Black Laptop Screen??

My friends laptop is all of a sudden showing a black screen. We have tried restarting it 3 times. It is a Toshiba with no upgrades, etc., and the screen is barely visible. She can barely see the mouse and move it, but the keys work. When she pushes/holds down on the little button that darkens the screen when it is closed, the screen lights up for a second, but then darkens again. Any ideas about what this might be? Thanks...

 

My first question would be how old is the laptop?

I am under the impression that your LCD screen has died out and needs to be replaced.

This is the likely case. If the system is on warrenty you should be able to call toshiba and get them to replace the LCD screen for you.