messiah

I've just bought a Dell Monitor to go with my ageing Inspiron Laptop and the plan is to have the lappy under the desk (one of those keyboard shelves) with the monitor, keyboard etc on top - how can I start the laptop when its closed?

ozzy

You could use Wake-On-Lan if the lappie supports it; check the BIOS. You'd need a wee utility and the MAC address of the LAN card in the laptop.

If you don't have another PC to remotely switch it on, then you'd probably need a docking station which would have an external power button.

JackClark

I've just thrown out a Lattitude docking station, not sure if it would have worked with an Inspiron but probably would. I'll check the skip at work for you if you like.

messiah

I've got room for the laptop to be open so its not too much of a problem now - but having multiple monitor woes now - how do I get the 2 monitors to display the same thing? At the moment the new one just wants to be an extension of the first and I can't see any option to make it the promary one over the laptops own screen.

ozzy

Usually the Function key switch (F3 or something) toggles between:-

Laptop, no external display
No laptop display, External only
Laptop + External display

If that doesn't work, check the drivers for the onboard video as there's usually some settings to adjust how the 2 monitors are used.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Also worth checking out the BIOS to see if the functionality is switched on by default to allow the 2 monitors to be used at the same time.

messiah

got the monitors sorted - the display controls had no effect but the graphics card managed it.