I have 3 PC's that all did the exact same thing. Each one was working, and then froze. Once a hard boot was done they all come up to a black screen with only a mouse cursor. Keyboard works fine in the bios screens, but cannot load into regular mode, safe mode, safe mode w/ networking, etc. without getting the black screen with a movable mouse cursor. They are all running Windows XP Professional, and when I attempted to do a repair installation it will copy the files and reboot, but on reboot it goes back to the black screen with a mouse cursor. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like you moved the drives around, and Microsoft Windows detected them as illegal installs...
Did you move the drives from one case or motherboard to another after they had Windows installed on them?

I have exactly the same problem. The installation is legit. I have not moved any drives around. One day it worked and the next time I turned it on it was doing this.

Tried a repair reinstall. Tried fixmbr, fixboot from the recovery console. No effect.

Is there any way to make System restore work from the recovery console?

E.g. c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

Tried it and it says it doesn't recognise the command

Please can you offer any possible solution before I have to do a clean install

Thanks in advance

No. Try ERD (Emergency Recovery Disc). It has System Restore.

Hi

Can't find any mention of this on the Microsoft website apart from the Windows 2000 one. Where can I get one for XP?

Regards

I have not moved any drives around, and since my initial post 2 more have started developing the same problem. I have removed the drives and connected them externally to my PC to scan for virus's with no success. Also the "chkdsk" command only goes through 2 stages before stopping. These PC's are all different makes and models and all where connected to seperate networks when this started to occur.

Is there any solution found , i am also facing same problem.

There is an ongoing discussion on how to do a System Restore http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic136526.html you can post your questions there.

I found an entry under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32
A string name "midi9" was present with value "C:\DOCUME~1\Santosh\LOCALS~1\Temp\..\leqrbdr.old 0yAAAAAAAA"

Just delete this string, it will solve the problem.
You need to Boot with some Bootable CD to access the registry & load the Software hive.

I have the exact same problem. I'll just copy past from a former thread I made:

I'm running a
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1500 RAM
Win XP SP 3

So yesterday my computer suddenly started getting slow, so I rebooted. When the machine boots, it's all fine, but just after the Windows loading screen, the screen goes black, and the only thing that's active is the mouse cursos which I can move. But I can't right click or anything etc.

I can't bring up the Task Manager. I try loading in safe mode but it's still all black, with the expection that the text "Safe mode" is written around the black screen.

So what I did was I got a Ultimate Boot CD and loaded from it. I managed to roll back my windows registry to 2003 (manufactor fresh), and now windows actually loaded and I didn't get the black screen anymore, however obviously it was all a complete mess having a registry from so long ago, so I backup rolled it back to the current again, and the black screen returned.

With that logic, shouldn't it be possible to do some tweaks to the registry to solve this issue?

I'm a complete beginner and I barely even know the function of the registry. Everything i've tried so far i've just managed to google and follow step by step instructions, so bare with me. But judging from the tools in the Ultimate Boot CD, I can access the windows registry.

So basically, where do I take it from here?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


I tried looking into what gkalwan wrote, but I couldn't find anything named "midi9" in that registry pathway

Hi bonefish,

I found in other system the entry with name "midi888" this time, but the value was same C:\DOCUME~1\user\LOCALS~1\Temp\..\leqrbdr.old 0yAAAAAAAA"

it is indeed a Virus.

the infected registry key is the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32
"midi9"="C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\..\\bibcfbk.tmp 0yAAAAAAAA"

Although in this example the file name is "bibcfbk.tmp" it changes from computer to computer.

Deleting this registry key solves the problem, you can also delete the file itself from the system32 folder.

forever indebted to gkalawan and bonefish ... with you advice here is how I fixed mine:

Use recovery console to restore previous registry (prevents virus from loading)

1. - Make sure by entering the PC's BIOS that the CD/DVD drive is set as the first boot device, otherwise the computer won't be able to boot from the CD. If you don't know how to d that, visit the BIOS section of this site for the required information.

2. - Boot the system from the Windows XP CD.

3. - Windows setup will start. Use the option to press the R key to access the Recovery Console. Select your Windows installation. It will be the only installation unless you have more than one version of Windows installed.

4. - Enter the Administrator password when prompted for it. If you don't use one, just press the Enter key.

5. - Enter the following commands as is:

CD C:\“system volume information\_resto~1”

DIR

6. - Choose the restore point (RPx) that you want to use by using the folder date stamps as a guide and then enter the following commands:

CD RPx (x is the System Restore restore point that you chose)

CD SNAPSHOT

7. - Enter the following commands that overwrite the existing corrupted Registry files:

COPY _registry_machine_system C:\Windows\System32\Config\System

COPY _registry_machine_software C:\Windows\System32\Config\Software

COPY _registry_machine_sam C:\Windows\System32\Config\Sam

COPY _registry_machine_security C:\Windows\System32\Config\Security

COPY _registry_user_.default C:\Windows\System32\Config\Default

Enter the exit command to exit the Recovery Console and restart the PC.

.. takes some time to boot but no more black screen !!!!!!
THIS FIXED winXP Black Screen and cursor !!!!!!
Give it a shot.

@jjscarlett This is a procedure to replace a mangled registry with a working one.

CD RPx (x is the System Restore restore point that you chose)

The registry hive backup in RPx directory is restored while the files are not. These are important files used by Windows, also included are your settings. ERD System Restore recommends a 2nd System Restore when Windows reboots successfully after an ERD SR. So you do another System Restore should Windows successfully.

Next question is- Is my system clean after the restore?

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic58138.html

Log please.

Today I was looking for a way to fix this problem (black screen and mouse pointer). Ik was happy with the solution from JJSCARLET. So I tried the procedure but afterwards nothing had changed. I still have the black screen.

Same problem as advice. I thought Scarlett had cracked it but no.

HOWEVER - try Scarlett method THEN reboot immediately in SAFE MODE - it is working for me and I will carry out a superblitz with SUPERANTISPYWARE, MALWAREBYTES and AVIR/AVG in a row and take a pair of Uzi's to the masked machete men.

This happened one day after sending a birth certificate, full bank details (including address, bank card number) all in one email. Talk about identity theft on a silver platter.

Am clean now. I took the following steps.

Start recovery console.

Step (0) - [I think this may be an uneccessary step]

cd c:\windows\system32

Rename lsass.exe to lsass.bak (file located in c:\windows\system32) folder. After exiting from the manual restore, enter recovery console AGAIN and rename lsass.bak BACK To lsass.exe or windows won't work.

Step (1)

Carry out instructions by Scarlett (ie manual system restore using recovery console).

Step (2)

Exit and reboot IN SAFE MODE

Step (3)

Perform full spyware/adware/malware/virus scanning and repair

Step (4)

Reboot in normal mode

Thanks so much to Scarlett for this solution.

When i boot from windows xp disk the option recovery console is not availeble. Can someone please help me?

Open a separate post, and give your computer brand, model, configuration, and the Windows disks you have.

you will need to repair the MBR

Hi all,

I am knew here, this is my first post. This very problem is what has brought me here. All of this is good information, but I have a problem. I never received a Windows XP CD when I bought my laptop.

I have tried the start up repair, and it makes no difference. I have tried system restore from the F8 menu on start up.....no difference. Safe Mode (any of them)...no difference. I have no Windows CD to boot from. In fact I want to put Linux Mint on this computer, and it won't boot from that CD, with CD Drive set as boot device.

Where do I go from here?

I don't care about losing files. This computer is just for surfing the net anyways. Even if I fix it, Linux is going on it. So whatever you got for ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Joe