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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

143 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-06-18T12:37:37+00:00

    Hi. As my father lives 165 miles away, it took a little while to find the opportunity to visit and try and sort him out. So, I swapped out the PSU with a brand new unit. First couple of boots were absolutely fine, then the issue came back. Really frustrating. Ah well, have a spare PSU for when the new one dies.

    As I was remotely troubleshooting this issue, I was of the understanding that the windows start splash screen occurs, do to black, and no more of the boot lad sequence happens. However, and this was news to me, I had left the speakers switched on and noticed that when the screen booted to black, all other services were loading (by sound alone). The infamous skype sign in jingle appeared as did the default windows start sound.

    So, as a revision to my description of the problem, windows does boot fully, however, on occasion, all that is presented is a black screen. No cursor, nothing. Also, the monitor has not gone into standby mode. Cables and connections were checked. Latest Nvidia drivers loaded. It is a bit like saying, 'the lights aren't on, but someone is home'.

    Anyhow, I appreciate all the community feedback to date. If the change in symptoms prompts any more ideas/advice, I am all ears.

    thanks.

    RB

    Interesting. However, the black screen WITHOUT cursor appears to be a different issue from the one WITH cursor. 

    I'm surprised you think it's PSU related.  I am guessing that yours is more GPU (graphics driver) related. How did you come to your conclusion? And did you check the event log for clues in the startup process?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2014-06-18T12:46:15+00:00

    Hi Senor Coconut,

    The suggestion that it could be PSU was above, and I was willing to try everything.

    I agree- black screen with no cursor is different. There is no HP products in the mix either.

    Nothing in event log either to offer clues... all in all I am completely stumped.

    It dies not happen every time, but every so often.

    RB

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-06T03:57:30+00:00

    Thanks for that. Starting explore.exe got the desktop back and showed McAfee had found a virus. W32\RonTokBro.

    Rerunning the AV found multiple instances of the virus. Just got to hope it restarts after AV has deleted all the affected files because some of them look important to Windows...

    Fingers crossed ..

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2014-08-15T14:17:18+00:00

    But NO!!  I was provided a very short piece of code which was run through the FRST64 program.  I ran  it which reverted my registry to a date about two weeks earlier...........AWESOME - Windows appeared!!!  I could not believe it.

    Ed

    Would you please provide the line of code you mention here?

    Thanks

    Bob

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2014-08-15T14:25:28+00:00

    Mate, heres the news.

    *put a win 7 disk in the drive

    *boot the dvd

    *wait for it to load

    *it will load to set time location ect.  just click next

    *on the bottom left, click repair your computer

    *select your windows install, then click next

    *from here you can try system restore, if that doesn't work go command prompt and load the windows offline defender software off a thumb drive as explained elsewhere on this forum

    Im sitting here with a black screen and cursor right now, lucky I have a laptop to sort it with.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments