How to connect an external monitor to a laptop

I am having this weird issue that I know is solvable.

I attached an external monitor to my laptop after a lightning strike took out my desktop. I want the external monitor to take the place of, and mirror, everything that is going on on the on board monitor. The problem is that I do not see what is there but the external monitor acts as an extension of the on board monitor.

I tried the display function in the Control Panel but that only allows me to stack the monitors so that the cursor moves seamlessly from one to the other as though they are contiguous.

I can open a window, shrink it, and move it to the external monitor and then maximize it and work on it. I can't move it if it is maximized.

I can move an icon to the external monitor and double click it but the program opens in the on board monitor.

How do I get the external monitor to be the primary monitor or a mirror of the on board monitor so I do not have to use the on board monitor at all?

Thanks,

j

 

HP Compaq nx9010 with XP Professional v. 5.1 sp3

Thanks,

j

 

Check your F keys. Most notebooks (if not all notebooks - I've never seen one that didn't) let you cycle through display options for notebook monitor only, external monitor only, or both. On my Toshiba, I hit Fn + F5.

 

SOLVED

Thanks, Digerati!!