Attaching an external monitor to a laptop with a broken screen.

Restart the laptop, keep pressing F8. On some laptops F8 will invoke the Boot Menu, if that's the case boot off the hard drive. Keep pressing F8 until you get to the boot menu. Select the "Enable VGA mode" or whatever the line says that has the word VGA on it. That loads the computer in the lowest mode possible. You can then change the resolution as per the size of the monitor - right-click Desktop -> Properties -> Settings.

On the F keys on the Toshiba will be an icon that's the same color as the Fn key. Look for the one with a picture of 2 monitors (probably it's F5) Here's a picture: http://209.167.114.3.../-TSB001343.htm

Press and hold the Fn key, then press the F5 key - that should switch the monitor from one display to the other.

Thank you guys so much...I finally got it to work, which at least temporarily saves me the ridiculous expense of buying a new laptop or repairing the one I have.