Computer and Software Support


Troubleshoot Windows going black 

The terminology of this issue varies depending on the person's interpretation of what the issue is. Some say the screen goes black when they boot into windows. Others describe it as just freezing or stays on the welcome screen and will not go any farther.

This troubleshooter will give you some steps to follow to see if you can narrow down the cause of the issue. Please follow the steps in the order given (unless stated otherwise)

  1. Disconnect all connections to the computer except for the following

  2. Keyboard

  3. Mouse

  4. Monitor

  5. Power 

  6. Try using the system

If the problem goes away, then chances are it is a device you have not plugged in yet. Plug them in one at a time till the problem comes back. When it does, you will know what device is causing the issue. If you are still have having an issue with only the above plugged in, continue to troubleshoot using the steps below

  1. Try a different Keyboard

  2. Try a different mouse

  3. Boot to Safe Mode

If you are unable to boot to Safe Mode, you can try doing a repair by doing the following

  1. Boot to your Windows CD and choose repair

  2. Boot to Windows Menu by pressing F8 when you turn the system on (if you see the windows Logo, you missed it. Try it again) When the menu appears, choose the repair option

Note: if you are not sure what you are doing, you can loose your files using this feature so proceed with caution.

If you cannot do a repair than try running hard drive diagnostics. Some computers have it built in. You either enter the bios or hit a key on startup. Check your owner's manual. If your system doesn't have it built in, you will need to get the diagnostics from the website of the hard drive manufacturer. You will need the bootable version. This will tell you if your hard drive is bad (If the test fails, you will need to replace your hard drive. If it passes, it can be good or it can still be bad. The diagnostics don't always detect the issues).

If you are able to get into Safe Mode, try the following

  1. Check Device Manager for bangs (If there is, you either have a driver issue with it, conflict with another device, or the device is going bad)

  2. Try running SFC /scannow

  3. Run CHKDSK /R

  4. Boot into Safe Mode with Networking

  5. Install, update and run Malwarebytes

  6. Run Windows Update (repeat this step till all updates are installed)

  7. Run Hard Drive diagnostics. Some computers have it built in. You either enter the bios or hit a key on startup. Check your owner's manual. If your system doesn't have it built in, you will need to get the diagnostics from the website of the hard drive manufacturer. You will need the bootable version. This will tell you if your hard drive is bad (If the test fails, you will need to replace your hard drive. If it passes, it can be good or it can still be bad. The diagnostics don't always detect the issues).

  8. If you are still having the issue, use the Software Troubleshooter