Hi all,
I have got the same problem. I saw a lot of solutions which I'm gonna try now.
But before I wanna say something.
I have a dual boot with Linux. This problem comes only for my Windows XP SP2. The Linux works properly. So I don't think this might be a hardware problem
I'll be back if I can solve my problem.
Bye.

I had this very same problem, possible answer (mine was this):

Go into BIOS and change 'Primary Video' to AGP (Instead of PCI). This could work either way I guess, if you have a PCI GFX card.

Hope this helps.

Hi all... .

I recently had a problem with my Toshiba Satellite laptop.

When i booted the system up, after the windows logo, the screen just goes black with the mouse slightly enlarged. I tried booting it up in every mode possible but it just didnt work out for me. I even set all the BIOS to default. I'm so desperate right now because i'm not sure i want to do a system recover as all my important documents might be lost.

Does anyone know what i should do?

Thanks.

If you are getting to the windows XP splash screen you should not have to do a recover of your o/s

When u said you tried all modes. Please explain

Were you able to get into safe mode successfully? IF you were able to set the video adapter to default screen resolution.


An alternative would be to try hooking your laptop up to physical second monitor to see if it gets video.

you may be able to disable the lcd onboard monitor and boot into windows using a second monitor. NOTE: DO not try disabling the onboard monitor until you are 100% sure you do get an active video from the the external monitor.

I dont know what you meant by 'set the video adapter to default screen resolution'. I think i did when i went into the bios configuration and set it all to default.

I went into all modes (eg. VGA, Safe mode,...) but nothing works and only a black screen comes up with the words 'safe mode' on it, if i was using safe mode.

btw, thanks for your reply.

give it some time. when safe mode comes up in all 4 corners it is loading into safe mode. you will be prompted to either restore your pc using system restore or to continue to safe mode.

Just go on into safe mode. It will look just like "Normal" but a bit altered

once you have your desktop right click anywhere on your desktop click properties then go to the settings tab.

Set your screen resolution to 800x600 and apply and save settings. Then reboot

Hi People, Ive read through this entire thread hoping to find a solution to my problem but ,

My problem is also a black screen, but instead of it being just after the windows load up - it begins as soon as I turn on my PC. It only just started happening maybe a week ago. [and in that time Im pretty sure Ive not dl'd anything or made any significant settings changes]. The first time it happened, pulling out the connection to my monitor from my tower and replacing it brought my screen back on and this is the solution I use every day now. BUT... the time it takes for this solution to work from when I turn on my PC is growing and growing. Today it took maybe 10 minutes of pulling out the connection and putting it back in for my screen to stay on.

My system is..
AMD 3200 32 Bit
GF 6600 128 [G'Force Drivers]
1 gig RAM
Windows Xp SP2 [fully updated]

I dont really know what else to say. I actualyl have no clue about things when it comes to PC's so Im hoping for some sort of magical fix Any ideas please lemme know. Thanks In Advance. x

either your monitor is going out the door or your graphics card has a problem. Easy to test the monitor against another PC to verify its good so do that first. Also check for damage on the pins like bent/missing etc (as i remember there should only be two pins missing only)

Then have a look at your graphics card. If it needs extra power, your PSU must be able to handle it. If its old, then it may be dieing..

That should get you started, post on how you go.

Okay, well here's my problem. I will try to give as much detail as possible. This was on a Dell Latitude D820.
It all started when I was downloading something to a usb drive. When the download was finished, I pulled out the USB drive(as I had other times), all of a sudden the blue error screen comes up. Usually, it says stuff like Found New Hardware when you insert your USB drive in other computers, maybe this has something to do with drivers? The error said IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL, with some stop numbers. So I go online on another computer and tried various things.

Did F8, safe mode, system restore -- no go
Did F8, safe mode, tried to change display settings to lower resolution but they wouldn't let me change them, said something about default
Did F8, enter VGA mode -- nope couldn't get it to work, would just be a black screen without the blue error coming up
Did F8, revert to last working settings -- nope, black screen comes up
I sure that this has nothing to do with Reed pin or whatever it is called
Now if I just simply hard boot the labtop, it will get PAST the blue splash screen and to a black screen(note the blue error doesn't come up anymore, or I just cant see it maybe because of the black screen)

I know I can still rollback drivers/uninstall them, but I don't think that is necessary right? I mean, what prompted this was just me pulling out a usb drive. Any suggestions? Also, as one of the earlier posts said
"Go into BIOS and change 'Primary Video' to AGP (Instead of PCI). This could work either way I guess, if you have a PCI GFX card."
I will try this later tonight.


Edit: One more thing, I don't have access to the main install CD or what it's called. And when I was going into safe mode, I was logging into an inferior account, because I don't know the password to the Admin. account. Maybe if I logged into the Admin somehow, I could change the display and refresh settings?

The problem was solved. My friend came and simply restored it back a few days(I only did one day), and it was able to reboot just fine. So hopefully it'll stay like this, and thanks anyway.

great to hear its all solved and everything.. sorry about not replying earlier, life caught up to me...

and about the usb drives thing, always use the safe remove hardware feature in windows if you don't already use it because sometimes the PC's still writing to the device when you've just unplugged it. Its one of those "helps you not to crap anything" applications..

MY SOLUTION: After it went black and I heard the XP sound I hit the function key and the LCD/CRT key, which was FN+F3 on my gateway, on my compaq it would have been FN+F4. It will either say LCD/CRT or you will see a picture of the monitor plug, like the blue one found on the back of your computer. I hope this works for everyone!

