I have a Compaq Evo N115 running Windows XP Pro. I have a flat panel
screen on my desk connected with a standard screen cable to the back
of the notebook. Every time I switch the computer on, I have to wait
until it's booted up, then hit FN-F4 twice on the notebook, in order
to switch off the notebook screen and switch on the flat panel. (This
is because the screen options toggle between displaying on the
notebook screen, on
both, and on the separate flat panel.)

What I want is something in my startup that will do this for me
automatically every time I boot.

Can anyone help?

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Request for Question Clarification by izzard-ga on 29 Sep 2003 15:36 PDT

Hi there,

   Have you tried looking in your notebook's BIOS settings?  You need
to press a key when you first turn the notebook on.  Common keys to
enter the BIOS / SETUP menu are 'Escape', F2, F10 or F12.  (Look for a
clue on screen when turning on).

   Very often, in the BIOS menu for notebooks, there is an option to
choose the primary video mode.  For example, you might find you can
choose "LCD" or "EXTERNAL DISPLAY" or "BOTH".  The option for having
both displays at startup might be called "SIMULTANEOUS".  Have a poke
around and let me know how you get on. :)

  - Izzard-ga

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Clarification of Question by jacksonmarbach-ga on 30 Sep 2003 03:18 PDT

Sadly, izzard-ga, there's no options relating to screen in the BIOS setup stuff.
But thank you anyway.

jacksonmarbach...

It seems to me that this could be accomplished by way of 
a batch file which would have code for the ansi equivalent
of the F4 button, and would be dependent on having an entry
for Device=c:\location_of\ansi.sys loaded in your config.sys
system file. A link to the batch file could be placed in
your 'Startup' folder, and would run when Windows starts.

Unfortunately, I'm not exactly sure how to accomplish this.
Then again, maybe there's an easier way.

Thanks for taking the time to suggest this. Unfortunately I couldn't
understand what you said clearly enough to try it, and I didn't much
like the idea of writing a batch file specially for this.

What I've done instead is to search the MS knowledge base and I
discovered the "Hardware Profiles" functionality which allowed me to
set up a second profile with the screen I don't want enabled, and
disable it on the main profile. I don't yet know whether this will
work but I think it probably will, and I hope this info is helpful to
anyone who looks at this question.