Solved Tower with no Monitor

C

codyw

New member
Power User
Local time
4:27 PM
Messages
369
Location
Pennsylvania
A friend recently gave me an old tower of his with Windows XP installed. He did not give me a monitor. I was hoping I could use a VGA monitor cable and be able to plug that cable into my laptop and the tower but I am having difficulties. There is no place for me to "physically" boot up to that tower. Do I need to buy another/different cable to do something like this?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with SP1Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz8 GBIntel(R) HD Graphics Family, NVIDIA GeForce
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
ASUSTeK Computer Inc./Q550LF/Laptop
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with SP1
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz
Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Memory
8 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) HD Graphics Family, NVIDIA GeForce
Hard Drives
Hitachi HTS547575A9E384
Internet Speed
XFINITY
Antivirus
Trend Micro
codyw said:
A friend recently gave me an old tower of his with Windows XP installed. He did not give me a monitor. I was hoping I could use a VGA monitor cable and be able to plug that cable into my laptop and the tower but I am having difficulties. There is no place for me to "physically" boot up to that tower. Do I need to buy another/different cable to do something like this?
Click to expand...

Don't even think about using the laptop screen as the desktop monitor unless you know exactly what you are doing, how the desktop was configured, etc. What you are proposing is having the XP desktop set up like a headless server, connecting the desktop and laptop via a crossover cable (or connecting to a network) then "running" the desktop using remote access from the laptop. Not a simple undertaking.

Buy a cheap used monitor and keyboard for the desktop - it's cheaper than replacing a fried laptop!

Regards,
GEWB
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Linux Mint / XP / Win7 Home, Pro, Ultimate / ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
(7 different computers booting up to 10 systems)
OS
Linux Mint / XP / Win7 Home, Pro, Ultimate / Win8.1 / Win10
Other Info
Four desktops, two laptops, one notebook and one tablet
+1 to the above
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate 64i7 3770k OC'd 4.6 @ 1.17v, also FX 8120 & i5 ...32 gb G.Skill Sniper DDR3 10-12-12-31 @ 2133XFX Radeon 7870 2GB DDR5
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
A blend of brains, brawn and dumb luck.
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
CPU
i7 3770k OC'd 4.6 @ 1.17v, also FX 8120 & i5 miniITX
Motherboard
MSI P67A-GD80 b3
Memory
32 gb G.Skill Sniper DDR3 10-12-12-31 @ 2133
Graphics Card(s)
XFX Radeon 7870 2GB DDR5
Sound Card
Sound Blaster Z Series Card
Monitor(s) Displays
(2) LG LED 23" 1920 x 1080 2ms Monitors via mini d-port
Screen Resolution
1680 X 1050 p
Hard Drives
Samsung 256 gb 830 SSD sata III
(1) 1 tb WD Black
(2) 1 tb Hitachi deskmates/sata II
(2) 1 tb WD green/sata II
(2) 3 tb Seagate Barracuda
(1) 120 gb OCZ Vertex SS
(1) Drobo 5N w/5 Seagate 3tb
PSU
EVGA modular 1000G2 80% gold rating & APC 1200 RS
Case
CoolerMaster Storm Styker
Cooling
7 case fans 140mm & 120mm, NZXT Kraken X60
Keyboard
(2) Logitech Illuminated Keyboards (1) usb (1) wireless
Mouse
Logitech G700 & T-BC21 - nano nx for the laptop
Internet Speed
Basic 120mbps down
Antivirus
Trend Micro Titanium Max Security & Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Chrome and IE 10
Other Info
5 Noctua case fans + 3 Noctua in p/p on NZXT cooler
Integrated hot swap drive bays for 2.5" Drives
(2) Lite-on dvd/cd/Blu Ray optical 22X
Integrated fan controller and led on/off
HP Officejet Pro 8630 all-n-one
Hot-swappable 3.5" hard drive bay
Netgear Nighthawk router
Asus USB 3 & sata 6 PCIe card
Vantec IDE to sata adptr./Ultra sata adptr
Lenovo L420 i5 lappy with m sata
Drobo 5N advanced NAS
If your laptop has a VGA connector it is only for output, eg, if you want to view the laptop on an external monitor.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1Intel i5-2550K, Differing ~4.4-4.8GHz No buil...16GB G.Skill Sniper 1866MHz @ 2133MHz 2x8GBASUS GTX650TIB-DC2OC-2GD5, (650TI Boost)
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built Desktop By DataTech
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
CPU
Intel i5-2550K, Differing ~4.4-4.8GHz No built in GPU
Motherboard
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Memory
16GB G.Skill Sniper 1866MHz @ 2133MHz 2x8GB
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS GTX650TIB-DC2OC-2GD5, (650TI Boost)
Sound Card
Onboard Realtek 5-1
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung P2570HD
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD for OS, 500GB Seagate Constellation (Enterprise drive) for Data
PSU
Corsair HX650W
Case
Inwin Dragon Rider
Cooling
Hyper 212 EVO w/two Noctua fans, push-pull, @1300 RPM
Keyboard
E-Z Eyes, bright yellow keys with large characters
Mouse
steelseries SENSEI Laser Pro Gaming
Internet Speed
48-51Mbs Mbs down, 11 Mbs up Xfinity Cable
Antivirus
Norton Internet Security 2013
Browser
IE 10, Opera, Pale Moon if needed
Other Info
4 case fans, LG BluRay-RE, ASUS DVD-RW, Mr. Fusion power supply, 1.21 gigawatts.
I didn't know my laptop could get fried doing that...:eek:

Will it be OK now or do I need to monitor it?

I'll have to look into some options for the tower.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with SP1Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz8 GBIntel(R) HD Graphics Family, NVIDIA GeForce
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
ASUSTeK Computer Inc./Q550LF/Laptop
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with SP1
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz
Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Memory
8 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) HD Graphics Family, NVIDIA GeForce
Hard Drives
Hitachi HTS547575A9E384
Internet Speed
XFINITY
Antivirus
Trend Micro
+1 to GEWB. I suspect that if your laptop still works, it is OK. You can pick up a cheap keyboard and mouse for $20 and find a used monitor for very little. That is a small price to pay for a computer.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProRyzen 9 5900X32GB G Skill DDR4-3600EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 Ultra
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900X
    Motherboard
    Asus X570 Crosshair Viii Hero
    Memory
    32GB G Skill DDR4-3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    On Board/Sennheiser PC37X Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 X Asus 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2 X 1 TB NVME drives
    PSU
    EVGA 850
    Case
    Phanteks Eclipse P400A
    Cooling
    EVGA 280 AIO
    Keyboard
    Logitech G510s/ Logitech G13
    Mouse
    Logitech G502
    Internet Speed
    24/1
    Antivirus
    ESET/MBAM Pro/SAS Pro
    Browser
    Chrome/ Firefox/ Edge

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel Ultra 9 288V32 GB LPDDR5X 8533
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Dell 16 Plus
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Ultra 9 288V
    Memory
    32 GB LPDDR5X 8533
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16" Mini-LED HDR600 Touch 90 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    2560X1600
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Solved Strange Windows Behavior after New Monitor
Replies
6
Views
4K
TDKMate
T
Solved Fullscreen not working properly for games while connected to monitor
Replies
1
Views
12K
bwhitacre
B
No monitor on start up
Replies
9
Views
2K
oscarcat
O
AMD Ryzen R5 2400G integrated GPU issue with 75Hz Monitor
Replies
5
Views
6K
helpful55
H
0x117 nvlddmkm.sys when using HDMI external monitor
Replies
3
Views
3K
axe0
A
Back
Top