First off, I'm typing this on my phone, so excuse typoes or slower replies.

Anyway, short story, my laptop screen cracked. Dead. I can see about a wuarter of the screen between the cracks, but that's it.

I called Dell, and we have to send it in to be repaired. But I know Dell, so I wanted to back up some of my files. But when I try starting the laptop, it doesn't boot to Windows. From what little of the screen I see, I THINK it's telling me ai need to do a system restore.

I wouldn't be TOO annoyed by this, if I could see the bloody thing. But I can't get the laptop to show up on my TV. I have an HDMI cable, but the laptop either doesn't detect it or refuses to acknowledge it. The key to change monitors is Fn+F1, and it doesn't work. My only hunch is that the laptop won't use the HDMI until Windows boots, which is being interrupted by this mystery window.

I only have a VGA port, and I only have a DVI cable. Dell has been of no help whatsoever in helping me find a solution (which also doesn't help my confidence that my files will be protected). I'm using an Alienware M14x. Does anyone have a hotfix to force the laptop to boot from the HDMI monitor, or have an alternative method of backing up my hard drive?

And yeah, I know I should back up important files regularly. And I do. But I had a bit of a productuve week that's going to be wiped if anything happens to my data.

11 years ago*

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Drive should be standard SATA. Just pull the drive and connect it to a desktop machine. Of course do this while both are turned off. Even if you have absolutely no experience with messing around inside a machine it shouldn't be difficult. The drive only has two connectors. One is for power and one is for data. They are two different sizes and bother are keyed so that they only fit one direction. AKA it is literally impossible to plug the cables in wrong.

The only catch I can see for you is it sounds like you don't have a desktop so you will need to find a friend with a desktop and an extra SATA cable in their machine. If they don't have a spare cable and they do have an optical drive most of those are SATA now so you should be able to unplug the cables from the optical drive and use those to attach your drive. Again, just make sure the machine is off and unplugged before doing so. Oh, and it is a good idea to pull the battery from the laptop before taking the drive out of it.

11 years ago
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I didn't think of that. There is a desktop, but it's not my own so I'll probably need to wait before anyone lets me rummage around in it, but I'll give it a shot nonetheless. Thanks!

11 years ago
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Glad to be of help man. Good luck and cross your fingers that your data is all intact :)

11 years ago
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Knowing my luck, I don't have my hopes up, but thanks for the well wishes!

11 years ago
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What hackerx is suggesting is your best option. Pull the HD and connect it to a current desktop via SATA cable & power supply (make sure you are grounded and that the desktop is unplugged before starting). If you have the option of multiple desktop computers from friends or relatives, then i would suggest to try and select the desktop that is running the same OS (or newer) than what is on your laptop. Not absolutely necessary, but easier for you if you've never done this before. GOOD LUCK!

11 years ago
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Wouldn't this void any warranty since the laptop would be opened? A lot of places won't fix, or will charge you then, if the laptop has been opened I thought....

11 years ago
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Depends on the placement of the warranty void sticker (And terms of the warranty). My last laptop didn't have one on the HDD bay, so I think it would be ok. just make sure to read warranty info.

11 years ago
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I already addresses this, I've already had to replace the hard drive before (they sent me one to replace it myself) so I doubt they'll viid the warranty.

11 years ago
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As hackerx said, you can probably pull your hard-drive out and either use an e-sata cable or a sata-to-usb converter and basically convert it into an external hard drive.

As for the screen itself, you might be able to order a replacement screen and fix it yourself. If you have the proper tools, technical manual, and steady hands it shouldn't be difficult. Just be sure to catalogue every piece you remove and how everything was connected when you're doing the dismantling.

11 years ago
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I'm fully capable of fixing it myself, but the laptop is under warranty and a screen could cost hundreds for my model, so this is still the best way.

11 years ago
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If its under waranty im not sure you should open it to pull out the hard drive, when my computer was under warranty they put a sticker on it so i wouldn't open it. It's a desktop, but similar rules might apply to laptop too, ask support to be sure

11 years ago
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I already had a hard drive problem earlier this year, and they sent me a new hard drive to replace myself. So even if that was an issue, it wouldn't be anymore (I hope)

11 years ago
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Is there anything in the BIOS that will force it to output the video to HDMI in addition to the laptop screen? Otherwise, you could just pickup a DVI-VGA adapter.

