HP Compaq NC8430 or X1600 or External HD Questions

Hey hey, I'd like to enquire a few questions regarding each of these .

* Plugging in an External Hard drive via firewire to the laptop.
I notice there's abit of spark fly up onthe firewire cable, which I assume is caused by the potential voltage difference between the External HD's power supply and the laptop's power supply.

Would it be best to turn off the power supplies for both laptop and HD, plug it in, then repower on? And then to remove, power down laptop, then HD, then unplug firewire? Or power down HD first, then remove firewire?


* External Hard drive.
I've got an External Enclosure with a Maxtor hard drive inside. When I plug it into my laptop (via firewire or usb) it makes the "dum dum" sound but doesn't display in 'MY Computer'. I have to go in Disk Management and right click the Drive to "Reactive disk" in order for it to be displayed in 'My Computer'.

Any ideas how to get it setup automatically?


* External Monitor.
I plug the laptop to my big living room TV via S-Video cable. This is handy for doing presentations or just generally watching movies and anime. Problem is when I close the laptop screen, the display for the TV turns off too.

How do I keep the TV display on whilst the laptop screen off?


Thanks alot fellas

 

if it works the same as extend desktop you should be able to turn off the lcd manually (in other words don't close the lid) and the tv should stay on

 

Ah thanks I'll try that later... though that's the thing, I want to be able to close the laptop monitor so it doesn't take up room and looks like a snazzy DVD playery size.