Windows 7 boots to an unresponsive black screen with mouse cursor...

Anonymous
2012-04-05T04:26:16+00:00

Started up the PC one day and it booted to a black screen. I didn't change the configuration in any way, it just happened suddenly.

What it does:

The PC turns on like normal. I get the bios screen. I get the Windows logo screen. Then I get a black screen with a mouse cursor in the middle.

I can move the mouse, but the buttons don't do anything--left or right click.  No keys on the keyboard change the screen. Ctrl+Alt+Del does nothing. Windows key does nothing. Esc does nothing, etc. At this point the only option is to hold down the power button and turn it off.

What I've tried:

I tried to start it in safe mode, but the same thing happens. It shows the system files that are loading. The last file it shows loading is Windows/system32/DRIVERS/AtiPcie.sys then it goes to a black screen with a mouse cursor again; only this time it is in safe mode resolution so the mouse cursor is larger and not as sharp. Also, no keyboard strokes have any affect just as with normal mode.

It is a Dell Inspiron, so it came with an onboard repair utility. I used the Startup Repair tool, but it found no problems. The diagnostics tools found no issues with the hard drive or any of the other major system components. However, this error came up which appears to be related to the multi-card (SD, micro SD, etc.) reader on the front of the PC:

error code 4400:011A

msg:SCSI_1-000 DISK_generic-_SD/MMC - target not ready

It seems that this is unrelated to the black screen. I unplugged the card reader and still had the same problem. Otherwise, it passes all other tests the onboard diagnostic utility has including, memory tests, fan tests, hard drive tests, etc.

I have not, however, tried a full system restore yet. From what I've read in several forums, many have tried this in similar situations and still had the same problem. Since there are several files I'd rather not lose, I wanted to explore all other avenues.

Sorry if this is a repeat question in the forum. Most of the other situations seemed similar, but there was always something they could do that I could not, like press Ctrl+Alt+Del or boot into safe mode or whatever.

Here is as much of the system info that I can gather without having the PC on (not mine, I'm doing this for a friend):

-Dell Inspiron (I think it's a 570)

-OS: Windows 7 Home

-AMD Athlon II X2

-Integrated Video Card (I tried both the VGA output and the HDMI, which he normally uses, and both give the same results) ATI Radeon HD 4200

I hope I've been thorough enough to allow you to help me without wasting any of your time, and I thank you in advance.

Windows for home | Other | Input and language

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-07-04T02:39:08+00:00

    Had the dreaded Black Screen of Death and went through all the suggested methods of resolving, F8 on restart to boot into safe mode, etc. Nothing worked. Even tried to boot up with my Win 7 DVD, no go.

    I have a 24" ASUS monitor that I love, but it has manual selector buttons on the lower right side on the under side of the monitor. Apparently I had accidentally bumped the manual switch that toggled between input ports. My monitor is hooked up to the HDMI port on my PC, but the monitor was switched to the VGA input. All it could display a black screen with a mouse pointer.

    One more tap on the manual selector switch on the monitor brought up the DVI port and a second tap brought up the HDMI port. Left alone for a couple seconds, the familiar MS Windows screen came back up. Whew, what a relief.

    Hope this helps someone else.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-06-06T12:01:21+00:00

    I just let it run about 10 minutes and it finally loaded up.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-05-23T13:29:57+00:00

    Found this thread while researching the exact same problem as OP.

    In my case, it had to do with mapped network drives.

    I had been testing different login scripts to fix my other fav Windows bug: mapped network drives not connecting on startup.

    This was the only thing I could think of that may have changed before the problem started (other than Windows updates).

    Delete your mapped network drives, see if the problem stops (in my case, it did).

    Then just recreate your mapped drives.

    Please report back so others can see if this worked or not.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-02-10T14:25:55+00:00

    There is no "repair mode" for me. Safe modes, low res 640x and last known good config do not work. All display black screen+cursor.

    It all started with me creating a new windows user acc with password. I logged in, after 2 secs it said logging out. I did some research and probably messed the usernit on regedit (following some thread online). Then rebooted normaly and admin acc showed black screen+cursor. I'm here without a solution yet and it's ridiculous, being 2018...

    Some help would be very much appreciated.

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