How to connect HP laptop to a projector? Urgent!

I have an HP Pavilion dv1145ea widescreen laptop (running XP Home with service pack 3) which I am trying to connect to a digital projector in order to show a DVD movie at a public meeting tomorrow (that's on Friday in the UK). Apparently some computers connect easily, but not this one, although somebody else managed it, so I know that it's possible!

I can only get wallpaper to show on the projector screen at present. I was told by HP Total Care that in Control Panel - Display - Settings I should choose Multiple Monitors, with Screen 1 res 1280 x 768, both boxes ticked; and Screen 2 res 1024 x 768, bottom box only ticked.

When I double click the two screens to confirm their identify they both identify as Screen 1, and screen 2 shows default monitor instead of multiple monitors. The projector screen shows either blank or wallpaper. Just once the projector screen showed identity 2, but I don't know how I got there, and it didn't go so far as to show either the icons on the desktop or Windows Media Player.

I think that at some point I should hit either f5, or fn + f5. When I tried that the former had no effect and the latter sent the laptop into a standby routine.

Any help overnight would be very much appreciated

 

What is the symbol on the F5 key?

That is what you should be hitting if it is the video toggle.

It may take multiple times hitting the keys. What you want is cloned display.

This can be done through the Control Panel as well, but I don't remember the exact procedure to do it in XP.

Greg

 

Thanks for your reply. The f5 key symbol on the laptop is like a moon in the first quarter (or last quarter, not sure which).

Should I hit that after coming out of Display in Control panel and before opening any program, or wait until I've opened a program? Or doesn't it matter?

Thanks again for your help.

Alan

 

That is the wrong F-Key then. It should look like a square, possibly F7 or F8.

Greg