I fixed a similar problem (maybe not so similar but see the outcome). I bought a new Iiyama 27" monitor and when I conected it to a DVI port with my HDTV on hdmi and everything seemed to work fine. But when turned my HDTV off my new monitor on DVI got "no signal" but my computer didn't crash. Disconeccting my hdmi restored the signal to my DVI also turning my HDTV back on restored the signal.
I've lost a lot of sleep trying to find a solution from editing the registry to prevent Windows 7 monitor detection, manually creating monitor drivers, DevCon.exe scrips to restart my gpu to force HDCP handshaking (wich can be a solution to others), disabeling pin-19 on the hdmi kabel (also worked for me), driver cleanup in save mode, clearing cmos on my mainboard, switching DVI to DisplayPort with an adapter and whatever. But nothing was a good solution to my wish that I just want my gpu to work as intended as I was used to with my old monitor. I never had to disconnect the hdmi cabel with my old DVI monitor so why did I on a brand new one. Windows 7 always autodetected when I chose the hdmi input om my HDTV and automaticaly configured my last dual monitor settings as i like em.
Now my solution. At the end with RMA in mind I added my old DVI monitor to my setup having 3 monitors instead my usual 2 and it did something. I figured it would be a good idea to test if my old monitor stil worked while my new monitor would go "no signal" when turning off my HDTV. IT SOLVED MY PROBLEM. It did something to ... I don't know what. Overwrite some registry settings I guess or gave my 290x a kick in the *ss maybe.
I would say: leave your monitor setup as you wish but ad an extra monitor and see what happens.
(edit: and disconnect it if solved your problem)