The up button on my Dell Inspiron is broken, so I can’t turn the brightness up (using Fn + up). I’ve explored Control Panel, and can’t find out how to turn it up in Power Options or Display, or anywhere else I thought to look in there. I had to turn it down all the way because I hurt my eye the other day, and now I can’t turn it up. Thanks in advance!
ETA: I posted to a thread in November suggesting to somebody else that they could find the setting by right-clicking the battery icon on the taskbar, but it doesn’t seem to be showing up???
Some BIOS setups will allow you to modify brightness using +/- keys on one of the pages (Usually in some Power Settings -> Display part of the BIOS setup)
That’s kind of what I was thinking, groman, but I don’t know how to get into the BIOS?
Askance, I had that idea last night, but I ran into two problems. First, my roommate’s keyboard wasn’t USB, and second, it doesn’t have a function key. If I can’t get into the BIOS tonight, maybe I’ll take it to a buddy’s and see if I can use the Fn key on the laptop and the up key on the keyboard at the same time.
When you boot up, before any of that “Starting Windows” starts, you should see either a POST (Power On Self Test) or more likely a manufacturer’s logo. Depending on the manufacturer, that screen usually provides instructions on how to get into the BIOS. Frankly, I don’t remember how to do it on a Dell, even though I have one at home :smack: . Typically it’s either pressing “F2”, “<Del>” or “F10” at a particular time during the POST. Sometimes you have to press a manufacturer specified button first like “[Tab]”.
Will it be pretty self evident what needs to be done to a user who is highly computer literate on the user interface level, but not on a BIOS/programming level?
I was thinking you’d use the Fn key on the laptop and the Up key on the external keyboard. If the laptop isn’t too new it ought to have a PS2 keyboard port still.
