Hey guys! So I have an old laptop which the display on it completely crapped out. When I open it, it starts black and looks like an internal fire on the screen goes from black to white. In short, it's toast. However, I'd still like to use it as basically a cabinit...I have a den in my new home and want to use that laptop as a way to watch the LCS and other media online on my TV...But I can't get through whichever outdated boot sequences that are preventing me from getting to the desktop, as I cannot view the boot sequence (The screen burns to white right away). Is there a way I can get the laptop to default to a 2nd screen, or basically force it to see a TV or monitor as it's primary screen, so I can bypass the burning issue and get through the boot sequence? It's an older laptop but has an HDMI output I desperately want to use. Thanks!
Let the computer boot up and then blindly follow the boot sequence. If it's Windows, that means you will need to type your password and hit enter. Then connect the monitor and right click on the empty space. Choose Scnree Resolution, then Duplicate these displays. This should let you see what the laptop is showing.
Most laptops have a fn+Fx key that switches between monitor setups, on my desktop it's windows key+P. You'll have to blindly follow the boot sequence to get to the desktop though. The only hangup I can imagine would be the login screen before going into windows.