I'm posting this just in case someone else runs into this problem. I have an Acer netbook and it is running XP. I really like it for providing realtime. I have hardly used it and the screen started getting VERY dark. I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I thought, this thing is going bad.
Well, it was an easy fix. You push the Fn key and the right arrow key to get the brightness you are after. I am assuming the last attorney that used it messed it up. I know I hadn't adjusted it.
Just thought I'd pass that on in case someone else has the same issue.