I have an older (6 years) Dell Laptop I haven't used in a couple of years. I fired it up today to locate a document which I believe only exists on that laptop. Everything loads up right, but the screen is so dim, I can make out the cursor and icons, ect....but can't read anything to be able to get to the doc. Thought I would just plug it into a desktop monitor and go from there, but all I get is a blank screen when I plug into a bigger monitor. Any suggestions before sending it off? I really just need the one doc off of it and it goes back into a closet.

Thanks.

ps: I'm trying to find the doc for a fellow MB sucker, I mean owner;