I think I may have a unique problem to bring to the "Black Screen" debate. I foolishly changed my screen to 120dpi after re-installing my Windows XP Home Edition SP1. Now I have the same Black Screen as everyone else but when I boot in Safe Mode I get a Blue Screen which says FATAL ERROR!

PLEASE PLEASE SOMEBODY REPLY TODAY!!!

Many Many Thanks in advance. :

Hi guys,

Im hoping you can help me. i have made no major hardware changes but am still having the black screen problem! Unlinke many other i cannot load my desktop in safe mode, vga mode etc

I get the bios and xp boot screen but after that all i get is sounds of everything loading but no screen.

I did a couple of days ago run damn small linux on my pc through an iso on a disc and wonder if this may have altered any of my display settings ?

Many thanks in advance !

I also had a Dell notebook which exhibited the same problems, i.e. boot part way into XP and screen goes black. Thanks to the poster who mentioned about on laptops to pull out the little tab that sticks up and is depressed when the lid is closed. I pushed this in with my fingers and it seemed to go in but I got some pliers and pulled up on it and, presto, the laptop showed the XP login. I fixed it so it wouldn't get stuck again (i.e. hot glue).

After several weeks of dealing with the same issue, I did a little research. I could get to the WIN XP screen and then nothing. Just blank.
I could start up in safe mode. So on some advice I found online,I went to Device Manager and deleted the driver for the Nvidia ASUS GX7800 I had and rebooted. Up and running fine. I will need to reload the device, but I'm up and running for now.

I also believe that this topic requires more attention. Same problem here; I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 with an ATI Radeon x300 graphics card. Starting up in safe mode yields only a long string of commands that looks like

[multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\xxx.sys]

over and over again. It's really annoying. The last line is always "...Drivers\Mup.sys". I can boot safe mode just fine my Dell Latitude D600. (Too bad it's 10x worse).

And trying to boot in VGA mode does the same thing as normal boot. First there is the Windows XP loading screen, and then I can hear the startup music and everything; I even opened an program by randomly clicking.

By the way, I happen to know the exact cause of my problem. In this case, it was just my stupidity. I was trying to update my graphics drivers (since it's been outdated for years) and I had to uninstall everything related to ATI. Then, I went into Properties > Display > Advanced > Drivers. When I saw the only graphics card being VGA Save, I accidentally clicked Disable and then the computer restarted, giving me the dumb black screen problem. Is there a way to enable it again using keyboard shortcuts?

EDIT: For some reason, Dell did not include the Windows XP Installation Disk so I can't exactly reinstall or rollback unless I borrow from someone else. And the version I own is Windows XP Media Center Edition.

I'm sure you can find the drivers somewhere on line. Where is your restore drive? If you did not receive an instalation disk, check the D drive.

And make sure you make a copy of your D drive if the drive fries on you or you will be out of a restore option.

I have very similar problems too that has just appeared.

My second PC has been working fine for years but was starting to get a little bloated and slow so I thought time for a reformat and install again. Big mistake.

I reinstalled Windows XP then installed the Via motherboard drivers followed by the Nvidia drivers. Once I had installed the video drivers and rebooted I would get the windows XP loading screen but when it was time for the desktop to appear nothing but a black, blank screen. The monitor doesn't go into standby there for I'm assuming the video card is till supplying an image all be it black.

So being a smart Ar*e I thought I would use older video drivers for the Nvidia card. So re-format, re-install via drivers and old Nvidia drivers. Now I get something like Nvidia can not find drivers to support your hardware. This is weird as these drivers were the ones that were originaly installed. If I don't install the drivers for the video card windows correctly identifies my video card with there generic drivers.

I have tried with complete reinstall of windows every time:-

Windows
Windows SP1
Windows SP2 (latest updates)
Latest and original supplied Via motherboard drivers (Which uased to work)
Latest and original Nvidia drivers.

I have taken the graphic card out blew the AGP socket and re-seated the card (Just in case). I have nothing overclocked. I have checked refresh rates in case it was the monitor that couldn't handle the image but this was found to be ok. The strange thing is I can always get into safe mode which suggests it's a driver issue. I have reset the Bios/Cleared it. Change the setting from first boot to AGP from PCI and back and I have changed the AGP Gate for 256Mb to 64Mb and back without success.

I have tried other things but can't remember what as I have been at this for weeks now.

Any ideas that I have not tried?

System Spec
CPU 1.2Ghz Athlon
Abit KT7A-Raid Motherboard
768Mb 168pin Dimm (512Mb + 256Mb)
Nvidia FX5900xt 256Mb Graphics Card
Creative DVD Rom
TDK CD writer
20Gb Seagate PATA Harddrive

I have an iBuyPower CZ-7 Ultra (random I know) with an intel core 2 duo processor, 512mb nvidia 8600gt vc, 2gb ddr2-667 ram, and 120GB 5400 rpm S-ATA HDD. And oh yeah... its running on Vista...I was working on my laptop the other night and it locked up on me so I restarted it and I cannot get past the first screen. It is completely black and has an intel logo in the bottom right with options to run setup, boot menu, or show post screen. When i try to execute these options nothing happens, it is frozen. This computer is barely 10 days old and I have no idea why it would be acting up now. I had not done anything to my laptop in the recent days before this failure. Any help or explanations would be most appreciated. Sorry I posted this in the wrong thread, but this was the one closest to my problem only I have Windows Vista.