Laptop second screen randomly goes grey

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by keebles, Feb 26, 2026 at 20:53.

  1. keebles

    keebles Regular member

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    My parents have a dell laptop that is connected to a monitor. The monitor will randomly go grey and display nothing. The laptop works just fine. In order to fix it, I have to reboot the laptop. This happens randomly. Any ideas on how to fix this. I have checked the cables, driver's, updates. It still keeps randomly happening. I have even ran dell commander and did bios updates.
     

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    keebles, Feb 26, 2026 at 20:53
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  2. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    see if the monitor still does it as a single screen not duplicate. if possible to connect to another computer as primary screen to see if still has issue or not. how long does it take before monitor goes blank?
     
    ddp, Feb 26, 2026 at 23:49
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  3. keebles

    keebles Regular member

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    It goes blank randomly. Could go weeks or a day.
     
    keebles, Feb 27, 2026 at 00:14
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  4. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    do you have a desktop pc to try the monitor by itself? does the monitor use a power adapter or regular pc cord?
     
    ddp, Feb 27, 2026 at 10:17
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  5. keebles

    keebles Regular member

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    It was working fine with another computer. It uses a standard PC cord.
     
    keebles, Feb 27, 2026 at 12:00
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  6. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    check the sleep mode setting on the laptop when the monitor is connected to it.
     
    ddp, Feb 27, 2026 at 12:10
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  7. keebles

    keebles Regular member

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    No sleep mode enabled. Hasn't do it yet
     
    keebles, Feb 28, 2026 at 16:32
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  8. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    did you do any changes?
     
    ddp, Feb 28, 2026 at 17:01
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  9. keebles

    keebles Regular member

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    Nope no changes
     
    keebles, Feb 28, 2026 at 18:15
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  10. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    so currently with the monitor connected to the laptop, the monitor is not blanking out, correct?
     
    ddp, Feb 28, 2026 at 19:16
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  11. keebles

    keebles Regular member

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    Correct
     
    keebles, Feb 28, 2026 at 22:30
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  12. Sophocles

    Sophocles Senior member

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    Have you read this page yet?

    https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/...anking-when-connected-to-wd19-or-wd22tb4-dock
     
    Sophocles, Mar 1, 2026 at 23:00
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  13. keebles

    keebles Regular member

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    Already checked the cables, checked for updates both windows and dell command center. Updated bios also. The screen will randomly go blank and stay blank until the laptop is reset. I have unplugged and plugged everything back in and it still does it randomly.
     
    keebles, Mar 2, 2026 at 00:40
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  14. Sophocles

    Sophocles Senior member

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    What's the model number of the Dell Laptop and the monitor?
     
    Sophocles, Mar 2, 2026 at 13:50
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  15. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    I'm leaning to that it is the monitor has the issue with it's internal power supply or internal video controller.
     
    ddp, Mar 2, 2026 at 14:12
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