You need something driving the video, man. A harddrive just holds the information for you. It won't play it.
As for the laptop, that sounds like a settings issue. I believe you would have to go in and adjust the laptop display for external or dual feed to the TV. Then, your TV becomes your laptop monitor. I am unsure of the specifics because I use my PS3 to play my jumpdrives.
Perhaps SoM could suggest a fix?
