Can one of you lovely computer tech jellies help me with this problem?

If you haven’t accidentally changed a setting, then either the fluorescent bulbs have burned out, or a cable has come loose powering the lights. The latter is actually a fairly common problem that’s caused by the constant opening and closing of the lid (this is also a common fault of flip phones).

@HungryGuy how do I fix this?

Sorry, but you gotta take it to the Geek Squad. Opening up a laptop to reseat a cable or replace a bulb is not for the feint of heart. Should be a fairly quick and easy fix, tho :-)

This may sound silly, and I’m no computer guru, but have you checked to make sure you are still plugged in? When I accidently have pulled my plug out, the battery starts draining and makes my screen dark.

Good idea ^

Please tell us the type of computer. It would be most helpful. :D

@chyna Definitely not. It’s dark to the point where I cannot see anything unless I have a bright light on it.

@Dog It’s an Acer Aspire. aka The Worst Computer Ever.

Sounds like the back-light died. You can’t fix it without a new one. And getting a new laptop is probably cheaper.

At least you didn’t lose any data.

But the good news is you can plug in a external monitor and use it that way.

@KateTheGreat I had exactly the same with my Acer Aspire some years ago.
Went to a computer (repair-) shop and they told me it was as expensive to fix it as to buy a new laptop.
Decided mainly cos of financial inability to let it rest for a while and to try to hook up an old monitor, which worked well.
Then, after a couple of weeks, the screen suddenly started to light up again, only to remain working untill the whole laptop stopped working all together, a couple of months ago.
Maybe you could try to do the same (hook up a monitor if you have one)?