Solved! Connect one broken laptop monitor to another

[Kris67]

My lenovo Z50 screen has quit working. I want to connect the laptop to my Dell Vostro 1510 screen to copy the files before I sent it for repair. Can I use a VGA cable? What are the function keys I can use. Any help is appreciated.

 

[1shado1]

No. The VGA ports on both are outputs only. Do you have a spare hard drive that you could connect to a usb port? You could copy the files to that spare drive.

 

[Kris67]

No. The VGA ports on both are outputs only. Do you have a spare hard drive that you could connect to a usb port? You could copy the files to that spare drive.

thank you 1shado1. I have an external hard disk, but how can I copy files when I can't see the screen?

 

[1shado1]

No. The VGA ports on both are outputs only. Do you have a spare hard drive that you could connect to a usb port? You could copy the files to that spare drive.

thank you 1shado1. I have an external hard disk, but how can I copy files when I can't see the screen?

Maybe you could connect your laptop to your TV, depending on the ports available on each.

Or, you could take off the access panel of the Z50 (3 screws), and another 4 screws to remove the hard drive to connect it to your Vostro to transfer the files. Here's a video of the disassembly procedure:

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtyhakHJyOA

 

[Kris67]

Thank you. I will try this and let you know how it goes.

 

[1shado1]

Thank you. I will try this and let you know how it goes.

You're welcome. Good luck! Shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[Kris67]

I connected the laptop to the TV as suggested, but the screen was still blank. When I connected with the power source, the light was on, so I assumed it's the screen that's faulty. But when I removed the power & run it on battery, the screen works. Don't know why, but I'm happy I've got my files backed-up. Thank you so much for your help

 

[1shado1]

Yeah, I wasn't thinking. I should have mentioned that you might need to hold down the fn key while pushing one of the "F" keys in the top row (the one with two monitors on it) to toggle between internal/external/both displays.

Glad you got your files transferred.

You're welcome for the help, even though it really didn't help.