How to tell Windows 7 "sleep when laptop is closed, unless there's an external monitor connected; then use that"?

Posted by Josh on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Josh
Published on 2012-12-15T22:54:45Z Indexed on 2012/12/15 23:07 UTC
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windows-7

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power-management

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external-display

Most of the time, I would like my Windows 7 laptop to sleep when I close it. But sometimes, I like to connect an external monitor over DVI.

I would like my laptop to use the external monitor when I close the lid, but only when a monitor is connected to the DVI port. Otherwise, sleep when closed.

Is there any way I can do that, without manually changing the power settings every time I decide to use the monitor?

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