Using an external display with a 2006 iMac?

(Scenario in paragraph one, question in paragraph two)
I've got a problem trying to get data off an old iMac, and don't see an obvious solution... I have an old 2006 iMac that's been unused for years, and the display quit working about a year ago. I'm trying to just get the data off that computer, but my current 'main' computer's a MacBook Air that doesn't have an Ethernet port, so direct connection is out. I could try to move a couple hundred GB over wifi, but the wifi in the old iMac is an old wifi standard that takes forever, and tends to error out when transferring data over hours of time (I've tried).
Thus my question: The old iMac has a mini-DVI-out port, but the challenge is how to switch to an external display, when I don't have a display to navigate through settings? Is there a keyboard shortcut, or something? I've looked online, but can't find any solutions. I've got a mini-DVI-to-VGA cable, and a VGA-capable monitor, but when I plug the Mini-DVI into the iMac, to the VGA, nothing happens. I'm guessing I need to go to preferences, and select video-out? But that's impossible (as far as I've tried) with a display to navigate on the iMac.
Some miscellany: Someone suggested Command-F2 for something monitor-switching-related, but that did nothing. Someone at work thought that the signal from the DVI out might not work with the Gateway FPD1760 I'm trying to use as an external display...
Any suggestions/help would be appreciated!

So the various 'F2', 'Command-F7', etc, etc, didn't work. But I did find a simple solution: I used my Fiancé’s MacBook Pro that has an Ethernet port, connected via Command-k, and transferred about 40GB so far. Pretty painless, and I can get dthe data to one of my multiple-TB external drives from her computer. Using her computer hadn't entered my mind...
Disappointing that I couldn't get the video out to work, but at least I'm getting the data off. I'm going to try the 'firewire/Target mode' idea later, when I need to erase the drive, etc.
Thanks for the help!

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http://img.skitch.com/20090922-cpmepik2kewnsbm1g851drwryq.jpg
http://img.skitch.com/20090922-p4s3grein7kgxi3sqbsbm25kfm.jpg
Message was edited by: msim20

Using an external display with a 2006 iMac?

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