Computer Has a Black Screen in Windows and Will Not Boot or Start Up

Hi, thanks for your advice. My Problem: Twice in two days my PC (Windows XP)displayed a black screen. Nothing else. Onstart there was one beep. The reset button did not restart my PC, the shut down button did not shut down PC. I had to turn off the power, wait some seconds there turn power back on. This time when I turned on my PC it booted up just fine.
Thanks.
Elef

I just had this issue and the problem, I believe, was related to an expired McAfee. I had tried restoring from a previous good boot but it didn’t work. After hours of restarting the computer and trying various tricks, I finally shut the computer off as it was loading drivers. The next time I started the computer it realized something was wrong and tried to recover. I was able to get to a command prompt and execute explorer.exe. When the computer restarted I was able to get to windows. At that time I noticed that my free McAfee from Comcast had expired (because Comcast went to Norton). I downloaded the free Norton, which uninstalled McAfee, restarted the computer and everything has been fine.

This got my “major” failure fixed as soon as I read about the RAM. I had already tried booting from disks and trying to get in through DOS and keyboard button combos and nothing would solve it.

-Then I was reminded of my recent RAM install that worked well for months may possibly have an issue, and Bada-bing! solved. Thanks!

The most comprehensive and very well thought out information I have found on this subject on the net. Keep on writing, I will keep on stopping over to read your new content. This is my fourth time coming by your website 🙂

Have the same problem with my computer. one pc when i turn it on it just displayed no signal cable connected. no post message, no bios. swap the psu and ram to other computers, still the same problem. i even try my old video card, still no response.. i try clearing the cmos battery based on what i read in other post. now it has a black screen only( my fault). is my mother board defective??

jessa, what video chipset does your computer have? My computer had the nVidia chipset, which was defective. (You can google “Nvidia defect” and find tons of information surrounding the defect, the companys that were affected, ie, Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc., class action suits, the settlements, and various other information). I had numerous symptoms including, black screen, blue screen with lines, not waking from sleep mode, etc. My computer was purchased in May 2007, but I was able to file a small claim in my city just last month (June 2010) and received a settlement from HP. You’re welcome to email me if you have further questions. Actually, anyone reading this who wants more info is also welcome to email me at zeebiz@verizon.net. I don’t want to bad-mouth any product or company, but I’m for the little guy! We spend money and expect good quality products, but when those products fail and the company(ies) responsible try to downplay it or sweep it under the rug, I want fair justice.

Jessa, I have the same issue, I replaced my motherboard with no success. I also tried my cpu in a different computer and it worked. Im kind of SOL right now.

I have the following problem.
My computer has Windows Vista Ultimate on it and yesterday I attempted to reinstall Vista Ultimate from the Original disc that I have.
The install sequence started ok and I entered the product key and the install started, the computer rebooted itself as it does periodically during the install, then all I had for the following 6 hours was a black screen with no indication as to what was happening. Then to add to my problems we had a power cut. Even though I have a battery backup that safely shuts down the computer it just ran flat with no indication of the computer being closed down.
Now, At boot up, it sound like it is booting as the cpu fan is running and the lights are on. It also finds the cd rom but it won’t boot from the Windows Vista Ultimate cd either.
It will only boot to a black screen and the power switch light will be on. Everything appears to be running but I can’t see anything on the screen, not even a flashing cursor.
I am also unable to get into the BIOS. I have no idea what is the problem here. The computer worked normally before the reinstall commenced.

i have an onboard video ATI Radeon X1200 series. already try another monitor but still the same problem. it doesnt detect the keyboard and the mouse.all it displaying is the signal cable disconnect. will try to connect my spare dvd rom to see if it will boot. will inform you

Help! I have a Dell laptop, 18months old, Vista.
I have been editing photos with adobe lightroom for the last week or so, and I have ALL of my babies pictures as well as customers that I take pictures for on my editing software on this laptop….recently installed the lightroom program, that’s all I’ve done different, other than having alot of pictures on the memory. Booted it up this morning and it almost immediately went black, a few times it would try and boot up for a second or two and I’d see the Dell symbol, and then black again. Can hear fan for a minute like it trying to work, but that’s it. No beeping, and no other symptoms that I can remember. Can anyone offer advice as to my next course of action? I’m not at all savy in computer hardware or repair, so I don’t have any clue…please help!

hello mitz,

my computer has no post message, no bios, even the keyboard and the mouse has no power.. i tried connecting my dvd rom to reformat it but still it cannot detect any accessories. all it displaying is signal cable disconnected.

I have a Dell desktop computer & It is about 3 or 4 years old. I’m using Windows XP. Just earlier today, I was doing what I usually did & that was just surfing around on the internet..a blue screen popped up out of no where & it mentioned not having a software or hardware fully installed. It has popped up with the same error about 3 times but everytime I shut down the pc & start it back up, It works fine. This time I tried to do the same thing & the dell thing loaded up but after that..the screen went black. I tried starting it up another 3 times because I was confused & kept getting the black screen.

I must add that there was no sounds. I am not good at repairing computer’s so could someone please help me out?

I have a black screen and it says it cannot find a signal coming from my computer. This happened immidietly after installing new drivers for my computer, which I may have installed wrong. What should I do?

I have absolutelyno access to my computer at all. I turn it on and my computer screen does not react to it at all. Man this sucks 🙁

Hi Mitz! A most excellent and needed article, has already helped out a great deal.

But my pc’s currently suffering from black screen syndrome – newly put together with an asus p6t se motherboard – ati hd5750 – i7-930 – Giel 2gig RAM x2 – and a corsair fan/power supply set. all brand new, all not damaged and i can’t get it to boot! i feel like i’m missing a ridiculously obvious check so some more help would be very much appreciated 😀

My daughters computer has just black screened. It is an AsRock MB, Amibios on XP. When I power up the fans start, the cd and floppy flash, the HD whirrs but there is no beep, no curser, nothing. The CPU fan starts and all these continue to run. There is a click and faint noises from the HD as if it is trying to work. I have had video cards fail before but they started to fail by collapsing mid session and them going black. Any sugestions?

Ok,

When i connect socket to power supply, the power-on switch on the motherboard turns on indicating sleep-mode(steady red glow)

After which I turn my screen on, then main power on –
all fans rev up, including the graphics cards, and i can hear the HDD and CD drive rev up too.

Meanwhile nothings happened on screen, doesnt react to the pc turning on, just powerless black screen. ‘no signal detected’.

I’m sure my graphics card, cpu n motherboard are fine because their fans/lights are active, but I cant tell for sure about the RAM. I think theyre fine because when i remove them before start up its the same reaction.

i have a feeling its either the graphics card (since its a video response issue) or maybe keyboard?

thanks in advanced mitz – appreciating all the help! 🙂

I’ve been having this problem for 3mos now and this is the exact issue that I have, “When your computer gets a black screen only sometimes, it usually means your ram is on the way out..For example if you boot your computer and it doesn’t work, then go back an hour later, and it does work” — The first time I reseated my ram, it did some magic coz my problem with booting up did not occur again for 2 weeks I think so I thought my problem was resolved. Then it happened again after a few weeks, the same thing. Computer will not boot up with cpu and monitor on. Then will go back after a few hours and it does work. I tried doing the eraser magic and same thing works after a few weeks then will encounter the same problem again and this is happening for 3mos now. I tried removing both of my memory modules but no beeps coming from my mobo whatsoever. Tried removing some hardware still the same thing. So what I do is i just go back after an hour or two and try starting it up again. So, what do you think? Is it my mobo or memory?

I have a problem with my computer that when i switch it ON , the monitor goes black with its light turning to orange while the CPU constantly showing its power and the processor light glowing.

Thanks for the reply, but is this reply directed to me though or Mustafa? Well, I think we have the same issue anyway. It’s not that it will crash, thing is, it happens occasionally. Like you don’t know when will you encounter this problem. I find it funny coz whenever I will power on my computer I would always say, “please, boot up, please boot up..” lol! then there’s also this funny thing, like, when I need to re-start my pc because I just installed somethin, it will just shut down but it will not restart, monitor will just stay black and light glows with my cpu running but it doesn’t restart whatsoever.

just bought a secong hand computer for the kids so they can play their PC games on it when I pluged it in nothing happened. After a while got R G B in top left hand corner and a NO CABLE message in middle and nothing else. Computer knowledge is basic. Please help.

I have an emachine with vista. When i push in power button it seems to want to load. displayed is the big e and option to go F2 or F10. i can also get into F8. but no matter the selection chosen it tries to follow whats pressed then goes to the blank screen. For instance clicking safemode without networking u see its loading bar then nothing. I can see my cursor this time around but nothing more. Any advice would help greatly.

I received a computer today with this problem. I can get into the bios, but when the computer attempts to boot from the Hard Drive or the DVD-Rom, it just stops. The screen is completely blank when booting from HD and shows “Boot from CD:” when attempting to boot from DVD-ROM. Nothing else happens.

I removed the battery on the motherboard to do a reset, but that did not help. It did show an error that the computer failed from an overheating issue and that the cpu fan malfunctioned (Even though I see it spinning when I turn on the computer).

Right now, it seems to be the processor. I’m going to see if I can find a replacement to see if that works. Any other suggestions?

