HELP: Hiding laptop in back of desk... Is there a way to turn it on and off?

[FortFunFoSho]

All -

I have built a new desk in which my laptop will be hidden out of sight in the back. The problem I am having is turning it back on if I power down. Is there a USB device that could power up my laptop?

What else can I do providing it has to stay in the back of the desk?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Injury]

Perhaps your laptop supports a "Wake on LAN" feature.

 

[MotionMan]

Don't turn it off (log off, hibernate, etc.).

MotionMan

 

[Raduque]

If you hibernate or standby, most laptops should support a wake on keypress, so all you'd need to do is go into standby and then press a key on your keyboard to power up. It might help if your k/b has a Power key, too.

 

[FortFunFoSho]

Unfortunately, my sister also uses the computer and will occasionally shut it down without thinking. I just would think there would be a way to turn it on without opening the computer all the way up.

Like on an old cpu I had the keyboard had a power up button, would that work the same on a laptop?

 

[jdini76]

i am thinking you have a flaw in your hidden design.

 

[FortFunFoSho]

I might slowly be agreeing with you.

Is there a way so I can edit my shut down options so that it only allows hibernate or standby?

 

[AMCRambler]

Originally posted by: jdini76
i am thinking you have a flaw in your hidden design.

Yeah he's right. It's not even like you could drill a hole some where in the desk so you could poke the power button with a pen or pencil because most laptop have the power button under the lid, and I'm guessing once you have it in the desk the lid will be closed.

About the only thing I can think of if you're fairly confortable taking apart the laptop, you could solder some wires to the laptops power switch connectors and run them to a switch that's somewhere accessible. You run the risk of damaging the laptops power switch if you're not careful though.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: jdini76
i am thinking you have a flaw in your sister.

Fixed.

MotionMan

 

[phisrow]

Wake on LAN would probably be your most reliable option. That would need another machine somewhere on the network, though, to send the magic packet.

 

[FortFunFoSho]

Originally posted by: phisrow
Wake on LAN would probably be your most reliable option. That would need another machine somewhere on the network, though, to send the magic packet.

I am not familiar with this, how does it work?

 

[Injury]

Okay. I'll bite. What exactly are you working on here, because I'm not seeing a good point in hiding a laptop where you can't reach it, unless you're using a seperate monitor, mouse, keyboard et al, (In which case I don't understand why you can't use a keyboard with power button, unless your computer won't read it) or using it as some sort of file server.

 

[mugs]

Seems like a waste of a laptop

 

[Tom]

if there's a way to power on a computer with a usb keyboard, I'd like to know too.

my experience is that a keyboard connected via an old ps/2 connection will work, by using a bios setting enabling a hotkey to start, but I've never gotten a usb keyboard to work. I don't think a usb connection is active until the computer starts, so there's no way to send a signal.

 

[BigSmooth]

I have a Dell laptop at work which I use with a port replicator (docking station) that has an external power button on it; the computer can be turned on and off while closed. However, these are not that cheap and require a dockable laptop, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[phisrow]

Originally posted by: FortFunFoSho

Originally posted by: phisrow
Wake on LAN would probably be your most reliable option. That would need another machine somewhere on the network, though, to send the magic packet.

I am not familiar with this, how does it work?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN

That has a pretty decent rundown, and links.

 

[FortFunFoSho]

Thanks for the link!

Been reading through this, is it possible to do this on a wireless network?

 

[Kelnoen]

Originally posted by: FortFunFoSho
Thanks for the link!

Been reading through this, is it possible to do this on a wireless network?

Doubtful if you mean the internal wireless

 

[Kelnoen]

I heard somewhere you can use 'Wake on Modem' if you have the option in the bios then just apply 12v to the proper pins of the rs232.

 

[FortFunFoSho]

What if it is a card plugged into a laptop?

 

[Kelnoen]

Originally posted by: FortFunFoSho
What if it is a card plugged into a laptop?

If it's powered by the laptop then it'll go off when the laptop does so won't be able to receive.
If it has an external powersupply though you may be able to work it.

Is dismantling the laptop an option?

 

[FortFunFoSho]

Possibly. Do you mean getting inside the casing? Or getting rid of it all together?

Also, is there a way to take the option of "Shut Down" out of the start->shutdown menu?

 

[Oceanas]

Originally posted by: FortFunFoSho
Also, is there a way to take the option of "Shut Down" out of the start->shutdown menu?

Is this laptop running XP? If so, it's quite simple to disable the "Turn Off" (Shutdown) button for any user you wish.

Open regedit and locate the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
Explorer] If the Explorer subkey is not there, then right click on policies and select New, Key. Name the new key Explorer. Right click on the Explorer subkey and selected New, DWord Value. Name the value NoClose. Double click it and set the value to 1. After a restart, the "Turn Off" button will be gone.
*Note that if there are multiple users on your laptop, you will have to perform this edit for each user*

If you also want to disable Shutdown from the login screen, look Here