Powering down the display in XP with a command

Question

Is there a command to power down the display in Windows XP? That is, a command that causes the video card to stop sending a signal to the monitor until input is received, much as power management does after a time.

Solution 1

Not as far as I know but you can use utilities like Monitor Off to power down the monitor.

Solution 2

There is also a utility called NirCmd, which supports not only this but more commands (like changing system volume, manipulating services etc - documented in the page linked). Usage is via the command line:

nircmd monitor off

And sometimes I've seen Windows "listening" to your last keystroke (the Return that confirms the command) after the command is "issued" and waking back up. A solution that has worked for me in most cases is:

nircmd cmdwait 1000 monitor off

Disclaimer: although this may be the third or fourth time I mention it here, I have no association to the NirCmd's team: just a happy user.

Solution 3

Turn off display by shortcut

Why this script is good?

Display will sleep again in 3 sec
Even if mouse by accident was moved or any program waked display up.

How-to:

1. Download Gist as ZIP
2. Unpack & run
3. Link Display Sleep! will should be created.

Github-Gist / setup_display_timeout.cmd

---

1. Set idle timeout to 3 seconds (via Powercfg)
2. Wait for any key press
3. Set idle timeout to 1 hour

Part of code:

powercfg /SETDCVALUEINDEX %current_scheme_token% SUB_VIDEO VIDEOIDLE %seconds%
powercfg /SETACVALUEINDEX %current_scheme_token% SUB_VIDEO VIDEOIDLE %seconds%
powercfg /S %current_scheme_token%

Comments

[Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams]

Excellent. This worked spectacularly.

[Jeroen Wiert Pluimers]

The technique behind this is explained at codeproject here: codeproject.com/KB/system/display_states.aspx

[Sridhar Ratnakumar]

Unfortunately it doesn't look like nircmd can be used to turn off a single monitor (in a multi monitor setup)