Got a black screen. Tried Chkdsk /f. No bad files, so that is good news. A few days ago I started hearing noise I thought the harddrive was crashing. It runs on safe mode, check out with Malwarebyte, so now I am lost…

My computer was installing 14 windows update it had downloaded automatically while I was using it normally. However, after installing the 5th update there was a power failure. Now all I get is a black screen, no cursor or beeps, when I turn on the pc. Restarting doesn’t do anything and I can’t access the BIOS screen. I’m running Windows XP Service Pack 3. What can I do to rectify this?

hay iv read thru whats been said and try to transfer this into my problem but with no luck, it powers up with a black screen and to beeps to be heard, befor this problem happend i deleted my keybored drivers because the “i” key wasnt working n looked up some forums n they said to delete the drivers and reboot n it should get the drivers for my n fix my problem this didnt happen it just gave me the black screen, any sugestions, id like to not have to buy a new comp XD
thanx….

My laptop received the dreaded black screen today. I was simply searching the web when this singular noise rang out, kind of like a whirring down, and then the screen went black. The fan is running, although I can barely hear it. There is no cursor and the power switch light no longer turns blue, but orange. I haven’t the slightest clue how to pinpoint the cause of this problem since my laptop has been experiencing some other issues as well. For example, those lines that you mentioned that appear and are normally the result of a failing display adapter or video card had been plaguing my laptop for awhile, almost to the point of frustration. However, that problem seemed to go away on its own. Yesterday, I installed updates that had been sitting in my computer for a bit. There were 18 of them. I’m what one would call technologically inept, so this is a problem that I sincerely cannot solve on my own. I apologize for the lack of detail and the brevity of this post, but I can’t really go much in depth considering that I am typing from a phone. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

When i click on the power button absolutely nothing works the monitor just says check video cable the lights are on and the fans are blowing but nothing it booting up please help…..

and i also booted windows 7 a day before and now it wont boot but i did put it into sleep mode could this be the problem

hay guys after alot of yelling and screeming at my comp i relized the restart button was stuck in… oops my bad, thanx for the good advise anyway.. XD

No the screen doesnt come on and we have tried the monitor on another computer and it was fine and i checked the vga cable and that was ok i carnt get anything to come on and the keyboard is showing that it isnt on when everything is powered on all the fans are blowing and it sounds like its on but on start up it doesnt do that beeping noice at start up anymore . and we have tried putting disc in like a system repair disc in and the real boot disc and nothing responds , could it be the mother board ?

Hey, I have a dell laptop using windows xp, when i turn on my computer screen is black with a message stating that”WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE , BUT WINDOWS DID NOT START SUCCESSFULLY. A RECENT HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE CHANGE MIGHT HAVE CAUSED THIS”. It will try to load then a flash of a blue screen the black to the same black. it keeps doing this over and over. please help.

Hey,
my computer yesterday just completely froze while i was doing a virus check, because my virus protector popped up saying a major threat occured
I had to turn it off by the on/off button and now when i try to turn it on the fan and the lights all work but the screen is black and no cursor or anything.
i dont know what to do!!! HELP!

Apologies for this late response. Blame limited computer access and the like. As for the question you posed, the answer is no. There was no burning smell when this occurred, although the laptop did seem to overheat for a bit. No smell, though.

Heya, i got something pretty interesting for you peeps. So here’s the deal: i was doing some lousy programming in Pascal (i know, great coding aint it? *rolling eyes*) and i would have some black screens every now and then but not completely black, just from the program, he was inverting colors or something, anyway yesterday they got inverted again, then my pc froze. Restarted (actually i had to unplug the power since restart didnt work) => monitor didnt get any signal and the pc wouldnt boot or something like that. Also the DVD-ROM couldnt be opened and the “thinking” red light that indicates the processor is doing stuff was constantly on. I cant recall if i heard any beeps either. Ofc i tried to swap monitors, wasnt from that.

So….any clues whats wrong? 🙂

I started to get the black screen after getting my power unit replaced. Did’nt have a problem before then. I can get it to boot up now about 10% of the time by removing and then resetting the memory cards. When winxp is up and running applications tend to run slowly though.

I’ve run my a/v and have cleaned up the registry but it did not help.

I get this message on a black screen and the screen freezes on these text: 0xc01a001d !! 28063/86745 (\Registry\Machine\COMPONENTS\DerivedData. What do you recommend?

hello mitz

yes at first i thought the monitor broken, swaped it with another one and same issue was occuring, then i thought video card, but the red light wouldnt stop and the pc didnt beeped when i restarted, which lead me to either processor or ram or some chipset on the motherboard. this evening i replaced every component with some from another pc of mine, except video card and ofc motherboard; i tried to boot it up without the video card installed, thus no monitor either, just to see if it beeps or the red light (from processor) stops, and it didnt so i suppose….its from the shitty motherboard i have : /

Hello Mitz,

Thanks for looking into my problem and your response.

My computer seems OK now – strange I know. It seemed to fix itself, albeit with a little help from me too. Just to answer your question, there wasn’t a cursor flashing when I had the problem and it wasn’t set to boot from cd-rom first. I tried a boot up cd but nothing happened.

What I decided to do is get inside the unit, remove all components and reinstall them. It didn’t work first time but after a little waiting it came to life. The only problem I have now is that it seems unstable – as in everytime I boot up I get a feeling that it won’t work – that actually happened again for a bit yesterday!

Thanks Mitz.

Do you mean I should replace the ram completely? I’ve 2 x 1gb rams. I did have a feeling something went wrong with the ram so I swapped them with eachother – don’t know if that does anything…!

Hi! I was just playing an RPG game (Maplestory) in my Dell laptop when all of a sudden various red vertical stripes appeared and froze my screen. I couldn’t do anything but to shut it down manually (holding down the power button). After turning it on again, I could barely see the Windows logo as it loaded, then nothing but a black screen. Every time I turn it on again I just see a black screen. I left the sound on and as it seems, the laptop works because I typed in my password and I heard that Windows account initiating sound and could restart it by using the keyboard. What do you think the problem is?
Thanks in advantage for your help!

After transporting my PC from one place to another, my PC works well for the first few days. Until one day, my PC suddenly black out and I heard noises coming out from my PC. The sound is kinda like when a DVD is inserted into the DVD ROM, buzzing sound. Then I press the power button but my PC won’t start anymore. No boot screen, no beep sound and blank screen. I tried to change my RAM with another working RAM but the problems still exist. Then I realize the hard disk is broken because when I plug the hard disk into USB to SATA/IDE cable, I heard some clicking noise coming out from the harddisk. So I plug in a working hard disk into my PC but it stills come out with blank screen. No bios, no beep sound. Please help as I am now stuck with a broken PC. Thanks.

Its an old PC with 1GB RAM, 40HDD, build-in graphic card and MSI motherboard (I forgot the model and the PC is not with me right now.)

Hello, I just recently got the black screen, approx 2days from now. I can’t seem to figure out the problem, I remember my Norton Anti Virus said there was issues that got resolved as far as malware/virus go. And anyways when I startup everything is normal I see a black screen and little white horizontal lines flicker a bit, but the my cursor is available and I open up Task Manager and I am able to open up Internet, so I am typing this message right now on my Black Screen of Death computer. Please let me know what further actions I can take to help solve this, I really don’t want to resort to restoring my computer.

i’ve gotten the black screen before and i just restarted a few hours later and it works
but now it won’t anymore
i get the black screen with nothing at all
what should i do ?

Mitz,
I’m a tech myself with a little less than a year exp. I use google a lot and read forums for help then whack myself in the head because i usually know how to solve the problem in the first place. However; I recently gutted my desktop and bought all new hardware for it, and built it up to start a gaming PC. Everything was going fine. About a few months later whenever I would try to simply hit the power button to start the machine all the LED lights would go on as usual but I would just get a black screen, but I could simply shut the power supply off and on again, and after the 3rd or 4th time it would start. I have never learned anything about troubleshooting a black screen with no code or beeps from the motherboard. I was furious when it finally wouldn’t start anymore no matter how many times I tried. I came across your article after wording my problem differently a bunch of times in google, and could not be happier. Matter of fact I have never posted anything ever in a forum because it’s mostly a waste of time. You my friend have made me a happy man and for that I thank you, as I now have a place to start troubleshooting my black screen. But there is a huge possibility that I may have damaged my motherboard or CPU permanently because of starting it and shutting it down so many times. Also if you have any advice for me I would appreciate it.

