If you've got a normal computer screen you should be able to plug it into the laptop and use that instead, and provided the computer monitor is good enough and big enough, it should cope with 1280x1024. (A 17inch monitor should be enough, but even some 15inch CRTs can do that resolution)
Most laptops will do that resolution if using an external monitor.
Get a monitor,
plug it into the laptop
boot up the laptop from scratch
it should now be using the external monitor instead of the laptop's screen.
Go into display settings and adjust the resolution to 1280x1024
Install Ekta
If you reboot the laptop without the external monitor connected, it should revert to using the laptop's screen.
hth