external display for macbook pro?

[mattack]

my display screen is only showing vertical lines after liquid spill. is there a way to hook up external display without being able to navigate on existing screen. also is there way to back everything up to external hard drive without the display working? thanks

 

[todesto]

when I hooked up my cinema display to MBP, it recognized and mirrored right away. You can close the lid and it will work as main display, make sure you have BT or USB keyboard and mouse.

 

[mattack]

hey thanks i'll look into that. I have a avi-hdmi cable that used to work for tv but had to set up mirroring in display first.