Huge fan,
Jim

Thanks Mitz.
Sometimes my computer has a black screen and will not boot or start up lately. I try your tip for RAM and its working properly now. The problem actually pretty simple my PC memory is not seated properly when I upgraded my PC RAM. Now my PC working great again thanks for the tips. Cheerr ^^

Mitz, Thank you so much…..My son’s dell Inspiron 1525 went to the BSOD and I was fearing an expensive repair…..after reading through your list I opened the back of the laptop and did find that the ram was loose……once I reseated it the laptop turn right back on….Thank you again for the list.

my dell 1520 laptop get freezing at xp 34 minute installation. Also can’t access to windows vista, 7, linux startup to start fresh installation at all. I mean these operating systems does not loading at all for installation but windows xp atleast let me know to go for installing but again freezing at 34 min. Windows 2000 is installing well without any problem and the laptop is working fully with this OS after or before drivers installed. I have tried to change the amount of Ram’s, HDD,too.Also I have disconnected many things such az pci-express card, wifi, dvd rom, webcam cable and microphone to find the faulty part but nothing happend. when laptop freezing, all lights are on as an normal but screen is black at all, dvd rom getting stop working but can eject the cd or dvd and fan also stoped.Therefore mechine does not look working normal after the freezing . Keyboard is in full working order as well. Any idea please let me know.. Thanks

Hello,

I just lost my nvidia 5200 video card. I shut it down and next day it would boot up but the display would not come on just a orange light on it. I had it checked out and it was the video card. The place the did the work for me gave me a video card the other day and i installed it last night. When i plugged in the monitor into the video card i got nothing on the monitor. All i got was the card and my computer did find it and told me it was a ATI Radon 7000 series. I went to the website and downloaded the drivers for it but i still get nothing. I am using my on board video to get my monitor to work. Now my 5200 was a avg card and this is a pci. I am lost on what i can do now.

Hi for the last couple of days ive been having trouble with my computer.
It started when i went down stairs to eat dinner, i had left some programs running i came back and the computer had a black screen which said ‘ boot failed! ‘. I was able to restart it press F8 and boot in advanced option menu. I scanned my computer and found a trojan (avp32.exe). I turned my computer off later that night, came back from school and i couldn’t boot up, not even by pressing F8.
Many thanks if you could help.

Hi..I have a HP dv1000 laptop and I replaced the motherboard that supposedly had a bad motherboard..The old one wouldn’t start or turn on..The new motherboard lights up and the fan works,but still nothing on the screen. I tried hooking up an external monitor and still nothing..I tried the fn F4 and F7 to try and switch to a external monitor and still nothing..Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated..Thanks

help me my computer starts normally then it had a black screen coming out i installed f succure and i restart the computer then blank

I have this problem, before this my pc is running fine on 3gb ram, and then 1 day my pc goes black screen i try removing the other 1gb ram now it is running smoothly, but when i try to put the ram back, my pc goes into black screen again, I have tested my other ram on another pc and its working fine, I really want to know whats wrong with my pc if it either processor, motherboard, power supply or maybe my graphic card.

I just installed Photoshop Elements 8 on my HP desktop (old unit) and after restarting as instructed by the wizard the computer screen boots to a black screen with a white cursor only… no beeps no menus just a black screen and white cursor. I can hear the fan and the CPU still. (seems a little noisier than normal…)

Any suggestions?

Hi Mitz. Last yesterday my sister switch off the pc plug before it shutdown properly and went i open the pc it going black and there was a small line.After that there is instruction of Safe mode,safe mode without networking,start windows normally and etc . i try start window normally , it start like normal but after the sign of window xp it going to black again and the same instruction coming out.I try other option but still cannot open my pc.So what should i do? .I have try to unplug the wire at the back of cpu but still it happen .Please help me.

I recently updated my PC (Windows Update) and rebooted. PC froze after successful reboot and now I get a black screen with a cursor. I can not boot into safe mode either by pressing the F8 key. Nor can I hit the F12 key because no matter what I do it takes me to “Press F1 top continue (leads to black screen/cursor) and Press F2 enter SETUP” which has options that I don’t understand.
Please help.

Thanks to all in advance for any advice.

Hi Mitz, sad to say that my cpu now in computer shop after i realize that i dont have the CD . i forgot where i put the cd so i just sent it to the shop.But thank for the info and the knowledge you share here. thank a lot.

my computer is shutting down every time when working i am obliged to restart. How can i proceed

Hi
My dell laptop running Vista will not boot up. Yesterday it said that it needed to run repairs, this happened for some time with a couple of restarts. After leaving it for several hours it was showing a black screen with only the cursor visible. Today it starts and runs the warning that it did not shut down properly (I suppose from me shutting down with the power button). Every option offered ends up with a black screen with the cursor visible. From here all I can do is turn off from the power button. Any suggestions? I have all the original cd’s that came with the computer.
Thanks for any help that may be forthcoming.

Hey mate I’m dealing with a problem even mine bro geek can’t seem to fix it and perhaps you might know what’s going on.

Currently I got a NVIDIA Geforce G100 in the pc.
I want to install NVIDIA Geforce GT240 but when it’s inserted I get a black screen after the blue screen.
Also with 1 dash on the screen. But mine pc doesn’t do anything anymore. Beside keyboard quickly disconnect as well.

I hope for a clear answer

When i on my computer the cpu fan is running everything is going fine but no display is comming in the monitor the orange light is on thats all its the screen is black no keyboard or mouse is working.

i am facing a problem with my system . i uploaded a window on my system and after uploading of window it works normally for few hours and after that it shows black screen when i tried to check. the monitor shows a display of no signal but my cpu is working i am not a hardware enginner but i checked it from the outside that smps , mother board fan and the lights are on in the cabinet and the mouse light is also on but nothing appears on the key board no sign of light so what to do is this is a big problem some people says that my mother board is crashed pls help me to solve this issue

my Dell latitude keeps giving me the black screen quicker and qucker does it in safe mode hangs during bootup noticed the screen has reddish orange hue where it should be white during boot it gradually goes to white but keep getting black screen

could this just be a power supply issue?
Thais for any suggestions

hi i just installed an amd athlon II X2 255 3.1 ghz am3 on my ECS Nettle2 “MCP61” motherboard with version 5.12 pheonix bios no not the pheonix-award bios just standard pheonix bios and when i went to power on my computer and i got fan and thats it not even a power on light just the sound of a fan what do i do ( other than put my old proccessor back in which fixed the problem) my proccessor i am using now is amd athlon 64 X2 4000 2.1 ghz

hi, just looking to help a friends whos compag laptop screen comes up and everthing seems normal it is just extremely dark and you cant see much, maybe like the back light isnt working???

Hi, I was just on my laptop (ASUS with Vista) and on Facebook and ordering from an internet site when the anti virus (Comodo) came up with a buffer under run attack and also virus warnings of intercepted .exe files. I blocked these and then the screen went black with a cursor in the top left corner. Do you have any suggestions as to what has happened or how to fix this problem please?

Computer is 6 months old (Gateway) This passed week it just randomly shuts itself off. When I try to reboot it takes 3-10 tries to get it to boot up, otherwise it sits at a black screen and does nothing at all. The fans are running the lights are on but the screen is black. I checked most of your suggestions except for the acquiring of a new video card. I am 99% sure its the video card, I am just wondering why it would do this being only 6 months old. Why is it preventing the computer from going through the boot up process?

hello mitz, i have a problem.

i have an acer desktop computer, with a samsung lcd monitor, and an NVIDIA 9600 GT graphics card. the computer has been working fine, but i have had on occasions a blue error screen showing:

HIGH_OR_LOW

the computer has had a long ourney in the car from london to yorkshire, and i have brought it into my room. the computer kept on restarting and the ACER screen would flash up, but i could not get the bios.

i tryed hard reset, unplugging everything and putting my finger on the power button for a minute, but after this i now have no light on my power button. my screen will not connect, but goes black if it does, and the fans are running but i have no boot up sequence taking place.

one last thing: i have 2 lights on the top of my ACER ASPIRE, one red, possibly for memory, and the other green, for power. the green light is not coming on and the red light is flashing when i start up, which is from the main power switch because my power button refuses to work!

thanks for your help, much appreciated, dan

PS: i have also tryed reseating the cpu, but nothing has happened. i think the hard reset caused the removal of the restart.

i will try the repair disk, and the pc is about 3 years old…..

i have had the screen 2-3 times over the past month, but nothing before that, although i have had the BEEP code, but not known of the bios code thing. it fixed itself until this problem has occured.

thanks once again.

I have a Compaq laptop that won’t get past a black screen. was on laptop using battery power and it just shut off (battery needs replaced – hubby wasn’t aware) and then put in power cord, it started a recovery process and hasn’t gotten past the black screen since. I took it to Fshop they said needs whole install and if I want data will be about $200. Is there any way I can get the data off myself? Laptop is 2yrs old and ready for a new one but I need the data. I managed to get laptop to a dos prompt and attempted to copy files to a usb key – unsuccessful. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hey, i have slight problem. I recently was working on my computer, and took the cpu out. when i started to put it in, i noticed the pins were bent, so i straightened them out and the cpu went in perfectly. I plugged everything in as they should go, and took my computer back to my room and plugged it in. the computer turned on, all the fans were spinning, and the lights were on, but my computer screen never turned on, even after i connected a vga and dvi to it. the graphics is integrated. what could be the problem? cpu? graphics?

Hi i built my own pc about 14 months ago using an old dell case and an A-Bit A-S78H motherboard. It has an AMD 780G chipset and earlier this year i upgraded to windows 7. Up to this point all was well

I moved the machine two days ago from one room to another. Last night whilst ripping a BD i left the room and came back to check progress only to find that the screen was showing the very first boot display but was frozen. I turned off and it took a few attempts but it did come back on.

