Problem with Compaq laptop or Vista Business - blank screen after log on

[fairy]

Hi,
Let me first apologize for my lack of technical jargon. I know very little about computers, but am currently on prac placement in Vietnam and am having computer issues - if i can't explain them in English i certainly won't be able to in Vietnamese.

My compaq Presario B1200 laptop (with vista business as the os) is refusing to work. I can turn it on and get to the the log on screen, but after i enter my password the computer thinks for a while but then the screen goes blank (black) with no writing or error messages, but the cursor is on the screen.

I have tried restarting the computer from the password screen but the computer just freezes. I also cannot start the computer in safe mode - from safe mode i can press ctrl-alt-del but clicking on any of the options (inc task manager) doesn't work. Sometimes i can get a screen which is black with some writing on it c/:somethingsomething> and i can type in here, but i don't know what would work (i have tried explorer.exe).

I have been looking around online and people seem to be having similar problems but none of their solutions have helped me. I have tired 'last known configuration', performing memory self test and primary hard drive tests in bios, and have tried removing the battery, holding down the powerbutton and restarting without the battery. I have also tried using the fn + f4 and fn + f5. I cannot attach it to another monitor as i am out of my home country and don't have access to many resources (i'm in an internet cafe as i type).

Any ideas/advice you could share with me would be most appreciated.

Thanks
Fairy

Edit:

So i continued to search online and i found this solution

"My fix was somewhat easy. I pressed F8 during the bootup and went into safemode with command prompt. Although the desktop never showed up the command prompt did. I typed msconfig into the command prompt and the window popped up. I was then able to choose selective startup. Uncheck system services and startup items. Original Boot Configuration should remain checked. The computer restarted a couple of times and I finally saw my desktop again. I uninstalled my nvidia drivers while I was in there since I had recently let Microsoft update them. I also uninstalled anything else I had installed in the past couple of days. I checked normal startup and everything was back to normal the next time I rebooted. Hope this helps someone" - rccm112

So far it has worked for me. Just thought i would share incase someone else discovers this thread because they have the same problem.
-fairy

Edit 2:

aghhh
so turns out that didn't fix my problem at all...well it did a little. I can now log into my account, but still cannot access the internet. The version kinda looks like windows 97 the way it was set up.

Disregard above advise!

 

[mike1959]

Vista Display Problems

Hi, Your problem does seem to stem from the graphic driver update from Microsoft.
You uninstalled it, got desktop back, but now it looks like Windows 98.
In 'Search box' type 'appearance' (enter)
You should see a box with options about the quality of the display.
I would think you will have the option 'adjust for best performance' (A dot next to it)
That means (on a Laptop) you will have a minimum quality, but fast screen display.
It's still most likely you don't have the best Graphic drivers installed.
Tick the option, 'Let windows decide what's best for my computer'
That should give you a better display. (If no better then........)
You need to find out what graphics chip you have. In 'Search' box type 'dxdiag'
In the window you see, click on the Display Tab. Note down the NAME,
MANUFACTURER and VERSION of the Graphic chip. ( Please read #1 lower down)
'Google' that information and you will get to the makers site, (most likely Nvidia or ATI)
Go to 'downloads' and search for your option, get the best match you can see.
Download the package to 'Desktop' or somewhere you can find again.
Right click on it's icon, choose 'Run as administator', and follow prompts.
You might need to reboot, but your display should be 'as new'.

#1. (You may prefer this step) If you think drivers are wrong or old, download the program 'Drivereasy', run it, and it will find all the problem drivers. See if your network adapter driver, and Graphic adapter are in that list. Download and install. Hope that helps.