Laptop black screen

[shunter78]

Please help! I have an Acer Aspire E5-571. When I turned the laptop on the screen flashed white and then went black - the fans are still working and the power lights are all on but nothing else is happening. I've been able to connect the laptop to en external screen using HDMI, but I then can't seem to do anything from there. I've tried function and F5 (key with icon of two monitors on) but the keyboard does not seem to be responding. I only need to get it going long enough to transfer some files to another laptop. If I connect the two laptops with a USB cable, would I then be able to transfer to files?

Thanks in advance.

 

[PCMACPC]

First unplug the battery, and try again.

 

[shunter78]

First unplug the battery, and try again.

Just tried unplugging the battery PCMACPC - still no joy. I've seen some other forums that suggest pressing various combinations of function keys but they don't seem to be working either.

I do now have a symbol in the bottom left corner of the external screen that looks like a monitor with a small treasure chest at the top left with a red circle with a white cross in it on the bottom right.

 

[PCMACPC]

Could you upload a photo?