It ripped the BD sucessfully and i tried another BD only for same thing to happen. It was late so turned off and tried again tonight but nothing.

On turning on the fan cranks up, there is a bit of noise from hard drive but not much. No beeps and the screen is blank. The monitor actaully stays on stand by. Ive reseated ram, removed ram sticks one at a time, checked sata cables but nothing. Any ideas?

Hi mitz, me again. Just to add i have checked monitor with laptop and its fine.

I cleared the cmos as per the abit instructions with no luck.

Hi Mitz, thanks for the reply.

Yes it was fine before the move, and initially worked when I moved it.

No it is the same monitor. There is no video card, it is onboard. (BD = Bluray Disc sorry).

I have two hard drives in it. I disconnected the slave drive and there is no hard drive noise whatsoever on boot up. Main hard drive failure?

Hello, I have a dell inspiron 1521. I was using it the other day and it was working fine. When my boyfriend was using it that night the screen just went blank on him. He turned it off and was able to get it back on, used it for a couple of minutes then the same thing happened. Since then everytime we try to turn it on the screen just stays blank ~ nothing. The power light will go on and you hear the fan also, but again nothing. I am not even able to open the disk to put anything in there. When I pust the button nothing happens?! Do you have any suggestions? Thank you very much

Hi Mitz,
I have a Dell desk top when I turn it on there is nothing but a black screen and cursor and it had a popup saying something about antivirus 8 but now even that is gone. I dont even see my start button to do a system repair or get on any sites. What should I do?

Hello, I started up my computer today.

It does the checks and what not, window loading screen fine.

I get to a blank black screen, and it says. rror in C:\\Windows\System32\NVCPL.DLL Missing Entry : Nv Session Startup.

Now I know this is a driver issue, but how can I fix it when I can’t see anything? Or is there another way to fix it.

Thanks.

Hi Mitz-
No I cannot get into safe mode. The screen won’t come on at all. I think you are right on about the overheating does this mean it may have fried my laptop? Is there an external component that can be replaced that would help or fix it?! Thanks so much for your help.

hello i want to help my friends, she’s installing a game on her windows 7 (but no internet connection when install) so i thought its not the problem with the internet., the games called turtix (that maybe not compatible with win7), and when she restart her laptop (HP Mini)there’s a option to get in windows like normally, but when its click its not showing the normal process but the Black screen, could you please help? what’s the problems? the new games or what? or can we fix the problem? please thankyou very much

Hi yeah i’ve been having this problem for some time, apparently when i start up the pc this black screen comes on with repeatedly blinking white line on the top left hand corner, but if i take the power entirely and i start it up again it starts up as normal please help????

I have a HP a few years old laptop and I work with photoshop CS4 and do a lot of photo editing. I take all of my photos off and store them on an external hard drive. Recently while I am working on a photo my screen will go black but my computer stills appears to be running. I sometimes hold the button and restart the computer and everything will work fine. Sometimes I have to take the battery out and restart it that way for it to work. I don’t do anything but photoshop on this computer. Have you had any experience with anything like this? Thank you for your time.

Hey there! Thanks for this great advice! My screen was completely black with no beeping sounds so it was pretty tough to figure out the problem. All I did, like you said, was take out the “I guess disk” in the back and wipe it with a clean cloth and WALA! Thanks again!

hi, its dan again.

still no luck. i have tryd the repair disk, boot keys, but i do not want to go inside and mess around with anything else. it worked at home, and then i moved it. my last post is at
November 5, 2010 at 1:51 pm

Hello there.

My monitor doesn’t display anything when i start my CPU.
I’ve already check all the componenet and it look just fine and everything are running.Can anyone help me please..

I have a Dell Inspiron 530 with Vista. I turned it on the fan is blowing all the lights are on but the screen is black. Any suggestions?

Hey Mitz,I have a Compaq Presario CQ5210F, and just bought a new graphics card Geforce GTX460 and power supply Thermaltake T2 600W

I put both the graphics card and power supply into my computer, only to find that the grpahics card was not compatible even though it fit into my PCI-e slot. I removed it and tried again now the only change was the PSU. To my relief it started, but I did not have the monitor plugged in, so I could not see if the screen was working there was also a very high pitched squeal, that only happened this time i booted.

I then proceeded to plug everything back in and run the system repair function the computer gave me the option to run. In a little while when I came back, my screen was black. I attempted to turn it on again, but it would not work. I removed the PSU and tried the old one, but to my dismay, now the fans would not even work and the black screen is still present.

I am lost! Thanks, Diego

HI! iam playing for a long time the game devil may cry 3 then it suddenly stopped that a blur is occuring at the bottom and when i start again the monitor light just blinks . it is not coming! please help me! i know it is the problem of graphic card! because when i removed the graphic card it started again! please give me solutions ! is there any way to fix this?

Hey. thnx for a great article.
I went through and i still cant figure out whats wrong with my pc. My problems started a week ago, windows got stuck while its loading and after restarting several time with the same problem i went to system recovery through the first blue screen and everything was fine. oh this happened after updating my avg antiviral. anyways 2 days later and same thing happened but not related to any update. this time it got stuck on same place and i couldnt run the recovery files from my computer, it was corrupted somehow, and i didnt have any recovery CD 🙁
so I used some data recovery program CD and got my files thnx god, second time i tried that CD i got some error msg so i turn it off and on and there was the black screen. no peebs or any weird noise. i opened it and both fans were working???
help plz

Hey Mitz, my old PSU still worked I just had forgotten to connect it to the motherboard, but my new one still doesn’t after about 3 minutes of usage, once I even managed to post on tom’s hardware, bu then the PSU gave out. I think maybe you are right about it not being able to handle the size, I am seriously considering just buying a new computer. Do you know how I could check if my PSU and graphics card are compatible with a new computer? last time, I did not get any specific ways other then “is or is not PCI express compatible” which it was, then did not work.

Hey there. I was just using my computer when a messege came up saying I had a severe virus. It told me to restart my computer which I did but now it simply is a black screen with a flashing Horizontal line in the top left. I have tried un plugging and restarting several times but nothing works. Please may I have some advise on the situation?

THank you for your time

Hi i have a probelm with my computer its a desktop a older computer i had a loe memory hard drive in it then i wanted to put a highier one in but when i did i got black screen but after that happened i tried to put my other hard drive back in and i still have black screen when i start my system it will start fine tge fans will kick on uy will soud like iylts running fine but my monitier sys that there is nothing to be shown im puzzled cause im nit sure what i did. Can you help me?

hi mitz… my husband’s hp laptop battery died some time ago+we share a power supply.unfortunately this has meant his shuts down improperly every time I need the cord,or he has to carry it away from outlet. not sure thats the cause,but now when booting it says can’t start windows normally+repair doesn’t work.I followed yr instructions to boot from cd+ it is allowing me to initiate new windows install…but im not sure that’s the right choice since a)doesn’t seem to be a boot pproblem and b)he hasn’t got enough memory+ i’m afraid of formatting partitions.we do have his data backed up to an external hard drive,but i’m scared I wouldn’t know what to look for to replace lost system files…+again not even 100% if im barking up the right tree to re-install windows. Do you think I should throw caution to the wind+format a partition?and if so-system or presario primary?…or should I try something else? (Keyboard seems connected since I can follow windows prompts,+monitor works) THANK YOU 🙂

hey mitz thanks for the fast reply!…tried that repair but it says it can’t repair…tried@ 50x…its windows vista not sure the version.pretty recent but not updated this year

Thank you! I had a non-bootable external hard drive plugged in with my default configuration to boot from usb and forgot to unplug before restarting.

hey mitz…i am able to access the f2 menu.tried all auto repairs but they end in the same black screen.system restore says no restore point set: when i click “set restore point” tells me it’s operating in limited mode+cant undo a restore.no option to restore at that point bc it’s not clickable.
did auto memory check+supervised it-never saw it find a problem but instead of final result i got the ole black screen.
there’s a way to get into command prompt which opens as it should+allows me to type.can you tell me what to type?!

What i mean is likesay i didnt have my moniter pluged in it would say no connecting or no signal but my computer would start as if nothing was wrong no beep code nothing just a simple and normal start up maybe my video card?

I have a Dell optiplex 360 and it started to be slow and hard to get internet I tried to get my putter into a prvious date and the screen became all black, however the mouse is working, first I change monitors but same thing, second I tried to open all the possible safe modes but ended up the same, tried to put the original windows vista disk and the drivers disk with f-8 but still have the same results: a black screen with the mouse working, any help?

hey thanks!! i solved my problem!!
My problem was related to this one…..
Leaving a bootable usb flash drive connected to your computer.
Yes this can confuse your computer and it won’t know where to boot up. When your computer has a black screen from doing this and you realize this is the problem and remove the USB, the computer just continues to boot normally..
…i accidentally left my ipod overnight and didnt eject it and then when i turned my computer on inb the morning..i saw my ipod charging..and then i immediately saw this article, then i just pulled my ipod wire chager then restart it then IT WORKS!!!!..thanks!!!1

My problem involves many problems 1.screen of 2. Fan stays on for as long as you leave the pc on with screen off 3.my keyboard don’t turn on my mousedoes 4. Last time my computer crashed was a long time today it happened again it did not crashed but my screen was different colors and no choice but to press the button. To rebot the pc manualy. 5.I don’t know what to do anymore I need some help plz.