11 years ago
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I don't know, I would need someone else to tell me (again, can't see the screen). I don't know if picking up a new cable or adapter is not really practical right now, both to money and time constraints (the box we're supposed to send the laptop in is supposed to arrive on Monday, and I have a busy weekend ahead of me.

11 years ago
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I figured you might've already known what the BIOS looked like, but I suppose everyone's not as big of a dork as I am. :) I'm guessing you don't have any technology-minded friends nearby. Everyone should have a pet dork.

11 years ago
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I live in the Bronx, they're a rarity :p

11 years ago
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Sounds like I could be very popular there, then! In a relative, being-used kind of way. But I've always wanted to be used!

11 years ago
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I'd love to use you, it sounds like you have all the VGA ports and adapters I need XD

11 years ago
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I've been building computers for years, including for all my family and professionally (for a few years). I've got crap all over the place.

11 years ago
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Unfortunately I don't have the funding or patience to reach that level of experience and knowledge. I'll stick to videogames, it's what I know best.

11 years ago
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According to your manual, it wants you to have the TV and laptop turned off. Connect the HDMI cable to the laptop and TV. Turn on your laptop and then turn on your TV. Did you do it in this order?

11 years ago
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Yup, and in the opposite order and also trying the Fn combo.

11 years ago
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I know its a stupid question, but you're sure you had your TV set to the right HDMI port, correct?

11 years ago
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Yup. And usually when using the TV as the monitor, the laptop screen shuts off, which it didn't do. It goes black for a second when pressing Fn+F1, but then nothing changes. (The flashing doesn't happen at the mystery screen, if that's important)

11 years ago
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I have a dell too(n5110) and when it is booting, it doesnt send picture to the vga port(im using external monitor) so while it cant boot into windows, you will not see any image on the vga port.

You can use ubuntu // any other linux live cd to boot an OS and access your hard drive, and if linux boots you should be able to use external display too. it is only a 700MB download, you can even use usb pen drive to boot from that to a live os

You can also search youtube for a disassemby video for your laptop, i found one yesterday and helped me to switch hard drives in my laptop, but this will screw up your warranty.

11 years ago
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I addresses the warranty in response to Pandryl (above), I don't believe it will be a problem anymore. If I can boot from a USB that would be great, although I would still need to set it to boot from USB, which (to my knowledge) is impossible without configuring the BIOS, which I can't see due to the screen.

11 years ago
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well, on my pc, if i hit F12 at the start of the boot process(at the time when you can enter setup/bios by pressing F2 or delete), you can select boot device and i list me my options, like hard drive, network, usb, etc, 6 items total in my case. But this is the problem whit this: this list appears in order you set it in bios:) and since you cant see the screen you have no idea what order they are listed.

I see now the warranty issue, and since you can get the hard drive out, the simplest thing to do is to put it in other pc, as suggested before.

11 years ago
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Yeah, I'm going to do what I can to get that to work. It sounds less risky than some of the other options (i.e. messing with a BIOS menu I can't see and possibly changing the wrong settings)

11 years ago
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If you haven't ever messed with the boot sequence, a lot of times the default boot sequence is disc drive, usb, then HDD. I'm looking through pics trying to find the right menus so you can change the boot order blind.

11 years ago
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If you get that info, do I need any special setup to install an OS on a flash drive? I've never actually done that sort of thing before.

11 years ago
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I've never messed with setting up a linux OS. But if you have access to another computer, you could always use it to create a Windows USB boot drive. I'm thinking you have Windows 7, in which case here's an article.

11 years ago
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Would this actually boot an OS, or just an installer (like a disk would)? The article seems to be creating an installer to replace a CD installer, which I already have. I was under the impression the Linux USB would hold the entire OS for the system to boot, so I can get the HDMI working and try finding my stuff.

11 years ago
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I guess I linked to the wrong article. I thought that was one for simply booting, not installing.

11 years ago
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to make a bootable pendrive i use universal usb installer. it is a program, in 3 steps it creates bootable pen drive from an iso, which can be a live linux, or even windows install cd ( this is not a windows os you can boot into, just the setup wich install the windows os)

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/downloads/Universal-USB-Installer/Universal-USB-Installer-1.9.3.9.exe

edit: that was the exe link, their tutorial thing is on this url:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

11 years ago
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Can I use that to install the OS to the USB as opposed to just copying an installer? I don't want to install/reinstall the OS on the laptop, I just want to boot from a USB and try getting the laptop to send data through the HDMI.

