Forum Discussion
Windows resets itself while HDMI is unplugged and Chrome is up ?
I work from home and sometimes unplug my HDMI cable from my PC and into my work laptop so my laptop displays on my main monitor.
I have noticed when I plug the HDMI cable back into my PC video card, Windows has reset. Every program I had up is off, it is as if Windows just freshly started and shows my desktop with no open apps. So I'm assuming it's crashing and resetting somehow. I am not sure if these are BSODs or something else.
But what I have noticed that is if I close Chrome on my PC, or even minimize it (I tested minimizing it just once), then Windows does not crash/reset while the HDMI cable is unplugged. I am not sure if this has to do with the video card not having an HDMI plugged in or the fact that I do still run a screensaver and that somehow is causing some bad interaction with Chrome to cause crashes/resets or what. I do not think it is the screensaver, because I have seen the screensaver come up before while the HDMI is plugged in and there was no crash/reset. Although I did not keep track if Chrome was the main tab.
But yeah, basically, if Chrome is the main Windows tab, something is causing Windows to crash/reset while I have the HDMI unplugged. And I'm 99% sure this is not caused by the screensaver if the HDMI cable IS plugged in.
2 Replies
Chrome uses hardware acceleration by default, which heavily relies on the GPU. If there's a bug or incompatibility, disconnecting the HDMI could cause a GPU fault, leading Windows to think the display output has failed, and possibly resetting the display driver or even Windows itself.
Try leaving the HDMI plugged in but switching display outputs (e.g., using Windows display settings to extend or duplicate) to see if the issue persists.
