How do I use an external monitor with my laptop?

[swee'pea99]

My laptop screen's totally black. All the posts I've found start off with 'connect an external monitor'. But my monitor's plug won't fit any socket on the laptop. Is there an adaptor that would enable me to do it?

 

[classic33]

Something along these lines?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/dvi-to-vga-gender-changers-97442

 

[Kies]

Most laptops have a VGA screen connector on the back of the laptop. If yours doesn't then it must be very old or very cheap. You will need a USB to VGA convertor cable from Maplin

 

[marzjennings]

. If yours doesn't then it must be very old or very cheap.

Or very new, expensive, skinny or a mac.

 

[Spinney]

First his bike is held hostage by a dodgy lock, now his laptop won't work...

 

[machew]

Or it might have a HDMI connector.

 

[Born2die]

It's not your week is it

 

[subaqua]

have you checked you havent set the LCD to not come on by an inadvertent press of Fn and one of the F buttons on the top row. look for the square thats coloured in and a non coloured in sq on the button press F5 and try that. might work.

 

[subaqua]

Most laptops have a VGA screen connector on the back of the laptop. If yours doesn't then it must be very old or very cheap. You will need a USB to VGA convertor cable from Maplin

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/SVGA_port.jpg/300px-SVGA_port.jpg is a VGA port seem to have lost the upload pictures buttons in the reply box

 

[Born2die]

Most laptops have a VGA screen connector on the back of the laptop. If yours doesn't then it must be very old or very cheap. You will need a USB to VGA convertor cable from Maplin

Go there on Wednesday when you get the bike back ( I will go get my coat )

 

[swee'pea99]

Most laptops have a VGA screen connector on the back of the laptop. If yours doesn't then it must be very old or very cheap. You will need a USB to VGA convertor cable from Maplin

Thanks all. Muppet alert, muppet alert! Had another look (I was looking on the wrong side, at the wrong socket (which turns out to be a serial socket) - the monitor one's on the other side, and it does fit! And the external monitor also remains black. Hmmm.

 

[Born2die]

Hate to tell you this but I think you need to configer the pc under display settings to use monitor 2

 

[ColinJ]

What type of laptop is it? (We could search for ideas if we knew.)

 

[swee'pea99]

It's an HP NC6120 - very old *and* very cheap! But fine for what I use it for - basic browsing, email 'n stuff like that. I suspect hardware...graphics card/motherboard finally succumbed to age...but it's one of those things that's really hard to try to grapple with, on account of you can't actually tell anything about what's going on, for the obvious reason that you can't see anything.

Turn on, and the power light comes on, the fan comes on, three of the four wee lights on the front come on (power, HD & AC) but *not* the fourth - the wifi light, there's a momentary click from the CD drive (whose button works - ie, the tray comes out) and I can hear a murmur from the HD, but not the full-on juddering & muttering which would suggest a full boot up. No bleeps, which is kind of interesting, if I take out one of the two RAM sticks: I know from past experience that if you change the RAM, the thing bleeps and (if the monitor's working) puts up a message asking you to confirm the new RAM, before it starts booting up. None of that. So...any ideas more than welcome.

 

[ian turner]

Suggests the processor is dead as the only activity is of the hard wired variety (cd drawer opening will be built into the cd drive independent of the laptop itself)