Just plug in the compaq monitor into your tell's blue vga out port in the back or side of the laptop. Then you will need to tell your laptop to use the screen. Normally you can do something similar to holding the "fn" key and hiting f8. Pressing it multiple times should togle between only your laptop screen, to both your laptop screen and your monitor, and finally just your monitor.

Hope this helped

Only ever done this on 98 (old tp) but you can make it so u can drag something off one monitor onto the other

Its called extended dual monitors. Cloned is where both are the same. It is up to the graphics card, not the os.

You use display settings for the desktop extension and the fn key combo to have it on LCD, CRT or both.

You can also change the startup monitor under the BIOS so you can have it start up with say, CRT only, meaning you can hide your laptop away and just have a monitor, usb keyboard and mouse on the desk

thanks to the forum for the replies! Nizzy 1115 and another user suggested I use the "fn" key. What is that? I am familiar with the f1-f12 keys. but not the fn key. Anybody have an answer for me?

Thanks!

On most laptops there is an FN key around where the ctrl+alt keys are. Its blue and when held down and used in combination with another button it does things. For example, on my thinkpad fn+pg up turns the keyboard light on