Can I disconnect my laptop screen from the motherboard and connect a monitor? I have a Dell Inspiron laptop that I use a hdmi cord with due to the bad screen. Recently I had to get a new hard drive from Dell but I can't install the disk they gave me because the hdmi won't connect as in sleep mode.
External monitor won't work for a Windows install, and there's no way to connect an external monitor to the laptop's motherboard. The laptop screen is connected by a ribbon cable and no external monitor has a connector for a ribbon cable. You must get a new laptop screen fitted.
Just a thought phil. I haven't done this since XP but is there a chance the OP could create an unattended install disk with the drivers for HDMI included?
Edit: on further consideration after guessing that the install process has finished there would need to be a key combination entered to direct the video signal to an external device. Could be hit and miss.
message edited by btk1w1
If the unattended install approach worked, then the key combination to route to the external display ought to? On most laptops it's an F key combination - Press F and a suitably labelled key. The sequence being to switch to external, internal and external, and back to internal each time you press the designated key? message edited by trvlr
What can you see on the cracked screen, anything at all?
Thoretically you could remove the hard drive and use an external enclosure / usb cable adaptor and another computer to install ::mike
Installing the OS on the hard drive connected to another computer may not work? When the drive is re-installed into its "home"computer... the hardware etc. will be quite different... But possibly (if there is finally an external display working) one may be able to run a repair installation for the initial one done via another computer?
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