My computer is running on a vista. My computer turns on and shows this pic i always get, its msi motherboard thing then it goes to a black screen with a white blinking underscore. After a while it goes black totally, not turned off though and my keyboard doesnt work after it just goes black. No beeps. I think its the power or ram but idk what to do. I tried reseating my ram a lot of times and reseating videocard then everything else bu no hope. I used a air duster spray to blow away the dust. I have a story just before my computer didnt work. Its to lng to type it right now on this touch screen phone.

Yes i hv but no flashin cursor just blinkin underscore then it disappeared nd keyboard doesnt work bc num lock didnt change when i press it

I dont think tthat when my keyboard doesnt work has to do with my computer not work plus it stops working after the blinking underscore disppear and i was just pointing out that my keyboard didnt work. Lemme saythis again.
My computer basically turns on shows a pic thts msi motherboard . Its just a picture i get at start up BEFORE anything. Then it usually goes to windows vista logo then account login. HOWEVER it just goes to a black screen with an underscore blinking. After a minute or so it goes to a blank black screen, no underscore and keyboard doesnt work, i hv left my computer on from this state to see if it just needs time. It never showed the windows vista logo or account login menu. I do not see a cursor orr anything.

I cant go to safe mode but i can go to BIOS. Idk which is OS cd i only hv 3 cds that came with this computer.

Ok my computer works fine after i unplugged unnecessary parts. I think mycomp was acting up cause i didnt restart for the windows update. Thanks mitz.

my computer has a black screen and the cursor is still working can CTRL ALT DEL and run any program, firefox anti-virus ect., but am very curious as to why it wont show windows. have tried to log in and out and that screen works fine.

Hi Mitz. I looked at a lot of sites about this, yours is the best. I got a black screen at boot, no beeps, no safe mode, would not boot from disc (5year old hp desktop with XP)

I unplugged all unnecessary peripherals, including the new hp printer I installed a couple days ago, and now it boots.

So where should I go from here? I’m inclined to backup everything and then … reinstall windows (last did it 2.5 years ago)? Call hp about why the new printer might cause a crash? Also note that the computer has been running slower lately, not multitasking well, fan running often .. any suggestions appreciated!

Hello I have a question about this. My computer is at the stage with the one flashing cursor and this happened right after I allowed an upgrade. After I selected “RUN” for the upgrade my PC immediately switched to a blue screen saying that it would restart and that if I saw the blue screen again than that would be bad. I saw this screen for maybe a split second if that, then my PC restarted automatically and then the flashing cursor with the black screen appeared. Do you have a good idea what this means and how I am able to fix this? Thank you

My Laptop fell down onto our wooden floor whilst it was on and now the screen is blank and appears to be off but there’s is still sound and the lights that indicate it’s on power is on. Oh, what shall I do? My Dad would kill me if he found out its broken! Please help

Hello Mitz. My Toshiba laptop is about five months old. I’ve run into a few problems with it before and solved them by pressing F8, entering safe mode, and setting a restore point on system restore. Last night, however, I left my computer running for about maybe an hour and a half and returned to it to find only the background–absent of the taskbar and the icons. I tried restarting the computer but ended up with a black screen. Task manager doesn’t work at this stage. I have even tried setting a restore point but nothing seems to be helping: the icons and taskbar appear only briefly and then I am left with just the background or a black screen again. Help? F8 isn’t getting me out of this one…

this is a frame works error i have found out i have tried everything and i set everything to default and it solves the problem but when windows updates and download frame works it comes back

I have a optiplex gx400 running windows xp. I got a virus called security tool. I tired removing by following others instructions to put my computer in safe mode and remove it that way. When I put it in safe mode my computers screen went blank and the monitor wont come on. The computer boots up but dont beep. Could the virus of knocked out my drivers? What can I do? Any help will be appreciated

My computer has a black screen. I got into safe mode but the computer still shows a black screen. I tried to install Windows XP but still a black screen. Is my computer dead or is there anything else I could do? Thank you!

Hi,i have the same problem and I took the battery off and I did all this things.any other ideas? Please help?

hi i got this problem, when my computer starts up. It shows something says launch startup repair and start windows normaly i choose the firdt then it freezes for 2 sec and then goes black plz help cuz i will lose alot of important stuff on my laptop and im currently using my phone. Thank you and yes i tried 2nd option still same =(

My laptop is HP dv7 windo 7 OS.Just this morning,my screen suddenly when i hit the power button only to see my screen went black.Meanwhile,i can hear the fan running and all other lights on my laptop are on but the screen isn’t showing anything.Please do you have any Solution to this problem because its really pissing me off and i need to do my assigment with it.
Looking forwarding to receiving your swift respond.

Thanks,
Jerry

On this site I read that the keyboard could be the trouble.I changed keyboard and now all OK.
Thanks

Hi I am right now using a Window Vista. When I start up my computer a black screen comes up and there is not Start menu or nothing there is only a box which delete things and loads up programs like the internet or other. But How do i take away the black box and how do i bring back my desktop background and start button? I had a virus which I just took away. Everything is set up right and is running right. But please reply and tell me how to fix this. Thank you.

i have a problem when i start my pc
only the fan and the yellow light is working
my screen is saying no signal
the screen become black
what can i do
i try reseting the battery still not working

Hi I have a HP Pavilion DV6700 and I was working on my laptop and the screen suddenly froze then I was not able to do anything even with the keyboard and such. I decided to turn the laptop off by holding the power button, it turned out this was not a good idea as I got a black screen with no cursor or anything but the fan and disc driver seem to be working fine. I then got annoyed so I started experimenting and found that if I hit ctrl alt del it would just restart the laptop and one time I started spammed enter as it got to the point that I really got angry I got the windows vista sound before you can log in. Then it seem that I was able to get in one of the accounts but it still have a black screen. Would really appreciate your assistance.

Thank you

After I switch on my Sony Vaio laptop it starts but screen is blank. Doing control alt delete I can see all processes are running. In time about 20 m icons and task bar begin to appear while the connected to net icon the last to appear. Then lap top works fine. (Some time if I am switching it off says hibernating mode.) This happened after I bought a top of the range roller in flight bag that was well stacked so I am reluctant to believe it may be the cause. How to rectify it?

Hi! This site is very good but unfortunately I still fail to identify the problem. I own a dell(a quite old model) and after i dropped it on the floor the screen light just went darker and darker and for a while I saw nothing but now I can see, but one vey weak because the screen light is off. I can still log on, allthough sometimes when I try the screen is dark and the text “1 user1” appeares on the screen and when I it a button it beeps. So there is no POST codes or anything. What can I do?

@Mitz: I can’t actually see what Im doing as it has a black screen from when I start the computer on. Do you think my graphic card needs replacing?

I had one computer come up with the black screen. It was old and we decided to replace it. When I got the second computer all was fine. I did put my old hard drive as a secondary drive into the new computer. All was fine for weeks and now it is doing exactly as the first. It will not boot. No beeps when I turn it on. I unplugged the second hard drive and still nothing. What could be causing this?

I got the BSoD twice in one day on my Sony Vaio FW, so i backed everything up on an external hard drive, unplugged the hard drive, and restored the C: Drive. The restore went successfully, until the Boot-up, when i go the VAIO logo, but then the screen went black, with no cursor, no sound. Is this just because I unplugged the HD, so that it couldn’t restore my files?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi…. blank black screeen. recently hooked my ati all in wonder 128mb 9800 pro video card to a tv by extending my desktop from my monitor and playing with the cards software/resolutions to get netflix on my 52 inch tv. I had it working good yesterday but this morning upon turing pc on i had tons of squiggly lines of color on both the tv and the monitor so i used the power button and restarted it and got less squiggly lines and looked like it was going to come up but it went hay wire again with the cursor looking like a box and i could bairly see some programs under the squigly lines doing crazy stuff too; so i used the power button again and the next time it just went to a black screen. two days ago when adjusting the screen to get it to fit the tv with the ati software i had mutiple issues that i had to restart with the power button to resume being able to proceed.
i dont want to lose my data. i dont have a cd the hp pavillion a118x didnt come with one. i have 1024 ram
it is dusty in there but all the fans work the power button light comes on the little yellow light under the power button comes on breifly and then goes out, the dvd rom lights up breifly too on start up.
Please help and advise how to save my data.

Anyone have any suggestions for a lightly-technical person to try and diagnose a ‘Black Screen’ issue I am having.

We purchased an ASUS less than a year ago and when we went to turn it on last week it has a ‘Black Screen’… No blinking cursor, just black. I see control lights on the keyboard and can hear the fan running, nothing else.

We have Windows 7 and shouldn’t have any RAM issues. Anything I can try?

John

Hi, I just got my computer back from cops, they confiscated it last November, Now when i try to turn on my Computer all the light were on, and fans are running, but i see no light in my keyboard or even my mouse, the monitor suppose to have Blue light, but when i turn on my computer it gives no display, and an Orange light(SLEEP), the fans are sort of revving up while its turned on, i tried to open the case and clean it, i tried to remove the video card and put back again did it in the mem cards too, i also tried to remove all the cables and check and put it back, Still i get no display and no signs of controls.

