External monitor for laptop

Hey everyone,

I have a laptop, an HP pavilion DV2000. The keyboard no longer functions, so I have to use a desktop keyboard and mouse to use it. To make matters worse, the screen doesn't work. But the computer itself functions just fine. If I don't use the laptop for a long time (couple hours), then the screen on the laptop will work when it first powers on. About a minute later, the backlight turns off abruptly. If there is enough light in the room, I can see some of what is on the screen.

I have an external monitor that I've been wanting to use with it, and I know it works. I just hooked it up with my laptop now. Of course, it doesn't automatically turn on. So I plugged it into the pavilion and memorized the keystrokes I had to do to open the display settings.

I went to "connect to an external display" and clicked on DETECT. NOTHING happens when I do that. Both screens stay exactly as they are. Keep in mind that this is the only way that I know of to detect and connect to another monitor...there is no "FN" key on my desktop keyboard.

I am 100% sure that I am in the display settings on the pavilion, as I can partially see what is on the screen.

So my question is, why is it not detecting the monitor? And also, why does the screen work for a small while before just kicking the bucket?

I had to install windows 7 onto the pavilion's hard drive by putting the hard drive in ANOTHER computer, and installing it there. Then I transferred the hard drive back into the pavilion. I have done this before, with success. Is this why the monitor isn't being detected? Driver issues?

In any event, does anyone know how I can get this thing working? I appreciate your help in advance, thanks everyone!

 

How are you plugging into the monitor? DVI, VGA or HDMI?

Mr. Mysterious

 

I'm using VGA

 

If you're using Windows 7, then you can right click on the desktop, go to "screen resolution". Then in that window there will be an option like "Show only on desktop 2" or "show on both"....will that work?

But you're saying that the computer itself is not recognizing or acknowledging the monitor...*scratches head* Umm....how about the cable?

Mr. Mysterious

 

I went to that window. I pressed "detect" and nothing happened, no external monitor was detected. I clicked on the menu "display", and it only listed one monitor. The issue isn't which screen to show on, my issue is that it is not detecting another monitor all together.

The cable and monitor both work, I just used them on another computer.

 

Hrm, have you tried WinKey+P a few times to cycle through possible options blind?

Edit
woops, disregard

 

The only conclusion I can come to (and trust me, I'm not an expert, lol...just very very interested in computers) is that your VGA port on your DV2000 is not working properly.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Mysterious, yeah that's what I'm thinking.

Prydeless, I did try pressing win + P, but when I did, I didn't know how it worked. I assumed just pressing it once would enable another monitor. I see now that I have to cycle through the different modes. I will try this and let you know.

 

You probably need to hold Windows Key and press 'P' four times.

 

OP might as well hold the Windows Key and let the switch monitors window go away by itself since he can't see the screen.

 

Didn't work. Part of the reasons is because I can't tell what screen I'm on. I realize it will work once logged in AND in the login screen, but I tried it and it just didn't work. Not sure if it was because I wasn't in a windows screen, or if it's still not detecting the monitor. Any other suggestions? Reasons why?

 

From what I understand, screens that show up before windows boots should show up on all monitors attached, correct? This is not happening here. As I said, the monitor is definitely not broken. I'm worried that this is a driver problem, since I installed win7 on another computer, and then transferred the hdd to the pavilion. Or worse yet, the VGA port might be broken on the laptop. But I don't see how it would break, I haven't done anything to it.

Bottom line, I can't let this computer go to waste. Aside from a screen and a keyboard, this thing works very well. Why is the laptops screen not working? The hinges were repaired under warranty about 6 months ago, at which point they completely rewired all connections from the top half to the bottom half. So it's not a loose connection. To confirm this, I opened the screen and checked every connection. The LCD panel itself works, as I can read things if there is enough light in the room (but barely). The backlight works only for a minute after it hasn't been used for a long period of time.

Is the backlight the problem here? Perhaps the inverter? When it was fixed under warranty, I assume that while they did fix the upper half of the laptop, they probably did not replace the LCD panel, backlight, or inverter, even though the upper half was in really bad condition. Will any inverter and CCFL backlight work if I could get my hands on one?

But of course, the most frustrating part of this is why the hell isn't the external monitor being detected????

 

It's Dead Jim.

 

It's not even that old...I refuse to let this thing die. Ain't happening! I'm going to try and replace the inverter and back light.

Will any backlight (as long as it physically is the right size) and inverter work?

 

I wouldn't say so. You need to either contact HP and ask them this, or do a little bit of your own research...I wouldn't want you to make any mistakes.

Mr. Mysterious

 

On the other hand, at $10 an hour you could work for a week or two at McDonalds and earn enough to buy a new machine.

How much time are you willing to invest in the thing?

 

I don't mind putting the time into it, since fixing these kinda things are a hobby. I'm not financially well off, as I'm a student paying for everything in my life. I can't afford to throw money at this thing. I'm willing to put time into it, but not much money. So far, the monitor and keyboard/mouse have been free. I'm willing to spend a little to have another working computer. It's a core 2 duo with a 320 GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM.

Mcd ain't happening. Perhaps you would do it to buy a new machine, but I wouldn't. Not many would.

 

Okay, so the secondary monitor magically started working. But it only works when the computer is at the login screen.

I'm happy now. Thanks for all your help guys.