Fresh Windows 7 Install on VAIO With Broken Screen - Drivers?

[Sockembop]

Hey guys,

I gave a friend of mine a VAIO VPCEB11FD laptop I had lying around. The screen was completely shattered and unusable so I removed it and she had it plugged into an LG TV through HDMI.

She ended up loading the thing with more apps than I could have ever imagined, most of it probably spyware and viruses, so it took 15 minutes to start up. Even then it was so slow I found it unusable.

My solution was to pop the HDD into my home desktop (because Windows install doesn't display through HDMI on the laptop) and do a fresh Windows install, which I did from my non-VAIO Win 7 disc, and the drive works fine in my system. Unfortunately when I pop it in the laptop again it will not display anything through HDMI even if I give windows time to start, presumably because it lacks the appropriate drivers. The drivers will not install while the HDD is plugged into my desktop PC because it detects the wrong system.

- Will the VGA port on the laptop work without drivers if I can track down a monitor?
- Are there any other solutions I'm overlooking?

I realize this may be a bit of an unusual situation but I hope someone can advise.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

 

[Someone Somewhere]

There's usually either a magnet switch or button that tells the laptop that the lid is closed. If you hold that down, it may try to use an external monitor?

VGA is the other thing to test, as you said.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

You must install Windows on the PC it's going to run on. Otherwise you run into both licensing and driver issues, and it's far more than just the GPU.

You should be able to install windows on the laptop with the HDD plugged into the laptop, and using HDMI.

 

[Sockembop]

You must install Windows on the PC it's going to run on. Otherwise you run into both licensing and driver issues, and it's far more than just the GPU.

You should be able to install windows on the laptop with the HDD plugged into the laptop, and using HDMI.

Oh, I didn't realize that.

I wish I could install Windows with the HDD in the laptop but previously it wouldn't display anything through HDMI until it reached the Windows loading screen (while mashing keys to boot from the disc it would display nothing indefinitely) and currently does not display anything under any circumstances. : /

 

[Someone Somewhere]

There's usually either a magnet switch or button that tells the laptop that the lid is closed. If you hold that down, it may try to use an external monitor?

VGA is the other thing to test, as you said.