Can you please help me =(

My desktop switched to “power save mode” suddenly. After a couple of restarts I was able to get into BIOS and reset the original configurations and start up windows normally. After a few hours it was back to “power save mode” and now when I turn on my pc there’s only a lonely blank screen. I tried switching around my RAM, cleaning the inside, resetting my agp video card, resetting CMOS, switching power cables, pressing any and all buttons but nothing seems to work. I can hear the fans running and I can see the keyboard light up when I power up but after that, nothing. Can somebody please help?

Thanks for your tips. I just opened some covers on the back of my laptop, and made sure all parts were tightly fastened, and then my computer were back to normal again from being black screen. Just like something never occurred. It was magic. Thanx also Microsoft for Windows 7.

hi my computer wont start up.when i turn it on the screen turns white and then changes to black and back to white several times it doesnt allow me to do anything.can you help please? Thanks.

Hi, thanks so much for this guide. I think I have a problem not previously covered, though I have not gone through all the comments. I have an Asus Eee PC that was working perfectly and suddenly “died” while I was using it – the screen suddenly went blank. Now when I try to turn it on, the power button lights up but I have a black, empty screen, and the fan doesn’t sound like it’s working. I’ve done a hard reset (taking out battery and unplugging, pushing power button for 30 sec, then plugging back in), but I can’t think of anything else to try. Any ideas?

I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY laptop..when I start my laptop it comes to Safe mode,safe mode with network,safe mode with command promp,last known configuration, and starts window normal.When i click on any of the safe modes weird numbers in white come on my computer…when i click on configuration or start window mormal…it comes to Windoes xp and its loading but it continues. if u can please give me advice on what to do.

i have a similar problem. like a week ago, i was loading my ipod and it kept turning off my computer. so my friend and i decided to fix it, but during the fix the computer went berserk. then i saw a AVG sign saying i was in threat of a danger. the computer went into a blue screen while it was synching. i took out the ipod and turned it off. after that ever since then when i start up my computer it sees the computer brand and proceeds to the black screen. no cursor, nothing. My friend believes its the AVG problem with windows vista and my father believes its the hard drive. i dont know what to do, can you guys help me?

I have an hp g60 249wm. On syartup the screen remains black and ican not do anything with it.When I put it in a very cold place say the freezer for 30 min to an hour,It will power on and works just fine for 20 to 30 min. then back to black.Can someone please tell me what i can do?

This just happened to me when accidentally hit standby in XP. Boot drive MBR and DOS boot partition were corrupted, along with the motherboard BIOS. I was in process of underclocking a 9800 GT video adapter with nTune and RivaTune, and thought that may have been corrupted as well. Fortunately, the machine would boot when powered down/up or when restarted from DOS, but would not do a “warm boot”/restart from XP. Also fortunately, everything had been backed up.

Restoring the MBR and boot partition cleaned up some multi-boot problems (still use BootMagic), but the black screen XP restart remained until re-flashed (not reset, not restore defaults, but FULL RE-FLASH from floppy) of the motherboard BIOS. System is stable after that.

Hope this helps someone else.

THANK YOU. never even thought about my mp3 player messing it up. soooo much easier than taking it to my computer guy. 🙂

When i started my emachine acer em350 this morning it
was not typing properly. First of all, on the XP login screen, when I tried to type anything, instead of one character (or dot, in the password space), the entire space is filled up with that one character up until the character limit. For example, I press ‘R’ on my keyboard, instead of ‘R’ showing up on screen, something like ‘RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR… ‘ showed up.

I tried taking the battery out and now all i am getting is a black screen, i can hear the power is on the fans are running and i have a blue light on the power button, but the power button is not turning it off, i have to take the battery to get it to power off.

I was on the internet last night and turned it off normally.

Hi, running windows 7 ultimate pre installed on acer laptop(have not got discs or back up flash)problem with black screen, system was running gr8t,not downloaded or added any hardware started system today hey presto black screen tried F8 & all options available from safe mode,repair computer,last known good config ect all to no avail. in safe mode u can see all files being loaded then it suddenly goes blank & thats it, power lite remains on u can hear fan
no bleeps are heard, done windows mem diagnostics all ok there then jumps to launch startup, repair or start windows normally i select repair still got same problem,if i try start windows normaly window logo appears for about 4 seconds then black screen Please HELP! thanks in advance

There is a computer i inserted a new formatted hard disk loaded with win xp professional, so when i try putting the system on it only shows some cmos errors at first time and i hit f1 but it didn’t boot to windows i shut down and i try booting again, it brought up the same error and i noticed i had to set the time and date, after that i expect to continue booting so it shows me the options at boot menu like….boot in safe mode,from networking or start windoes normally. but i have a problem the keyboard doesn’t move again to select the options…i try again samething, i removed the cmos clean it, samething change memory slot just show me cmos error all that but when i have the date inserted it still freezes the keyboard and will not boot when it count to zero.

Hello!
I have a pentium III computer (yes it is old but it’s my desktop I dont use much) and it is nothing but a black screen, will not turn off and when I say will not turn off I mean WILL NOT TURN OFF! I literally unplugged it and plugged it back into the power source and it was still running. I tried everything. I even tried holding down the power button for 5 minutes and nothing still happened. What’s going on here?

Thank you a head of time!

my computer doesn’t work properly due to the black screen in Windows 7 virsion.. How to slove this problem

My PC (DELL n5010) after install the BIOS Driver on windows Restart My PC Dont Show The BOOT Screen Black
please help me thanke you for reading

Help!!! I turn on my laptop and the screen is full black no cursor or nothing what must i do?

@Pamela:

My eee pc just up and did the same thing yesterday. I am going to tinker with h=it and I will get back to you if I have figured out anything. In my case, I had the eeepc for 1 year now, but it is out o waranty. The problem occured yesterday morning and at one point I was able to restart the computer and it would bot normally, but within a few moments the screen would freeze and I would be forced to shutdown. After shutting down the last time, it no longer has booted up and I will be trying a few things to hopefully diagnose or fix the problem. It might be the LCD is broken which is unfortunately a common problem with asus, or possible the ram or some ohter hardware component, being that I was able to boot up and access info ok when it first happened.

My laptop has the no beep, black screen issue. However every 10 seconds or so it just reboots itself and keeps that cycle going till I manually shut it down. I took it apart and tried the heatgun method, and reseat every single thing that wasn’t loose and nothing. still the same old thing. Sounds like the motherboard. What do you think? The laptop is a few years old but rarely ever used. I also tried a hard reset, removed the battery and tried straight from a plug. Any ideas what it is so I can replace it?

Omg thank you so much….I had a USB on my computer and u said to take it out so thank u…ur a lifesaver

I recently got my brother’s big gaming computer. It had an aftermarket liquid cooling system installed on it to replace air cooling which got his room a bit too toasty. Whenever I press the power button, the computer tower turns all its lights and fans on, but the mouse, keyboard, and monitor do nothing. I must THEN boot it again, and I get stuck with an error message “Could not find CPU fan.” I am running Vista 64bit Ultimate and have tried multiple times to get the Windows 7 conversion kit installed (and failed miserably). The only way for one of the components to install is to have a clean restart, not botched like mine has been. ALSO, the shutdown sequence sometimes nears infinity as the giant tries to quiet down. Any information regarding any of these topics would be FANTASTIC!
Thanks!

i got windows 7 64bit and its not even going to the logo screen and no bios screen iswell i changed monitors heaps of times and i still cant get it to work plz HELP ME!!

when i turn on my pc it says “jcgvy is compressed
press ctrl + del +alt to restart ”
somebody help me plz…..
yhanx for reading
plz help me i am running win 7

Hi, alas my screen as sucumbed to the black screen as well. Mine went like this: I was on facebook when i clicked a friend, and then everything just froze, like not just the internet but the whole computer,could not get the start panel up or enything, so I hit the reset button on my tower, next thing i know black screen. I reset it again and it started to work, the windows logo came up and said “loading” so i waited, but then i noticed it was taking much longer then it normally would, so i reset it after 20 minutes of “loading”. I left it for a couple of hours and came back to it and still the black screen, but this time I heard noises coming from it, like the windows startup sound, then i typed in my password on the black screen and I heard it let me on my file, but the screen was still black, i reset again, this time there was a white line in the top left corner of the screen blinking, then the windows repair thing came up and said start windows normally, so i did, nothing happened but yet another black screen. This is extremly frustrating and i would love to here a fiz without having to pay for it, Thank you!

Hi Mitz!

