back as far you want to go .2 weeks no problem .
i will go and open it up and i be back and tell you were to click

[yvesj]

ok .control panel click restore .now on the lesft you will see .
[create a restore point or change sitting .click on it .
now you will have wait a little till you are able to click on any 2 restore botton ..2 to 3 minutes .
when it open click the top one .then it will ask you create you own .from there you will have long list to choose from .i never did check how far you cant go back .but a long way back .
let me know how you make out

[SuperSparks]

When you click to clean Shadow Copies, that removes all but the last Restore Point too. I suspect that's what you've done

In Display Properties, what happens if you check "Extend my desktop to this monitor"?

[Magill]

Thought I would let you guys know I have resolved this issue. I went back to the NVidia Control Panel and went through the process of setting up multiple displays, cloning the laptop display. It worked. I thought I had tried this earlier, perhaps not. I never did find a restore point older than about six days, I must have inadvertently deleted them in the disk cleanup process. One other thing I did do is go into BIOS and set the video memory to 128mb. It is a 64mb card, so I dont know if I will actually see any change in performance.
Thanks Nick and Yves for the help.

K

[SuperSparks]

You're very welcome, I'm glad you got it sorted out