Backup from broken pc monitor

[texasgal26]

my monitor is cracked and I cannot view anything, but everything else is working normally. I am sending it into Dell's repair shop tomorrow and they said I should backup the data on my hard drive, but they won't help me with that. I don't want to do the best buy option and I have a lot of things I

I have a dell Inspirion 1501 w/ Windows Vista.
I's trying to connect it to a Toshiba laptop (running windows xp) and get nothing. Except the screen on my toshiba gets jacked up. They said to press FN then F8 and it would just miraculously work, but it hasn't. Help!
It used a CAT5, a USB and a VAT (might be same thing as CAT5?) cable. HELP. Please I have every cord imaginable I just don't know the names for them! My warranty expires tomorrow!

 

[MrLinux]

You need a monitor, not another laptop.

 

[outlw6669]

Your laptop has a VGA port in back.
Use it to hook up to a real monitor.

 

[texasgal26]

Thank you
Is the blue port is the VGA?
And when I hool it up to a desktop pc? what do I do then?
does it automatically pop up? How do I access the files?

 

[texasgal26]

FN ...meant Fn key

 

[MrLinux]

You don't hook it up to another PC, you hook it up to a Monitor!

There will be instructions in the user manual that came with the laptop, if you don't have the manual find one via Google.

 

[sharken]

plug in laptop into a real monitor through the VGA port, turn on computer
it will start up just like normal, to backup files they are talking about anything like your My documents, Favorites in webpages, and or email address book if you use programs like Outlook, to back em up just burn them to a cd/dvd or transfer them to something like an external Hard drive...

 

[texasgal26]

Can someone explain what a monitor is then? If it's just a screen, why don't we say hook it up to a TV. I need to know what "monitor"in my house can work and has a VGA port. Thanks, not the most intelligent question, but whatever.

 

[outlw6669]

Please click the folowing link.

http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=wikipedia+computer+monitor&l=1

 

[texasgal26]

doesn't make sense still! Ok do I:
Connect my laptop with the broken monitor to another monitor?
or
Connect my working laptop to the monitor and then somehow connect monitor to broken laptop aswell?

 

[texasgal26]

Ok I think I get what yall are saying...but it doesn't work if the keyboard isnt working. Maybe it does work.. Im off to find a monitor then. Does everyone just keep a monitor around for displaying or something? Ive never needed a VGA cord to connect my computer to a tv. All college kids carry is laptops these days, who travels with monitor!

 

[aznguy0028]

you are connecting your laptop with the broken monitor, to a working monitor.

what you are doing is...transmitting the video signal from your laptop with a broken screen to something that is viewable (another monitor). the pix that outlaw linked you, the blue port is the vga port.

so everything you will view on the working monitor, is basically your laptop screen when it was okay. so you would go about doing that bye connecting the VGA cable to the VGA port from your laptop, and into wuteva monitor you are using atm.

then hold FN(function key) on the laptop, and free F8 (crt/lcd), and the picture should now be transmitted on the working monitor

 

[aznguy0028]

and, i'm sure you know someone else with a desktop, just ask to use their monitor for a bit.

 

[texasgal26]

I got it!! Thanks everybody. I am a little slow. The post saying not to connect to another computer threw me off....cause I think of a desktop as a computer? So the desktop monitor worked great. It's still backing up and taking quite a long time. About an hour now..and half done.
(The screen says it won't copy the system files or programs, and Id like to do it all?)
I just grabbed a CD-R to copy my backup files onto. I have DVD+R and DVD and CD-R. I'm out of RW's...

What is the best to use? I could use my Ipod for storage?