Question : Problem: cracked laptop screen

I accidentally cracked my laptop screen and now when I turn on my laptop my screen is unreadable.  I tried to hook to a monitor, but the monitor won't show anything. Will I have to take the hard drive out and put in another machine to get my data off?  Is there another solution?
Thanks in advance

Answer : Problem: cracked laptop screen

loook for the same screen or a same model laptop (bad) on e-bay, and replace the screen