11 years ago
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If you are thinking about windows, then the answer is no. For windows it is only good for making an usb installer, so you dont have to burn a dvd.

In case of linux, it still does the same, but linux installer works by booting to a live enviroment(no change to the hard drive) and you have access to the disk too(if it is not encrypted), and then you can start the installer from there, but in this case you dont need to.

You only need a live image. i suggest this:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
i didn't do this for 2 years so things may have changed a lot:)

this is a tutorial you should read if you have no experience:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/try-ubuntu-before-you-install

Last thought: if you going to get the hdd out and copy its content tomorrow, i wouldn't bother with it, it is way more easy to put the hdd into another pc.

11 years ago
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I would like to back up the entire hard drive, but I am concerned about sending the laptop in without the hard drive, and also about whether or not anyone will let me mess with the innards of their desktops. There's only a small amount I'm truly converned about saving, so hopefully it'll be free for me to open up and copy. I just hope it works...

11 years ago
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Since its an obvious screen issue, I would think that you'd be able to send it in without the hard drive, but I can't make any guarantees about Dell's policy. Its been years since I dealt with Dell, and back then it was with special representatives, so its not as though I had to deal with the normal customer service reps.

11 years ago
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Yeah, I don't want to delay the repairs over something like this.

11 years ago
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Remove the hard drive, connect it to another computer, back up, put the hard drive back in and send it again.

11 years ago
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I don't really have anywhere to back it up to, we unfortunately lack any external hard drive or backup hard drives to save to. We're pretty low-tech, in the grand scheme of things.

11 years ago
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Well then....try to connect the laptop to a VGA/DVI Port if available (i don't know the outputs an AW M14x has) and it SHOULD pick it up. If that fails as well, then try plugging in the HDMI cable, and instead of pressing Fn+F1, try pressing Fn+F5.

11 years ago
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Fn+F5 turns the brightness down. There is a VGA port, but I only have a DVI cable.

11 years ago
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Didn't the TV bring a VGA cable? or maybe you can get a hold of one, they're really cheap.

11 years ago
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I'm pretty sure the TV had no cable for that. I know I have a monitor with a VGA port, but it's using a DVI cable (it has a port for each) so I can't just take that.

11 years ago
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I have a bit of an unrelated question, but I don't want to make a new topic. How much should I expect to pay for an 100GB hard drive? I've seen 1TB drives for less than 60, but I DEFINITELY don't need that much, yet the cheapest external hard drives I find are still about $35 for 100GB (which seems absurd to me). Am I just not looking in the right places? I just want at least 100GB for no more than $20.

11 years ago
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Dirt cheap, considering that in my country (where inflation is pretty much exorbitating) 1GB costs around 1$, you should be able to get yourself a very cheap 120GB SATA drive (or external), but i have NO idea about precise prices in your region, so i cannot help much about it D:

Still, the best solution if you don't want or can't spend more money, is to get a computer (any computer that has a SATA port, basically anything that is not like....10 years old, check with a neighbour or ask around), and plug in the laptop hard drive.

11 years ago
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I do almost all of my PC component shopping at Newegg.com. Fantastic site.

As for dirt cheap external hard drives, they can be a bit tough to find. As HDD's get more advanced and larger, they replace the smaller hard drives on the market. People want larger and larger drives, so the small ones get bumped. You could always just buy an enclosure.

11 years ago
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I had figured this would be a problem. What's an enclosure?

11 years ago
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An enclosure is just a case with adapters that plug into most internal hard drives. Essentially turning your internal hard drive into an external one. They often add additional features like a power adapter or usb access.

Since you can often pick up older small capacity hard drives on ebay, it is quite simple to pick up one from someones whose upgrading and put it in an enclosure.

11 years ago
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Aye, and its your best bet for turning an 100gb HDD into an external drive for under $20. Plus, building your own external HDD means that you can choose a better quality HDD than you would get for a budget purchase.

11 years ago
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So by connecting the hard drive to a desktop I fixed the boot issues and saved my files! And I turned a USB into a Linux installer so I'll give that a whirl when I can. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: if I'll be a new Linux user, I have to ask: what difficulties will I encounter trying to use programs I'm used to running normally, like games or chat programs?

11 years ago
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Games are harder to play on linux but everything else should work fine.

11 years ago
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Exactly what does it take to run games? That's pretty much my number one concern, and so would be a big part of deciding on a permanent change.

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by Fenrakk101.