Hi Lynn, theres a couple of things you could try, the laptop and tv must be turned off before you connect the cables, if the laptop doesn't recognize the tv, try pressing the Fn and F7 or F10 (which ever one has a little pic of a screen) you may have to change the tv with the remote either, or try a vga cable, I find those better, good luck.
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Try fixfault.com to fix notebooks/laptop pcs.