Dell Studio 1555, Windows XP, 'Do Nothing' ignored when closing lid.

Question

Hey all,

Having an issue - we ordered a Dell Studio 1555 as a replacement to an old IBM notebook that my boss was using, when it arrived he hated Vista and didn't want to take the chance on Windows 7 so we wiped it and did a fresh install of Windows XP followed by the appropriate XP Drivers from the Dell Resource CDs that came with it.

The problem we are running into is with the "Power Management" options in Control Panel - currently the computer is set to "Do Nothing" when the lid is closed (my boss keeps the lid closed 95% of the time, putting his external keyboard on top of the notebook and using an external monitor) but it is infact doing "something" it seems to be dropping external connections (I.E. the external monitor).

Can anyone help? I have tried everything from looking through the Registry to Power Options / Profiles. What am I missing?

nidhogg · Accepted Answer

That works great if you have an ATI card in your machine. Mine comes with Intel graphics. I worked with Dell on this and came up with sort of a solution. Leave the laptop display as the main monitor. Make sure the profile has Do Nothing set for the lid close value. I had this set, but I noticed that the Dell guy reset this value as somehow it was set to sleep. When you boot up with the lid closed, it will startup on the laptop display, but then switch over to the projector. So that fixed that problem. The other problem is you have to have the lid open before your laptop will start!!!!! I solved my issue with getting a monitor stand and putting the laptop under the monitor with the lid open.

Anyone from Dell, pass this along. Make your consumer laptops like your business machines. Give us a dedicated docking station/port replicator. Many of us use external peripherials with our laptops when at home!!!! Give us full functionality with the lid closed!!!!! That includes starting the laptop up.

grammaticus · Answer

I'm actually having a similar problem - I've got a three year-old Inspiron E1505 running the original XP install, and it keeps going to sleep when I close the lid. I'm also using an external monitor, mouse, and keyboard, so obviously having the computer go to sleep with the lid closed sort of defeats the purpose. I checked the Windows power options, and also the Dell QuickSet power options, and both of them confirmed that the proper course of action when the lid was closed was to "do nothing." Per a recommendation from a different website, I've now disabled QuickSet - however, the problem persists.

Thanks!

telb · Answer

i have the same

when just using the laptop it seems ok, i can close and open the lid. but if i connect to external monitor when i close lid it disconnects from the monitor so when i open it the laptop monitor comes on

if i set to extend display it works but the resolution on my 32" monitor is bad giving me a maximum of 1024 x 780 on both screens

i have set it up so the external monitor is the main monitor and nothing is displayed on the laptop but when i close the laptop lid the main monitor is disconnected from the laptop

i have the laptop set so it does nothing when lid is closed

can anyone help

nidhogg · Answer

Same problem with a Studio 1555 and Windows 7.  Guess nobody from Dell comes in here.

Luki8L · Answer

Hi all,

I found the solution to this issue. I work with two external monitors, and similar, closing the lid I lost the connection.

I solve this in another way. Simply I created the profile in Catalist Control Center (Profiles/Profiles Manager):

- in the bookmark "Composition" I marked "the following settings" and choose (marked) two external monitors.

-in the bookmark "Activation" I marked "System tray menu", "Profiles menu" and "Desktop shortcut",

- then "Save" and "Activate & Close"

Next I drag and drop the shortcut to this profile to the Windows Autostart. And that's it!

Now, when I'm turning on the laptop, I closed the lid and connect all the devices (two monitors, network, mouse and power).

When the Windows is starting the monitors are automaticly turning on.

Hope could help!

telb · Answer

after setting the lid closed to do nothing, i have connected my monitor to the laptop via the HDMI socket on the laptop

as soon as i pass the bios on the laptop i close the lid and not only does it work but the resolution is 1680 x 1050 and it auto fits my samsung monitor

if i right click desktop and open screen rsolution it is shown as having 1 monitor if i open laptop lit it shows 1/2 monitor and if i reclose lid main monitor goes black for 10 seconds as it resizes and then comes back up

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Dell Studio 1555, Windows XP, "Do Nothing" ignored when closing lid.

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