How to tell Windows 7 "sleep when laptop is closed, unless there's an external monitor connected; then use that"?

Posted by Josh on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Josh
Published on 2012-12-15T22:54:45Z Indexed on 2012/12/15 23:07 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 200

Filed under:

windows-7

|

power-management

|

external-display

Most of the time, I would like my Windows 7 laptop to sleep when I close it. But sometimes, I like to connect an external monitor over DVI.

I would like my laptop to use the external monitor when I close the lid, but only when a monitor is connected to the DVI port. Otherwise, sleep when closed.

Is there any way I can do that, without manually changing the power settings every time I decide to use the monitor?

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about windows-7

Server 2012 DFS New Member Issue

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I am trying to add a new member to our DFS topology. We have 3 DCs (VMs - VMware) running Windows server 2012, two servers are located in or Primary site and the third at our DR site. Currently the two servers at our primary site are currently replicating DFS (full mesh) and are working fine. I have… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
Microsoft Management Console stops working when I add snap-in to it

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have Windows 7 Ultimate OS. I'm opening mmc.exe as administrator and trying add Certificates or any other snap-in, then while loading that snap-in MMC breaks and displays following message and after that it closes automatically once I click on close button on that message. What could be the problem… >>> More
Handling keyboard and mouse input (Win API)

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
There is a number of ways to catch mouse or keyboard under Windows. So I tried some of them, but every of them has some advantages and drawbacks. I want to ask you: Which method do use? I've tried these: WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP - Main disadvantage is that, I can't distinguish between left and right-handed… >>> More

Related posts about power-management

Vista Power Management GPO

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
Hi, I've created a loopback GPO that has several settings (both computer and user) including a Custom User Interface (Access 2007 Application) and Power Management (has the computer sleep after being idle for 2 min). I'm also filtering so that this policy does not apply to "Admins" - only to "Users"… >>> More
Diable Power Management in Fedora 12

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
How to disable the power management in fedora 12, so that lcd/monitor should not go to sleep/off when system is idle? >>> More
Diable Power Management in Fedora 12

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
How to disable the power management in fedora 12, so that lcd/monitor should not go to sleep/off when system is idle? >>> More
Windows 7 power management in Boot Camp mode

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have a Macbook Pro with Windows 7 installed in Boot Camp. I have serious problems with the power management and not sure why. I have the default Balanced power plan selected. Many times when I close the laptop and leave it for more than just a few minutes, when I open it back up, it does not awake… >>> More
Windows - CPU power management APIs

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
What APIs are provided by Windows for CPU power management (I'm interested in CPU frequency scaling, setting min and max CPU frequency - similar to what you can do in Control Panel in power plans, but in a programmatic way). I'm also interested in .Net APIs. >>> More