External Monitor - Display driver failed to start; using Microsoft Basic Display Driver instead.

[bmather9]

I'm running fully updated Lenovo W530 with Windows 10 Anniversary update; I have the latest graphics drivers for the W530 from Lenovo installed and have my BIOS set to use Nvidia Optimus.

When I plug a monitor into the VGA port it doesn't work and I get the following pop-up message from Windows:

'Display driver failed to start; using Microsoft Basic Display Driver instead. Check windows update for a new display driver. '

After this message there is only 1 monitor shown in the windows display settings.

I then updated the Nvidia display driver using device manager and rebooted, but this problem still remains. I've tried changing the BIOS to use only the dedicated Nvidia GPU, but this doesn't work either. I tried installing Nvidia drivers for this card from their website, but the install crashes my computer to a black screen and forced me to do a hard reset into safe mode so I could re-install the Lenovo driver package.

What do I need to do to get my external VGA monitor working in Windows 10?

Update:
The same problem occurs when attempting to use any external monitor whether it's VGA or displayport.

 

[bmather9]

I finally got it working, but unfortunately due to some un-scientific work on my part, I don't know exactly waht fixed it. To be fair, I realized that I had installed some software called Splashtop in an attempt to use an Android tablet as a 2nd monitor. I had previous uninstalled this software, but some of it's remnants may have been causing this.

1. Double checked my BIOS to ensure I had selected Optimus and detect OS enabled.
2. I deleted all references to Splashtop in Program Files and all references to it in the registry.
3. I then uninstalled drivers for Intel GPU and Nvidia GPU in device manager
4. Uninstalled all Nvidia software in Control Panel uninstaller
5. Uninstalled a few other programs that I'm not so familiar with (OpenAL, Vulkan, and OSBASE iDisplay)
6. Ran the recommend Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU): http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html
7. Rebooted and Installed the latest Lenovo Graphics driver and voila!

Hope this helps someone else out there! Thanks and good luck!

 

[gnutek]

THANK YOU.
I had a similiar issue with my GS73VR MSI laptop. It has a GTX1060 and was working fine with HDMI output, but failed to work on DisplayPort (was connecting the 27" Apple Cinema Display). Plus I had some issues playing Starcraft / Remastered - I had to force it to use the intel GPU as it failed to work with the GTX. I tried uninstalling the card, updating the drivers and everything to no avail. Your Splashtop mention made me remember one thing: I installed Duet Display to use my iPad as an external monitor. After uninstalling that, it just started to work. Magic!

 

[karimgarza]

Thank you!

My Dell M4800 with Nvidia Qudro will also fail as soon as I would plug in an external display. I left switchable graphics on in the bios, but I uninstalled Splashtop and OSBASE iDisplay and my external displays started working again.

I finally got it working, but unfortunately due to some un-scientific work on my part, I don't know exactly waht fixed it. To be fair, I realized that I had installed some software called Splashtop in an attempt to use an Android tablet as a 2nd monitor. I had previous uninstalled this software, but some of it's remnants may have been causing this.

1. Double checked my BIOS to ensure I had selected Optimus and detect OS enabled.
2. I deleted all references to Splashtop in Program Files and all references to it in the registry.
3. I then uninstalled drivers for Intel GPU and Nvidia GPU in device manager
4. Uninstalled all Nvidia software in Control Panel uninstaller
5. Uninstalled a few other programs that I'm not so familiar with (OpenAL, Vulkan, and OSBASE iDisplay)
6. Ran the recommend Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU): http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html
7. Rebooted and Installed the latest Lenovo Graphics driver and voila!

Hope this helps someone else out there! Thanks and good luck!