First of all, what a great thread you made!!
Now, let me tell you what happened to my laptop. Hope you can advise me. Everything at boot was working fine, i entered windows xp(not a very recent laptop) and everything ok. Suddenly at statup, i got a message telling that the CMOS Battery was low and I’m not sure if the message also said to change the CMOS Battery, or to got to bios and adjust the correct time and date. Nevertheless i went to BIOS(its an AMI BIOS in an Alienware Area 51m 766 laptop that’s a 2004 model!!) and adjusterd the right time and date. I also configured to get a Bios access password as a hardisk password(as I had before, and I think this configuration was lost because the cmos battery charge was low). After that everything worked ok. I did not changed the cmos battery yet. This message appeared sometimes, and more repetitive. I made the same configurations and everything was running ok(i could go into windows xp as before). After seeing some messages I decided to go buy and replace de CMOS battery with a new one(I guess I may have done this much earlier). So what i did was to remove the keyboard(but not disconecting it from de mobo) so i could have access to de CMOS battery(as other stuff like RAM, wifi card, etc). The CMOS battery has no cables and is easily removed with a flat screwdriver. So i removed it that way and took it to radioshack to change it for a new one. The battery type is CRxxxx something and is from Enercell(Renata battery). Bought the new battery and installed it back home. After that i power my laptop on, and nothing apeared on the screen, i cant here any beep sound eihter. The laptop behaves the same way now, nothing changed and I can´t see nothing on screen nor here any beep sound.
When opening the laptop to acces de CMOS battery i always disconected it from the power cable but i confess that i did not disconected de rechargable battery(not cmos battery but the big one). I don’t know if my laptop actual state is because of a circuit-break in its components or because i leaved it a long time without the cmos battery(that’s when i took it to radioshack to buy the replacement(i was like 4 or more hours away). I guess that the AMI bios lost every configuration, but I’m not sure.
Could you help me with some advice? Before i’d go to radioshack every thing was ok, and i did not do any change in the laptop but disconecte de power cable, pcmcia wireless card, removing keyboard, changing the cmos battery for the new one, securing keyboard again, conecting power cable and turn on the laptop.
Sure i wrote a lot for this, but i guess that any info is helpfull to identify the problem. Any advice in how to solve it? It would be much appreciated and thanks in advanced.

Ok fellas here is the deal… i work nights as a doorman .. we have a computer here to sign in packages… we are not supposed to go on the net… buuut.. we do to pass the time.. so is 2 nights ago and im on a site watching some stupid show .. the avast goes dark red and says virus detected… 20 seconds later the screen goes blue and seems to be stuttering the sound… i go for a hard reset… and now it will not start up.. makes the sounds like the fan is on or the cdrom is running … but then black screen power and some lil blue light are on.. but nothing… ok so its sunday night the boss comes in tomorrow.. an my job may be on the line… can u help me out????

pls help////yesterday ive tried to change my motherboard logo into a tekken 6 logo…then when i restart it, there is no display anymore…but the fan and cpu is still running but still no display…pls help

Thanks a lot!
Your tips “Where is your monitor plugged..” fixed my problem, I plugged in a wrong one.

Good advice from the ‘been there done that’ man. Cheers.

I have an acer laptop & when it turns on it tells me to choose either startup repair or start windows normally. I’ve tried both repeatedly & it just won’t work. When I try the startup repair it takes a good half hour, other times it takes over 2 hours & then I get impatient & shut it off til te next day. When I try starting it normally it loads but then will go to a black screen. What could be the problem ? Please help me.

ok so my computer boots up fine but then when i go to log onto my computer account the screen goes black then. i can still see my courser but nothing els…please email me back.

Thanks, Austin

Hey, my computer is black after i turn it on! Let me tell you what happen, my laptop was on my lap when i accident move it and the battery came out (Alittle)(I forgotten to lock BOTH locks) , After that, i tried oning my laptop and it cant be on anymore, Any reason? Help!

Hi, I’ve got an hp laptop and the last couple of weeks while I’m on it the screen will go black with vertical and horizontal flasing lines. I would restart and all would go back to normal. Last night I did a quick scan (Norton) and straight after the screen did it again. I restarted and the black screen with the lines came up straight away. I switched the laptop off and left it for 2 hours. When I switched it on again it did the same thing. I can’t use it at all now. Is this a virus or something else?
Desperate!!

help!!!i opened my laptob and everything was black it had only a window open with my documents and other things that have to do with the computer. i can work with that but all the screen is completely black and the folders and start menu, or he language and the time had disappeared.!!!help!!!

Hi i turned off my sony vaio computer (laptop) last night and when i tried to turn it on again it started the booting up process but too extremely long and just b4 windows loaded the black screen came on. This happens even when i try to start my computer in safe mode or any other mode. PLz Help

my compaq laptop display suddenly became black screen while i was using internet,cpu fan and hdd light everything work fine, even i can see my desktop screen lightly,but no screen light, i shut downed it and removed battery,then pressed power button for 30 second and plug in then switched on it but the problem still remain,,someone PLEASE help me,,my laptop is out of warranty

I have an HP P4 machine that dies when XP loads. I can boot the Ultimate boot CD and run CPU Burn in or Memory tests just fine and it does not die. The hard drive test in the BIOS says the hard drive is OK

When you try to boot to XP, it loads, but then the monitor goes black, but the PC’s fans are still running. I’m thinking it’s a corrupt OS. Thoughts?

Hello,
While using my desktop I tried to install a software through a memmory stick.Immediately the stick was inserted the antivirus detect a malware from the stick,I tried to scan the stick but my sreen went of immediately.I tried to switch if off and on but it wasnt coming up again.I removed the memory and insert it again all I could hear is a cracking sound as if the board is having difficulty in coming up.What cam I do in this case.

Hello, i have big trouble with my computer.. First i got a blue screen with psychal damage or something.. after i rebooted it was stuck on loading windows vista, then i manualy holded 10 seconds the power buttom so it goes off, after that i clicked the power and nothing happens.. just an Blanc Black screen i hear fans running, tried to insert recovery disks, doesnt work.. i dont know what to do. i cant even get in the cmos, just nothing at the boot up.

I’ve got 64 bits windows vista home basic, Nvdia graphics card 9000 series, dual core, 3Gb ram.

heloo8 i had my computee, a laptop, everything was good, until one morning when i go turn on, and the black screen wa on blak, i know the computer stars on, bcus i charge my phone, but then i took off the battery and it didnt work, then i turn off and on like 5 times , and it didnt work either , please help , me
i really need my compu * thamks

hi. i have a dell xps 430.. all compitable parts. everything worked until i moved, when i arrived the computer didnt want to turn on. it just had a blank screen, no beeping, no xtra lights or annything. it acted exactly as it would when working…. Please help me….

Hardware: Novatech desktop, MS-7366 (V1.X) motherboard, Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB RAM, NVidia 9600GT with latest driver updates, 400w PSU, no printer, (sometimes run a Western Digital ‘Passport’ external HD for backups but not connected at first instance of black screen (and not connected since)), Edimax WiFi ariel via USB, no extra fitted soundcard.
Software: Vista Home Premium with latest updates, no third-party games, IE7 & Firefox 4, Panasonic’s ‘PhotoFun5’ photo editor.

All has been ok for the last 18mth and no new hardware, software or updates installed, that haven’t worked for the past week without problems. Switched on this morning, only to be greeted by the dreaded black screen and no beeps. Checked the all the cables and all is as was yesterday afternoon, when all was running ok. The fans were going and I let it run for 45mins but resorted to a hard-reset. On the next try, I got a single beep but nothing more. I don’t know what Bios I have, so can’t check-out the Bios Beep Codes.

Left for over an hour and still no joy. On another try, tried F8 for 30mins and this time got no beep and nothing more. The monitor reports that there is no signal and the keyboard light is on. The computer has not been moved or bumped and I’m the only one who has access to said computer. I’ve not got a restore disc and none was supplied with the computer. I’ll be contacting original vendor for a restore disc and will let you know what happens… if anything. But at the moment, I’m at a loss for ideas. (By the way, is there any way of finding out what Bios I have, without accessing the HD, as I can’t without the PC even booting to safe mode?)

Hi i turned off my sony vaio computer (laptop) last night and when i tried to turn it on again it started the booting up process but too extremely long and just b4 windows loaded the black screen came on. This happens even when i try to start my computer in safe mode or any other mode. It just says starting windows and the red, green yellow and blue logo, after about an hour the screen goes totally black and the cursor shows and you are able to move it but no other function.

after i have set a cache in the BIOS my computer turns to a blank black screen and does not boot at all..no beeps..how can i recover the system…?thanks a lot..

Hi MITZ,

this black screen issue is killing me. If I turn off the computer for a while (say overnight), the next morning I try to boot it up again,:
Boot 1: there will be no display whatsoever, -> I press the restart button
Boot 2: Display on monitor past windows 7 loading screen then stuck at a black screen without cursor or anything. -> I press the restart button
Boot 3: Just have to select boot normally and everything goes fine.
This trend is so consistent its crazy. Greatly appreciate your help.

*I am booting on a usb-wireless keyboard with a new pci-e graphics card that wasnt giving me such a problem until one fine day. I am not sure if it could be due to the windows updates like i read somewhere. Thanks.

My computer randomly shut down showing the blue error screen then restarted and showed a black screen with a blinking cursor and a white heart below the cursor. I Put in my recovery disk and restarted it again and still a black screen with a blinking cursor but now no heart symbol. The only way I can get it to start is if I use Asus Express Gate.

My computer does not give a complete black screen, it gives me the message of no boot device. The weird thing is that after reset, keyboard or button, it starts ok.

This happens every single time since a week ago. The hdd is a new WD 2 terra. I used it for a week to back up the old data, next disconnected the old one. It worked fine few days, and suddenly start doing this joke on me.

