Connecting laptop to tv

[gadgetgeek]

My 78 yr old father is trying to connect his Compaq laptop to his Sony TV via a VGA cable. I managed to talk him thru it last week and all was fine. Last nite he called saying that the laptop screen was blank and the TV stated no recognised connection. I tried to talk thru what to try but his laptop is Vista software and I am and XP boy so I had to semi guess his screen layout and commands, but in the end had to give up as he was just getting confused (so was I as I cudnt see what he was trying to do and describe!). What could of changed since last week and how should I go about helping to sort it (am 200 miles away so I cant pop around). Thank u . :-)

[ACtheTROLL]

It's probably just the screen that needs switching over

On lappys there is (generally) a fn+fx key combination that toggles the screen
lappy
lappy + vga
vga

the "fx" key will vary - on mine it's f10

[ChuckFickens]

AC has probably covered the actual answer to your question,

I'll just add that if you often have to provide remote support for your fathers computer 200miles away then it would be worth you checking one of the remote access sites out.

have a look at http://www.logmein.com, setup a free account, give your father the details of the account and get him to log in and add his computer to the account, you can then log in to the account at a later time and take over his computer and operate it remotely to enable you to sort any problems out and actually see what is on his screen.