Laptops :: Display problems / battery problems / Lock screen?

I'd like help on a few things.

First, I'm running this laptop:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupp....n&cc=us

This laptop has a nice vga out. I'd like to use it for dual-monitor support. Can anyone point me in the right direction on configuring x server for this?

torsmo isn't displaying my battery information correctly. I've tried to set different parameters in the config file in the /home/ dir but I've not had any sucess.

Is there anyway to lock the screen of DSL and require a password? I want to leave it unattended, but secure.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Linuturk

original here.