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

Anonymous

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.

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.

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143 answers

Anonymous

2015-01-26T07:46:58+00:00

Hi........

I am still suffering with the black screen of windows death.

But did find a work around, go to task manager and look for a file under processes named WSCRIPT.EXE*32 and end the process tree.

It will return you to your normal desktop.
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Anonymous

2015-01-27T17:36:07+00:00

This fix applies to my model y-580 and similar Lenovo laptops. Upon startup, mine would boot to a black screen with cursor about 1 time in 5. After much frustrating trial and error, I found the problem. It's a Lenovo program touchzone.exe.

You can deal with this two ways. One is to push ctrl-alt-delete while in the black screen, and go to the task manager. Under applications you'll find Lenovo touchzone. Kill that process, and your desktop comes back immediately! Each time you get the black screen, do this and you're back to normal.

The other solution is ensures it won't happen again. Go to the file itself (c:\program files\lenovo\intelligent touchpad\touchzone.exe and rename the file to something else like touchzoneexe.old. Viola, problem solved!

Hope this helps someone.
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Anonymous

2015-01-28T01:30:21+00:00

Agreed. My same issue was an unfinished "Microsoft Visual library update. I got it to boot in safe mode just fine and it immediately pulled up the Visual update package and said it "had a problem" and then finished installing and rebooted fine. What "caused" my issue was "Driver Update and Driver Detective. IMMEDIATELY after installing Driver Detective it rebooted and this happened. A Customer's computer. 14 years in IT myself.
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Anonymous

2015-01-28T01:33:37+00:00

Grreat but his is a Del, not a Lenovo, so it wouldn't apply since he's not running anything Lenovo related at all.
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Anonymous

2015-02-21T18:04:45+00:00

This was a simple fix for me and it makes completely no sense.

I had inserted a flash drive from my camera the day prior and left it in the PC. When I started the PC I also had the black screen and blinking cursor.

Just remove the flash drive and it booted up fine.
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