Windows plays well with most peripherals you connect to your PC. However, that’s not to say you’ll never run into issues. Hardware failures, faulty cables, incorrect connections can amount to trouble connecting hardware.
In this article, we’re taking a look at the generic PnP Monitor issue in Windows 10.
Why does this happen?
There are several reasons why Windows aren’t detecting your monitor. Apart from a hardware fault in the monitor itself, you could be facing an issue from a corrupt or out of date Generic PnP Monitor driver, faulty cables, or simply incorrect connections.
Also read: Windows 365 Cloud PC: What is it and how does it work?
How to fix this?
Here are a few simple solutions you can try out to solve this problem.
Check your connections and monitor
The first thing you should do is check your monitor and any concerned cables for any faults. Make sure that the monitor is in working condition and is getting power. Next, ensure that the cables are working and are seated properly.
Run the Windows hardware troubleshooter
Windows 10 comes with a few handy troubleshooters that can resolve a bunch of issues. However, for some reason, Microsoft has removed the hardware troubleshooter from the troubleshooter’s menu. So here’s an alternative way to run the hardware troubleshooter.
Step 1: Press Windows key + R to open the Run prompt. Type cmd and hit enter.
Step 2: Type msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic and press enter. This will launch the hardware troubleshooter.
Proceed along as instructed by the troubleshooter.
Update your display driver
Updating your display driver can also help resolve this problem.
Step 1: Right-click Start and select Device Manager from the menu.
Step 2: Under Display Adaptors, find your graphics card’s name, right-click on it and click on Update Drivers.
Step 3: Click on Search automatically for drivers. Windows will then automatically look for and download the latest drivers for your particular GPU.
While this should help resolve the error, in case it doesn’t, click Uninstall device and restart your PC to force Windows to install the required drivers. You can then update them later.
Also read: Windows could not automatically detect this network’s proxy settings: 10 Fixes
Update Generic PnP Monitor driver
Updating the drivers responsible for powering plug and play monitors is also a good idea.
Step 1: Right-click Start and select Device Manager from the menu.
Step 2: Expand Monitors, right-click Generic PnP Monitor and click Update Driver.
Step 3: Click on Search automatically for drivers. Windows will then automatically look for and download the latest drivers.
While this should help resolve the error, in case it doesn’t, click Uninstall device and scan for hardware changes to install the required drivers.
Run an SFC scan
Corrupt files are the number one reason why your PC might be behaving weirdly. Here’s how you can get rid of them and potentially resolve your issue.
Step 1: Press Windows Key + S to bring up the Cortana/Search box and search for Powershell. Open Windows Powershell from the search results.
Step 2: Type sfc /scannow to scan your system for issues.
Step 3: If the SFC scan finds any problem, use the following command to resolve them.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Restart your PC, and the ‘Driver power state failure Windows 10’ error should’ve been resolved. If that doesn’t help, you can also run a DISM scan to resolve any other errors by using this guide.
Also read: How to play MOV files on Windows 10?
