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I also referenced this dated post: Dell laptop... This is for a Windows 10 Dell Precision Workstation. It has operated without issue for several years.

Thought I would ask in the event others have seen this in different ways since the post linked above was created.

My PC changed from Extended Display to Duplicate Display un-commanded. After that happened Device Manager showed 4 'Generic Non-PnP Monitors' and 1 'Generic PnP Monitor'. These manifest as shown below:

enter image description here

As I was trying to solve this yesterday, the system kept adding more of the 'Black' display icons to the Control Panel applet until I got up to 7 displays. I actually only have the laptop LCD and 2 external monitors.

When all else failed to resolve the issue (after consulting with the contracted tech support) I performed an image rollback to the previous day and the problem resolved, but only temporarily. This morning it did another un-commanded change to Duplicate Display mode and added the generic monitors back in. As soon as I switched back to Extended Display mode the following showed in the applet:

enter image description here

In addition to any suggestions, I'd like to ask if anyone can concur or rebut the following:

Since I reloaded the image and it was initially OK, then did the un-commanded display mode change, I draw the conclusion this is not an OS problem, but rather a hardware issue.

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
4

I'm certain the 2 responses by Mr_Moneybags and solomon219 are legitimate solutions for those situations and should be useful for those in similar contexts. That last post reminded me that I should post what eventually solved my problem.

The Dell Precision Workstation BIOS settings has a menu for Video with a submenu for Switchable Graphics. In that submenu is a checkbox for 'Enable Switchable Graphics'. Mine was checked on; I needed to check it off.

After that, the extra monitors immediately disappeared and have not returned and the Device Manager display was corrected as well.

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  • Could you tell me what BIOS version you have? On my M3800 with BIOS A10 there is no menu for Video as you mentioned. I suppose you simply mean hitting F2 at startup for accessing it?
    – sprinter252
    May 6, 2017 at 13:23
  • My M6800 uses A16. On this PC F12 is the key to access the BIOS, but yes, during the splash screen strike whichever key is designated for your PC. This suggests you may need to upgrade your BIOS, but since the M3800 is slightly older, I don't know what BIOS upgrade levels are available. Dell has a pretty reasonable chat support to ask such a question, or possibly on other forums.
    – Alan
    May 8, 2017 at 17:46
  • I can confirm that the M3800 does not have this BIOS setting. Using the older Intel HD 4600 Graphics driver install below worked for my M3800
    – chadiusvt
    Aug 22, 2017 at 14:38
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I had the same problem :( Seems to be a bug in the latest Intel Driver. For me the solution was downgrading the driver one version so it still was officially supported by Windows 10, but also still had an Intel Driver installed.

I installed Intel® Graphics Driver 15.40.25.4463 for Windows® 10. (06/17/2016) from here. Intel Control Panel works perfectly, and the extra monitors are gone.

The full list of drivers is here

Intel® Graphics Driver 15.40.28.4501 for Windows® 10 (08/12/2016) did not work for me. The Intel Control Panel would not open (crashed right away) and I got 5 Generic-PNP monitors like you.

I have Windows 10 Version 1607.

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  • Downgrading to the previous driver worked for me also. I 'updated' from a 11/10/2016 driver to 4/22/2016 driver.
    – Tim
    Jan 27, 2017 at 5:55
  • I had this issue with my Dell Precision 5510 (with P530 iGPU). After upgrading the Intel driver to v21.20.16.4574 the issue was resolved. This driver is available when you select 'Update device driver' from the device manager. The Dell support site has v20.19.15.4531 which is faulty.
    – Ramon de Klein
    Mar 27, 2017 at 19:27
  • @RamondeKlein: I'm running v20.19.15.4531 with the extra ghost monitors and see no way to get v21.20.16.4574. Since I have a Latitude, the support site is only listing v20.19.15.4531 and Windows insists I have the most recent drivers available. Any ideas on where I could find the v21 driver?
    – Ellesedil
    Apr 3, 2017 at 22:58
  • @Ellesedil I got them automatically via Windows Update, but probably these drivers don't apply to your system. You can also download the drivers manually via catalog.update.microsoft.com/…
    – Ramon de Klein
    Apr 4, 2017 at 7:04
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    @Mr_Moneybags Thanks for the tip. I solved it on my Dell Precision M3800 after some troubles reagarding the downgrade-process. I made a screencast at youtu.be/dYfeOnFZegI if anyone is interested in.
    – sprinter252
    May 6, 2017 at 14:49
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I've just fixed the issue a second time via a different route. In Device Manager, under Display adapters, there were two listed: AMD FirePro M6100 and Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600. Disabling the Intel adapter immediately removed the extra phantom monitors. I shut down the system, docked it, powered it on, and the two external monitors picked up the signal right away.

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