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My laptop screen broke so I've been looking up methods to boot a laptop directly to an external monitor and many people say to use the FN+F4, which I have tried and it has failed to produce any results... I'm thinking the fact that I don't have an OS is complicating it... Does anyone have any suggestions or know how to solve my problem?

("No" is a valid response)

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what make / model laptop? – Chris_K Sep 26 '11 at 2:59
I didn't realize you commented :[]... It's an Hp pavillion dv4 – Jenna Sep 26 '11 at 14:35
Do you see the BIOS output on your external monitor? – Samuel Oct 28 '11 at 8:33
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2 Answers

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Depending on the laptop, connecting and powering on an external display and leaving the laptop lid itself closed can be enough to tell it to use the external display from boot.

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I'd try that... if I hadn't ripped off the laptop monitor... Maybe I'll replace it... – Jenna Sep 26 '11 at 11:21
Thanks for the suggestion btw! – Jenna Sep 26 '11 at 11:21
You could try pressing down the lid sense switch with a small screwdriver or other thin object. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Sep 26 '11 at 20:07
Indeed, I could... It sounds much better than my compulsive pressing of FN+F4 – Jenna Sep 27 '11 at 0:26
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You could pxe boot it to get around the problem of not having an OS. This may only work if your bios is already configured for it though.

What is PXE (Preboot Execution Environment)

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I'll try it! ThanKs! – Jenna Sep 26 '11 at 11:21
"Will think about trying it" would be a better descriptor of my actions. Still thX – Jenna Sep 27 '11 at 0:27
@Jenna :) np, good luck w/ your laptop. – chown Sep 27 '11 at 0:58
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