I have a decade experience in broking computers, especially hdd’s, and this kind of behavior is quite a novelty. Mobo is M2N-CM DVI about 3 years old.

Hi

i have a PC with window XP professional.When i faced a password problem,i was pick out cmos battery. after that it goes failed or couldn’t boot up even i replace it(cmos battrey).It displays same message in black screen.it says that,port 00:No device detected.And it says strike F1…But it couldn’t boot up when i strike F1.How can i solve it ?

My computer keeps going to black everytime I turn on and no safe mode point I promote pops up so I cannot put on safe mode so I keep going to recovery mode and asking for recovery disk which in fact I do not have a recovery disk for compaq computer and everytime I keep rebooting it keeps going to black screen of my whole heart it I just keeps going back to black screen so what do I do

i have i5 processor with p7p55d motherboard ,sometime my monitor goes black and only 1 white line at the middle.actually one line is appear for some time what ca ni do .is this a current problem.
thanks

I have a sony VGN-TX2XP Laptop and it has the black screen. It used to boot up sometimes but now it never will boot. All the lights will come on and the fan plus the cpu gets hot but it just shows a black screen. Please help.

My problem with the Gigabyte GA-8I848P-G Motherboard is when i press the power button I do not hear the speaker beep I also do not see the display on my monitor screen after a few seconds my cpu is automaticaly turns off …. .

I tried a tips,
1st – Run the motherboard with power supply, processor and memory only, I do not hear the beep of the speaker is continue running. NO automatic shutting down …..
2nd – I tried adding AGP VIDEO CARD ONLY, apg slot on the motherboard then I run again. Now its automatic shutting down. tried to replace other video card, so still automatically shutting down ….
3rd-adding HD, CD ROM, LAN CARD, AUDIO CARD. I run again without AGP VIDEO CARD … I do not hear the beep of the speaker is continue running. NO automatic shutting down.

I think AGP slot is defective. OTHER IDEA?
PLZ HELP ME..

Hi Mitz,

I read everything here and realy you are expert, I have HP notebook which is now in blackscreen power light is on but the Hard drive light is off i dont hear anything..it started when i drop my book into the keyboard of notebook while still on..when I turn it off and turn it on it boot for a while then back to black screen then I dont hear anything..I suspected that the problem is hard drive..because the hard drive is off and no sounds or any activity only the power lights is on..can u please tell me whats the problem…thanks MITZ

my pc restarts ok however when I turned it off (overnight) since 2 days I only get a black screen little light flashing (left top) and that’s it. I finally removed the USB stick (Keyboard) and all starts up ok…I have a Logitech board and mouse

Hello, so, I have an issue.
I log into my computer (windows vista; acer) and everything’s fine. Everything’s showing. But then, I log into my computer account, and all I see is black, and the cursor. I’ve tried everything. The noises from my actual computer are working, then blue light on my screen is on. I really don’t see what the problem is?
Before this all happened, I downloaded “Norton free 90 day trial”. I let it install, then it said to restart my computer to fix the virus that I had. So, I did. Then this disaster happened.
What do I do? I really need this computer for school.
Thank-You!

Hi, I have an HP laptop, and over the past two day, it will play all videos beside youtube videos. I have tryed everything in my power to figure out whats wrong with it. It all started when i was on youtube and my laptop crashed randomly, so i shut if off and started over again, i went to a diffrent video and the same thing happened. now it will show everything normal on youtube, except where the video should be its just a solid black box that wont let me click on it! PLEASE do you have any suggestions????

Mitz help me…..
My problem with the Gigabyte GA-8I848P-G Motherboard is when i press the power button I do not hear the speaker beep I also do not see the display on my monitor screen after a few seconds my cpu is automaticaly turns off …. .

I tried a tips,
1st – Run the motherboard with power supply, processor and memory only, I do not hear the beep of the speaker is continue running. NO automatic shutting down …..
2nd – I tried adding AGP VIDEO CARD ONLY, apg slot on the motherboard then I run again. Now its automatic shutting down. tried to replace other video card, so still automatically shutting down ….
3rd-adding HD, CD ROM, LAN CARD, AUDIO CARD. I run again without AGP VIDEO CARD … I do not hear the beep of the speaker is continue running. NO automatic shutting down.

I think AGP slot is defective. OTHER IDEA?
PLZ HELP ME..

If you have a problem of the black blank screen with the cursor flashing in the top left corner, then switch your comp off and open the CD rom drive and reboot. It worked for me…. good luck

i need some help, i am recovering my computer system hten light goes up know i power it on but the system it restarting it self from the dos.

I have a toshiba laptop and i just reset it to factory settings yesterday morning because it got infected after a friend tried to install stuff on it off his jump drive. The reset went smooth and i downloaded chrome and used it that night to surf around. I left for work at 10pm and left it on no programs running and when i came back it was just a black screen. I have a cursor but it doesnt respond to cntrl alt del.
I powered it down an restarted it and it gave me the two options to fix or start normally. If i choose fix it loads a little bit then back to the black screen with the cursor. If i hit start normal it tries then reboots itself back to the same two options, fix or start normal. I tried booting in safemode with f8 and that brought me to the black screen to. Any ideas?

Hi Miss Mitz,
I have a major computer problem. I am at Princeton University for a summer program, and I need my laptop for classes. OK, I came to campus, and my computer was working fine, though it was a little slow. Then, three days after being on campus, in the afternoon I went to go use my computer for the second time during that day. I turned it on, and it was extremely slow, but I finally reached the log-on screen. So I logged on to my user account, and all I have is a black screen with a cursor in the middle, my computer lights are all working, though my computer fan doesn’t seem to be running constantly, and its quite cold. I am asking all around Princeton for help, but no one seems to know what the problem is. I could really need your help, as I need to use my laptop for classes ASAP. Thank you so much, any advice would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

hi
I have an old desktop pc .some times ago when i wanted to start it, it would start up 1 trough 10 times.and in the other cases, when It wanted to load windows xp screen, suddenly the monitor would go on stand by mode and just the orange led would be turn on.I thought the problem is with windows so I reinstall win Xp.but not only it didnt correct.but also it didnt work 1 trough 10 for ever.now I have installed a win 98.now it pass the windows loading page.but when it start and want to configure a hardware (I think VGA card) the problem appear and monitor go on stand by.I forget to say that when the monitor go on stand by the reset key and power key on case both will be unable and the only way to turning computer off is to unplug it.I should mention that in safe mode I can boot computer.

Hi, I have a USB wireless Internet ‘stick’ ah, thing. Of I leave my computerworld go to sleep, when I try to use it again, the Internet has disconnected. When I try to reconnect it however, it often won’t recognize that it’s plugged in and I have to turn the stick off and unplug it. Immediately after I unplug the USB my laptop blue screens every single time. Last night it did this and after my computer had restarted and gotten onto the desktop I turned it off by holding the button in as I couldn’t be bothered and decided to leave it turned off. Tonight when I turned my computer on, it comes up with the ‘start windows’ normally or in safe mode and I selected normally. It loads all the way through the windows (vista) startup, but as soon as it is about to loa my desktop the screen goes black with just a cursor that is not flashing and I can move it around. Have tried numerous times to restart as use safe mode (safe mode works), and have unplugged the USB Internet and all other USB and the power source but my computer will not load past that screen. Ctrl alt delete doesn’t work. Pleeeeeeease tell me there is something I can do :/

Wen I start my pc it’s showing windows error recovery I can’t use my keyboard tht time nd after 30 sec it starting Windows nd full of black screen nw my keyboard s running properly hw to solve this problem .Plz help me….

so uuhhhmm..my laptop is msi and when i start up my laptop, it sometimes go pitch black just when windows is starting up. but the power button is still on, i can hear the laptop still running, but its just pitch black. i when i hold the power button, it doesnt turn off either, i start it up again, went to recovery mode, and it still does that in the process of recovering. i dont know what to do, i also dont have money to have this fixed 🙁 desperately needing your help..

i have a lenovo ideapad ,model no P580. it was previously installed with windows 8.it has UEFI boot sytem and the partion type of the hard drive was GPT. The system got crashed and i just didnt find any uefi boot disk. the laptops display was dead so that i had to connect the hard drive with a desktop.what i did was conveted the hard drive to mbr format using a windows 7 bootable disk (mbr format supported) and i installed the os succesfully.but the prolem is the laptops display still remains dark and i cannot see anything.is this has anything to do with the mother board type???? because my desktop has an old model mother board (intel DG41wv). i could not install the os using my laptop as the display was previously dead and i had some problems with my dvd writer.can anyone find me some solution please….:( 🙁

Hi Mitz, many thanks for the ¨black screen ¨tips .my trusty 10 year old desk top had that problem this morning –I was about to undertake some serious surgery when I came upon your site(you are in my favourites now!!) spotted a mem.card improperly clipped in, I removed & cleaned it ,clipped it in place & it is working perfectly again—great result & most helpful.

Hey Mitz,
Im having this kinda problem too but when i startup my pc nothing happens and nothing appears its just a blank screen i checked the cables that are connecting to monitor they were working fine i dont know why its happening but it makes me sad 🙁