Transform laptop into dumb monitor

dunnojack75

Honorable
Feb 28, 2013
2
0
10,510
Hello,

Can a laptop be converted in to a dumb terminal so that one can interface with headless monitors at various locations. I do not want to remote in. I want it to be able to physically tap in to other hard drives, use the laptop to read and input in to the hard drive (ie portable rackmount)
 
It's not clear what you want to do...
- if you want to use your laptop as dumb monitor / keyboard for a another computer - no, you can't
- if that other computer system has any means of remote desktop functionality - yes, you can, just connect to the same network
- to "tap into other hard drives" - get external SATA-to-USB box (or IDE-to-USB, SCSI-to-USB) and connect these drives directly to your laptop
 

dunnojack75

Honorable
Feb 28, 2013
2
0
10,510
"- if you want to use your laptop as dumb monitor / keyboard for a another computer - no, you can't "

Yes this is what I am trying to do. 40 different desktops that I maintain. And usually I have to go on board because remote access is difficult when housed under sea port slips.

I am trying to find a way to have a portable key board and monitor that is not cumbersome to transport. We have several laptops that are "obsolete" and was wondering if you convert these obsolete models into dumb terminals to interface with the headless units.